Gas Prices Are Crushing Lower-Income Consumers, and These 3 Stocks Could Take the Hit

1 hour ago 1

James Brumley, The Motley Fool

Tue, May 12, 2026 astatine 5:35 AM CDT 4 min read

Prices astatine U.S. state pumps aren't conscionable irritatingly high; they're debilitating. Many Americans are feeling immoderate superior budgetary strain owed to the outgo of driving their cars. Lower-income households are feeling the astir pain, truthful overmuch truthful that they're being forced to alteration their spending habits.

Here are 3 stocks that could endure the astir if high state prices proceed to instrumentality a toll connected user spending.

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A idiosyncratic successful a big-box store is comparing prices.

McDonald's

At archetypal blush, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) would look similar a beneficiary of tighter budgets. After all, it's a value-priced alternate to much costly "sit-down" restaurants. The fast-food concatenation besides reported 3.8% maturation successful past quarter's worldwide same-store sales, confirming it's inactive drafting a crowd.

Some cracks successful the company's marketability are starting to show, however. Much of past quarter's maturation was driven by lower-priced value-oriented items connected its menu. As CEO Christopher Kempczinski said astir the deteriorating economical backdrop, during McDonald's first-quarter net league call: "I deliberation astir apt it's just to accidental that it's getting -- it's surely not improving, and it whitethorn beryllium getting a small spot worse."

It astir sounds similar a informing based connected what he's seen since the extremity of March.

Dollar General

Dollar General (NYSE: DG) is different sanction that superficially seems similar it should beryllium a beneficiary of economical malaise, arsenic consumers opt for its little prices alternatively of buying astatine Target oregon Walmart.

That's not rather wherever Dollar General sits successful consumers' spending rationales, however. Walmart already offers the lowest prices connected astir user staples. Dollar General's main entreaty is geographical proximity to lower-income shoppers, mostly successful agrarian communities. When wealth gets tight, a wide swath of its lawsuit basal simply stops spending altogether, arsenic determination is nary viable "trade-down" enactment for those consumers, or for the retailer.

That was surely what the institution experienced backmost successful 2023, coming retired of the pandemic funk into a play of pugnacious inflation. That year's full income lone improved 2.2%, and same-store income fundamentally stagnated portion galore different companies were thriving amid the economical betterment underway astatine the time.

JetBlue Airways

Finally, portion precocious substance prices precocious forced fund hose Spirit to upwind down its operations, it's not the lone sanction successful the hose concern to run connected the borderline of insolvency successful an effort to beryllium arsenic price-competitive arsenic possible. JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) is successful a akin boat, and apt to amusement akin strain erstwhile it reports the existent quarter's results adjacent the extremity of July.

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