Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) stock soared Friday morning before erasing gains and falling double digits after former President Donald Trump clashed with current Commander-in-Chief Joe Biden at the first presidential debate of 2024.
Shares of the parent company of Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, fell about 12% in late afternoon trading.
Debate experts say Biden’s difficult debate performance, which included a hoarse voice and moments of confusion, could help Trump win will come November. Biden’s age of 81 has been a hot topic among voters worried about whether or not he can continue to lead the country.
“Biden’s awkward and hesitant performance has amplified concerns about his fitness to serve and sparked a new wave of panic within the Democratic Party,” said Isaac Boltansky, BTIG’s director of policy research, in response to Thursday’s debate. “Trump won the debate and should be considered the front-runner this morning, but his behavior and lies appear to underscore concerns among some voters about his fitness for office.”
DJT shares have had a turbulent ride in recent months, swinging between highs and lows.
In May, Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records intended to influence the 2016 presidential campaign — a verdict that sent shares down 5% the day after the conviction.
Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, went public on the Nasdaq after merge with special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp.
Shares have fallen about 44% since the company’s IPO in late March.
Trump founded Truth Social after being kicked off major social media apps like Facebook (META) and Twitter, the platform now known as X, following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. Trump has since been reinstated on these platforms, although the former president posted almost exclusively on his Truth Social account throughout the trial.
In April, a updated regulatory file Trump Media reported sales of just over $4 million while net losses reached nearly $60 million for the full year ended Dec. 31. The company warned that it expected losses to continue amid broader profitability challenges.
In May, the company reported First-quarter results showed a loss of $327 million, mostly related to expenses related to its SPAC deal. The company disclosed that as of April 29, more than 621,000 different shareholders held shares in Trump Media, noting that the “vast majority” of them were retail investors.
Trump maintains a policy roughly 60% of the shares in DJT. At a current level of around $32 per share, Trump Media boasts a market capitalization of around $4.3 billion, giving the former president a stake worth around $2.6 billion. of dollars. Just after the company’s IPO, Trump’s stake was worth just over $4.5 billion.
At the end of April, the title reached an important milestone…
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