Trump Media & Technology Group, trading under the ticker DJT, has recently seen a surge in its stock price, with shares jumping 18% on Monday, closing at $29.95. This surge follows three weeks of gains that reversed a slump that had brought the stock to a post-listing low at the end of September. Despite the recent gains, the stock is still trading at less than half the price of its March peak, but it has more than doubled since hitting a low of $11.75 on September 24. The volatility of Trump Media shares has led some analysts to label it a meme stock, with its loyal base of Trump voters driving the stock price.
Trump Media’s core asset is the social media platform Truth Social, and it recently announced that its streaming service, Truth+ TV, is now available online. The stock’s performance has also been linked to Trump’s potential electoral success in the November 5 election, with prediction markets giving better odds to Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris. The $DJT group on Truth Social, with over 20,000 members, often includes posts from Trump supporters encouraging others to buy DJT stock, attributing the recent surge to their support for Trump. Despite the recent gains, the stock is still far from its peak of $79.38 on March 26 when it went public.
The recent slump in Trump Media’s stock price in September was partly due to the expiration of a lock-up period following the company’s initial stock sale. This lock-up period kept executives from selling their shares immediately after the IPO to prevent undermining the stock price. With the expiration of the lock-up period, insiders including top executives at Trump Media can now sell their DJT stock. While Trump has stated that he will not sell his shares, another insider, United Atlantic Ventures, sold a large stake in the company, which may have contributed to the stock’s dip in September. United Atlantic Ventures, created by former “The Apprentice” contestants Andrew Litinsky and Wes Moss, owned 7.5 million shares of Trump Media as of March, about 4% of the company’s outstanding shares.
Trump remains the company’s largest shareholder, owning almost 60% of the company, valued at about $3.4 billion at the current price. The relationship between Litinsky, Moss, and Trump Media soured, resulting in multiple lawsuits between the parties. Despite the controversies and volatility surrounding Trump Media’s stock, the company continues to attract attention and interest from investors, particularly those loyal to Trump. The performance of DJT stock reflects the broader political and social dynamics at play, with Trump’s influence and following impacting the stock price. Time will tell how Trump Media & Technology Group and its various assets, including Truth Social and Truth+ TV, will fare in the increasingly competitive media landscape.
