These 7 Major Brands Just Warned That Shoppers Are Cutting Back

President Donald Trump's tariffs have significantly shaken the international economy. One of the most apparent impacts that the increase in import and export taxes has had domestically is that consumers are becoming much more conservative in their spending. A recent survey from the Conference Board showed consumer confidence tumbled in March, hitting its lowest level since January 2021. "Consumer confidence declined for a fourth consecutive month in March, falling below the relatively narrow range that had prevailed since 2022," said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board. "Consumers' expectations were especially gloomy, with pessimism about future business conditions deepening and confidence about future employment prospects falling to a 12-year low. Meanwhile, consumers' optimism about future income—which had held up quite strongly in the past few months—largely vanished, suggesting worries about the economy and labor market have started to spread into consumers' assessments of their personal situations." And, several American brands have confirmed that shoppers are spending less money. Here are seven who claim that sales are way down.

PepsiCo

PepsiCo reported a 1.8 percent decline in revenue to $17.9 billion for the quarter ended March 22, and a 10 percent drop in net income to $1.8 billion compared to the same period a year earlier. "Relative to where we were three months ago, we probably aren't feeling as good about the consumer now," Jamie Caulfield, the chief financial officer of PepsiCo, told Wall Street analysts and investors on an earnings call Thursday morning, per the New York Times.

Chipotle

Chipotle reported its first decline in same-store sales since 2020. "It was all around this idea of saving money, economic uncertainty — they're eating at home more frequently than they're eating out," Scott Boatwright, Chipotle's chief executive, said about consumer behavior. The underlying trend? Is "really tied to the consumer sitting on the sideline."

Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble, a purveyor of many laundry products, maintains that consumers are doing less laundry and purchasing fewer products. Andre Schulten, the company's chief financial officer, told Yahoo Finance that they cut their full-year outlook due to a "pause" in consumption.  "We expect uncertainty to continue," P&G CEO Jon Moeller added.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

American Airlines

American Airlines withdrew its annual forecast, due to a significant drop in domestic leisure travel beginning in February. "We came off a strong fourth quarter, saw decent business in January and really domestic leisure travel fell off considerably as we went into the February time frame," CEO Robert Isom told CNBC's Squawk Box.

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines pulled its guidance a month earlier. "Given broad economic uncertainty around global trade, growth has largely stopped," CEO Ed Bastian said on an earnings call. However, he expected the airline to deliver "solid" profitability and "meaningful" cash overall in 2025.

Gatorade (PepsiCo-owned)

Gatorade, part of the PepsiCo family, was directly impacted, not only by the tariffs, but by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s war against sugar and dyes.  This week, he declared that "sugar is poison" during a news conference, demanding that manufacturers remove petroleum-based food colorings from their products by the end of 2026.

Chili's, Maggiano's, Cheesecake Factor

Barclays revised its price target for Brinker International (EAT, Financial),  Chili's and Maggiano's Little Italy, reducing it from $190 to $165, and Cheesecake Factory (CAKE, Financial), from $50 to $46. Both were due to a projected decrease in consumer spending.