Tommy Tuberville traded these 4 stocks at the perfect time: Why they raised red flags
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville is the most active stock trader in the U.S. Senate with hundreds of transactions, according to analysis of his financial disclosures.
The stock trading activity of Alabama’s senior senator has raised “red flags” with good government groups.
Tuberville has long maintained that he is not involved in the day-to-day activity of his stock trading and that his broker manages his portfolio.
As a senator, Tuberville has access to information the public doesn’t and has ability to set policy that impacts the stock market.
Here are four stocks and commodities the senator’s portfolio has traded with that either have links to his committees or were made shortly before events that wildly swung the markets.
Apple
Tuberville’s trade of Apple at the start of the year – as President Donald Trump heated up his rhetoric on tariffs – was deemed “super suspicious” by financial news outlet Finbold.
On a single day in January, Tuberville sold between $15,001 and $50,000 of his stock in both Microsoft and Apple.
That came just before a market downturn for tech companies. Apple plummeted nearly 30% to its lowest point in early April and lost $300 billion in market value as Trump’s tariff threats solidified. Tech companies that depend on manufacturing and trade with China have been caught in the crossfire of the tariffs.
In early April, Tuberville blamed Wall Street for the market downturn. He doubled down on his support for Trump’s tariffs as the value of tech stocks plunged, even though he’d already sold off some of his stocks months before the mass sell-off.
Microsoft
Microsoft holds Defense Department contracts. Tuberville is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In 2021, Tuberville and his wife, Suzanne, reported earning between $15,003 and $45,000 in capital gains on Microsoft stock options they held.
On June 23, 2021, the Tubervilles sold Microsoft stock options worth between $1,001 and $15,000.
Thirteen days later, Microsoft lost a $10 billion cloud computing contract it had with the Defense Department.
Commodities
Tuberville is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which The New York Times reported discussed bills in 2021 that could affect cattle prices.
Alabama’s senior senator is also a member of the committee’s Subcommittee on Commodities, Derivatives, Risk Management, and Trade. The subcommittee “oversees commodity programs, derivatives and digital assets, crop insurance and agriculture trade,” according to its website.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is listed as one of the subcommittee’s “related agencies.”
Tuberville made several futures trades in commodities, including corn, cattle and wheat. He has said he never sent his broker any information the committee was privy to.
In 2021, the Tubervilles reported earning between $98,421 and $237,200 in capital gains from their commodities trading, according to Tuberville’s financial disclosure filings.
Humacyte
Humacyte is a biotechnology company “developing universally implantable, bioengineered human tissue at commercial scale.” The company has used the technology to help treat wounded Ukrainian soldiers since May of 2022.
On July 25, 2023 the Tubervilles made three separate purchases of Humacyte stock valued between $3,003 and $45,000 in total.
At the time, Humacyte one of the “most obscure” stocks in the couple’s portfolio, was near an all-time low of $2.87 a share when the buys were made, according to Newsweek.
Just weeks later, the company held an earnings call and “discussed the successful use of its replacement blood vessel technology in treating a litany of Ukrainian soldiers’ traumatic wounds, ranging from gunshots to blast injuries,” Newsweek reported.
The outlet noted Tuberville sits on two committees that overlap with Humacyte’s work: Armed Services and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
On April 30, 2024 the Tubervilles sold between $50,001 and $100,000 worth of the stock, which closed at $3.92 a share – roughly a 37% increase from the couple’s initial purchase price.
That was followed by another sale days later. On May 3, 2024, the couple cashed out between $16,002 and $65,000 worth of the stock, which closed at $4.4 a share that day, representing a more than 53% return.