Trump Media stock price tumbles after $58 million loss reported
The stock for former President Donald Trump's social media company has fallen sharply since public trading began last week after an SEC report showed the company's losses last year.
The newly public Trump Media stock plunged Monday after the company reported a $58.2 million loss in 2023.
Trump Media & Technology Group’s flagship product is Truth Social, the social media company former President Donald Trump launched in 2022 after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook in 2021 during the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Truth Social recently merged with Digital World Acquisition Corp., making the stock available for public trading on the Nasdaq stock market as of last week.
While the new stock made significant gains when it first hit the market, it plummeted on Monday after the company reported a net loss of more than $58 million, with just over $4.13 million revenue in 2023, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The company had just $2.7 million cash on hand at the close of the year, according to CNBC News.
In 2022, the company saw $50.5 million in profits and a total revenue of $1.47 million.
Trump Media’s stock plunged more than 23% to below $48 midday Monday before closing at $48.66, and according to CNBC News, shares were down by more than 25% shortly after 1 p.m.
In its filing, the media company said it expects operating losses to continue, CNBC News reported. While Trump’s political supporters can help the stock’s success, the filing said the former president’s involvement also poses a risk, per CNBC.
» READ MORE: Who is Jeff Yass, Pennsylvania’s Republican megadonor and TikTok investor?
As of December, Bala Cynwyd-based Susquehanna International Group was the largest institutional shareholder in Digital World Acquisition Corp. Susquehanna’s founder is Pennsylvania billionaire Jeffrey Yass, a Republican megadonor who has been floated as a potential treasury secretary under a potential Trump administration.
A spokesperson for Susquehanna said last week the firm “has zero economic interest” in Digital World, saying it had offset the value of those purchased shares by taking an equal number of short positions so it could act as market maker and oversee trading of options in the merged company. The company plays this role for many well-known stocks.
Yass’ firm is a major investor in TikTok, the Beijing-based social media platform that Trump has defended in recent weeks against a bipartisan push to force a sale or ban it in the U.S.
This article includes information from the Associated Press.