Can Sweeney's popularity revive the company? No one is really asking yet.
July 23, 2025
Shares of American Eagle rose 21% after hours for reasons that are a mystery to people who think Sydney Sweeney is "mid".
The "Sydney Sweeney has Great Jeans" campaign, featuring the popular actress in AEO denim, added just under $400 million to the company's market cap after hours, which is apparently when the chatroom crowd got done doing other things online.
American Eagle is the 4th largest seller of denim in the US.
Here's AEO at 1:30 this afternoon, hours after the campaign was announced by AEO:
Here's AEO after hours, when the accompanying TV ad hit financial television:
Shares of AEO are still down 25% YTD after a pair of disappointing earnings reports. Sweeney has previously appeared in campaigns for Guess? $GES. Another company that sells Denim only with much worse art and no TV ads quite as memorable.
