Trump Media & Technology Group’s stock jumped Friday after Donald Trump scored what political pundits nearly unanimously agreed was a victory over President Biden in the candidates’ first debate of the 2024 election season. Shares of TMTG, which operates the unprofitable niche social media network Truth Social , were up more than 13% in premarket trading Friday, to over $41/share. That came after the volatile stock closed down 6.
4% in regular trading Thursday. The uptick in TMTG’s stock price reflects investor enthusiasm for Trump’s appearance in the June 27 debate with Biden on CNN . Trump uttered numerous untruths — which were largely left unchallenged by CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash — but he won the night relative to Biden’s halting and muted delivery.
“Trump left Biden in the dust. Relative to his previous debate performances, Trump even came off as (God help us) presidential,” Variety ‘s Owen Gleiberman opined . The increase in the stock price of TMTG makes Trump’s stake in the company currently worth over $4.
7 billion. He owns 64.9% of its shares although he is restricted from selling them until late September due to a post-merger lock-up requirement.
The current $6 billion-plus market valuation of TMTG is abnormal, given the company’s miniscule revenue and significant losses to date. The company reported $770,500 in revenue for the first quarter of 2024 — and a staggering net loss of $327.6 million .
Most of the Q1 loss stemmed fro.
