This August is shaping up to be the highest on record for the average price for a gallon of gas
Major corporate executives are sounding the alarm in their summer earnings calls: everyday Americans are getting squeezed by high prices — including the cost of rising fuel costs — and other economic pressures under Donald Trump. Business leaders of companies like Procter & Gamble and Walmart to Home Depot and Lowe’s warned that elevated fuel costs and supply chain shocks are forcing working families to cut back on spending and stretch every dollar. Numerous business executives pointed to a “K-shaped” economy where working families are bearing the brunt of high prices — despite what Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says. These earnings reports make this clear: Working families are stretching their budgets thin in Trump’s economy while businesses brace for continued volatility amid his reckless economic agenda.
The average household has had to spend more than $3,500 extra since Trump took office and the most recent jobs report showed that the economy lost 23,000 jobs in July. The national average price for a gallon of gas today is $4.11 and this August is shaping up to be the highest on record for the average price for a gallon of gas.
Here’s what business executives told their investors during their summer earnings calls:
Companies continued to emphasize the economic pressures facing consumers, especially low-income Americans.
- CEO of Coca-Cola, Henrique Braun: “On the consumer front, what we’re seeing is while they remain participating in the industry, the lower income continues to be pressured, and we’re seeing that it’s really about value, not only pricing.”
- The Pandora CEO warned that consumer sentiment was still at “record lows” and jewelry purchases were driven by high-income customers. Pandora CEO Berta de Pablos-Barbier: “Of course, last but not least, this is a market where the consumer sentiment is still low, at record lows. We see jewelry increasing, and then we could be very happy about that. But when you double-click on that, it is actually on the high income, so the accessible jewelry market is still declining, and this was in quarter one and quarter two. We are just looking at the facts and making sensible decisions for the rest of the year.”
- Pandora CFO Anders Boyer: “But the U.S. is, at the same time, the market with particularly high macro and geopolitical uncertainty. It is also the market where we see the K-shaped economy impacting our consumer base.”
- The Home Depot CFO warned of the “volatility” in the U.S. economy. Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail: “But we know what the environment is out there. We have a lot of volatility. As Billy said, we have unplanned cost pressure that is significant in the market, and we have frozen housing conditions. With all of that, we are focused on controlling what we can control.”
- The Lowe’s CEO said U.S. consumers were “cautious with their discretionary spending.” Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison: “But the caveat to all of that is that this consumer is being cautious. It’s not just about fuel prices. Fuel prices make up roughly 2% of their annual spend, but it’s a combination of fuel prices, geopolitical events, and other uncertain things in the macro. When you combine all these things together, people are just being cautious with their discretionary spend.”
- Lowe’s Executive Bill Boltz: “Discretionary DIY spending remains under pressure and the K-shaped economy continues to shape consumer spending… Looking ahead, while discretionary DIY spending remains under pressure and the K-shaped economy continues to shape consumer spending, we are encouraged by the plans that we have in place to drive demand for both our price-conscious and premium customers in the second half of the year.”
Companies said customers were making trade-offs amid high gas prices.
- The Procter & Gamble CFO pointed to the impact of gas on consumers, particularly consumers more pressured by incremental gas spending who then look for smaller pack sizes of goods. P&G CFO Andre Schulten: “On the consumer, I can point, or we can point, to gas as a specific impact. I think it’s a general impact where you see the consumers that are well off, continue to behave as they’ve behaved before, larger pack sizes to find value. The more pressured consumer, that will be more impacted by gas prices or incremental $100 of gas cost per week, they continue to look for smaller pack sizes. They continue to be very affected by promotion patterns. None of that has changed. What I’ll tell you, Robert, our consideration also in the guide is longer term, if the Middle East conflict sustains and oil goes up and gas prices stay high and inflation increases, so that impacts consumer sentiment, we believe, in the longer term. I don’t think we’re there yet. There’s kind of a multiplier effect here.”
- The Walmart CFO said it was “obvious” that consumers were facing pressure from higher fuel prices. Walmart CFO John David Rainey: “We, no doubt, and it sort of states the obvious, have seen some incremental pressure on the consumer relative to the beginning of the year with higher fuel prices. As you go through month by month in the last quarter, you can tell when fuel prices increase and got above $4, and perhaps there is a psychological impact to that there are choices that consumers are making. June was a little more obvious as we look at the quarter in terms of customers making trade-offs. It is why we have leaned so heavily into lower prices.”
Companies warned that input prices, particularly high oil prices, were hurting their businesses amid continued volatility in the economy.
- Procter & Gamble CFO Andre Schulten: “As we enter Fiscal 2027, we continue to expect the environment around us to remain volatile and challenging, from costs to currencies to consumer, competitor, retailer, and geopolitical dynamics.”
- “If the Middle East sustains, oil prices keep high, we expect somewhat of an impact on the top line as well as the cost impact that you see.”
- “This outlook includes a cost headwind of approximately $1 billion after tax, driven by higher raw materials, energy transportation costs, and other premiums resulting from the conflict in the Middle East. This estimate assumes an effective Brent crude oil price of $90 a bbl.”
