DJT: Trump Media shares erase 2024 gains as key sale date nears
Although this is pretty much what should happen to a company with no real value and no realistic future, chances are good that the Trump cult has largely stuck with this stock and have ridden it down to almost its IPO price. The stock will likely drop below the IPO price.
Some speculate that DJT stock is a financial reflection of Trump's political strength. Possibly a little bit, but one can only hope that speculation is dead on.
Anyway, Trump will do fine (money for nothing) unless the stock drops to pennies. His followers, however, are mostly screwed. And if Trump decides to cash in before the stock hits pennies, he will absolutely screw his loyal followers who have stubbornly stuck with DJT stock like they stubbornly stick with this scoundrel.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
- Trump Media shares closed Wednesday below where they ended 2023.
- The stock price of DJT, which created the social media platform Truth Social, has slumped ahead of the date when Donald Trump will have the option to start selling his stake.
- The stock has fallen more than 75% from its intraday peak in its Nasdaq trading debut following a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
Trump Media shares on Wednesday closed below where they stood at the end of 2023, as the Truth Social maker's stock continued to slide ahead of the date when majority-owner Donald Trump can begin selling his stake.
The DJT slump, which followed a brief surge in mid-July spurred by the former president surviving an assassination attempt, has shaved billions of dollars off the company's market capitalization.
Trump Media ended the trading day at $16.98 per share, a 6% decline on the day.
The stock has fallen more than 75% from its intraday peak of $79.38 per share, which it hit in its Nasdaq trading debut in late March following Trump Media's merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
Stock Chart IconStock chart iconTrump Media (DJT) Share Price
The stock price has ricocheted since then, as traders and analysts increasingly viewed Trump Media as a meme stock and as its value rose and fell with the political fortunes of the Republican presidential nominee.
Shares of the SPAC, Digital World Acquisition Corp., were at $17.50 at the market close on Dec. 29, the last trading session of 2023.
They shot up in mid-January, around the time that Trump emerged as the clear frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary.
A Trump Media spokesperson told CNBC in a statement, "Trump Media is rapidly building out our platform while maintaining a strong balance sheet."
"So far in 2024, we achieved a key milestone with the launch of our in-app streaming platform on our uncancellable, custom-built content delivery network while maintaining a strong Q2 financial position with $344 million in cash and cash equivalents and zero debt," the spokesperson said.
Despite losing millions of dollars in consecutive fiscal quarters and generating scant revenue from Truth Social ad sales, Trump Media's market capitalization is currently around $3.5 billion. At its post-merger peak in late March, it was valued at nearly $8 billion.
Trump owns nearly 59% of the company's outstanding shares, which at Wednesday's price were worth just under $2 billion — about half of his total on-paper net worth, according to Forbes.
Trump and other company insiders cannot sell their shares until a lock-up agreement expires, which could be as soon as Sept. 19.
That upcoming deadline has stoked speculation about whether Trump will try to cash out his shares or hold onto his stake.
If he does move to sell, he could rattle other investors' confidence in the stock and push the price even lower.
Even if he doesn't, other early investors could. Trump Media last month asked a Florida judge to temporarily block two firms involved in the SPAC merger from selling more than 18 million shares once their lockup expires.
The company's request, which described that sale as "imminent," was denied.
As the lock-up deadline approaches, Trump has increasingly posted on other social media platforms, including TikTok and Elon Musk's X.
Trump nevertheless talked up Truth Social in a recent interview with podcaster Lex Fridman.
"Truth is very powerful," Trump said. "And it's my platform and it's been very powerful, very, very powerful."
"Truth has become a very successful platform. And I like doing it, and it goes everywhere. As soon as I do it, it goes everywhere," he added.
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I normally would feel sorry for unsophisticated investors investing their limited money in a junk stock like DJT, but those who did so because of Trump (as opposed to sophisticated investors who exploited the dynamics of the stock) are also part of the group that is voting for this scoundrel. They are, in short, the reason why Trump continues.
at least this trump scam is technically a semi-legal grift...
When the stock tanks (after Trump gets his money out) and all the maga investors go bust you can be certain Trump will blame Harris, and they will all believe him!
"As soon as I do it, it goes everywhere," he added.
If you don't believe him, just ask Melania.
Start substituting, Trump Vodka, et al
etc., etc.,
I don't think any of his business ventures have been successful except for maybe his real estate. But Trump steaks, vodka, university, etc are all done
Owning a casino is universally seen as basically a license to print money … unless you’re Donald Trump. His casino venture was more geared towards transferring his partners fortunes into his bank account to bankrupt the business.
There are or have been huge stretches of land throughout the NYC where Trump deals crashed and burned or are stuck in legal battles over eminent domain.
He was only successful at selling himself as a success, trademarking Trump as a brand and sucking the life out of every thing he touched.
When he passes the kids will find out how leveraged he is on all of those overvalued golf courses.
Sounds like they aren't going to have much of an inheritance