Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue bounced back sharply before the opening bell a day after U.S. President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism.
“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump instructed pregnant women around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday, also urging mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen in the U.S. or paracetamol in most other countries.
Shares of the New Jersey consumer brands company tumbled 7.5 per cent Monday. Shares have regained most of those losses early Tuesday in premarket trading.
The announcement, which appeared to rely on existing studies rather than significant new research, arrives as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, advances the Make America Healthy Again movement that has focused on what it sees as potential causes of autism.
Kenvue disputed any link between the drug and autism this week and warned that if pregnant mothers don’t use Tylenol when in need, they could face a dangerous choice between suffering fevers or using riskier alternatives.
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Kenvue was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023. Aside from Tylenol, the consumer health company makes Band-Aids, Listerine and other household brand names.
Citi Investment Research analyst Filippo Falorni wrote that he sees a limited risk of new lawsuits after Trump’s announcement, but thinks “there could be risk to Tylenol consumption given the negative headlines.”
The company has fought hundreds of lawsuits related to the product and its alleged ties to autism, but most have been dismissed.
The analyst anticipates a positive reaction for Kenvue’s stock at the opening bell on Tuesday given the lack of new scientific evidence.
Shares of Kenvue Inc., based in Summit, New Jersey, climbed over seven per cent in premarket trading.
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