The profits vs protests: Corporate value dynamics amidst activist uproar

•Early phase of Israel–Hamas war yielded positive CARs for Israel-connected firms.•Protests on U.S. campuses triggered negative CARs for Israel-connected firms.•Protests imposed short-run tangible cost on firms accused of unethical behavior.•Longer-term impact of protests is statistically insignificant and ambiguous. We examine the impact of student protests and geopolitical events on the firms targeted for divestment during the 2023–2024 Israel–Hamas conflict. Utilizing event study methodology, we analyze cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) across eight key conflict periods. We find positive CARs for targeted firms at the onset of the conflict, but significant negative CARs are reported as student protests escalated. This provides evidence of the tangible impacts of public pressure campaigns on market perceptions and valuations in the short-run. However, we observe positive CARs after student protests subsided which suggests potential limitations to the sustained impact of such activism and shows the market's capacity to normalize extraordinary events over time.