Private Prison Stocks Surge After Trump Election Victory, CoreCivic Up 43% and GEO Group Up 21% in Single Day

The day after Donald Trump is declared winner of the 2016 presidential election, private prison stocks experience massive gains. CoreCivic (formerly CCA) jumps from $14.19 to $20.31 per share (43% increase) and GEO Group rises from $23.88 to $28.96 per share (21% increase). According to Bianca Tylek, executive director of Worth Rises, “the private prison stocks were actually the biggest single day gainers after Trump’s election” in November 2016.

By February 2017, both stocks have doubled since election day, with CoreCivic up 140% and GEO Group up 98%. Wall Street investors correctly anticipate that Trump will reverse the Obama administration’s August 2016 directive to phase out private federal prisons and will aggressively expand immigration detention. The stock surge demonstrates how financial markets view Trump’s presidency as profitable for the incarceration industry.

The extraordinary market response reveals the direct connection between electoral politics and corporate profits from human detention. Investors bet that Trump’s campaign promises of immigration crackdowns and “tough on crime” policies will translate to higher occupancy rates and expanded contracts. The private prison industry had donated heavily to Trump’s campaign, and Wall Street expects returns on those investments. The stock performance proves that mass incarceration and harsh immigration enforcement are not just policy choices—they are profit opportunities for publicly traded corporations and their shareholders.