Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) hit their highest level since July on Tuesday, rising as much as 10% as investors bet on former President Donald Trump’s improved chances of winning the November election in exactly two weeks.
Shares in the company, home to the Republican candidate’s social media platform Truth Social, have surged recently as both domestic and foreign betting markets shift in favor of a Trump victory, with prediction sites like Polymarket, PredictIt and Kalshi all show Trump’s expectations. presidential chances greater than those of Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris.
However, national polls show both candidates in an incredibly close race, especially in key states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, which will likely determine the fate of the election.
The stock’s recovery comes after shares traded at their lowest levels since the company’s debut following the expiration of its much-publicized lock-up period last month. Stocks were also under pressure as previous polls in early September showed Harris slightly ahead of the former president.
Trump’s recent campaign momentum, which just included a stop at a local McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, follows an appearance by Elon Musk at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this month. It was the same location where the former president survived an assassination attempt in July.
Tech billionaire Musk, who is CEO of Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX and also owns social media platform X (formerly Twitter), has been outspoken about his support for Trump ahead of next month’s election. Trump has even said he would consider a Cabinet position for Musk, but that the businessman would likely not be able to serve “with all he has to offer.”
During the rally, Musk told the crowd that Trump is the only candidate who can “preserve democracy in America,” adding that this will be “the last election” if Trump does not win.
Meanwhile, Harris has recently embarked on a flurry of media appearances in which she was pressed about how she would fund some of her proposals around the economy and immigration.
Trump founded Truth Social after being kicked off major social media apps like Facebook (META) and Twitter, now X, following the Capitol riots of January 6, 2021. Trump has since been reinstated on those platforms. He officially returned to X in mid-August after a hiatus of about a year.
But as Truth Social tries to take on the social media incumbents, the company’s fundamentals have long been in question.
In August, DJT reported second-quarter results showing a net loss of $16.4 million, about half of which was related to expenses related to the company’s SPAC deal. The company also reported revenue of just under $837,000 for the quarter ended June 30, down 30% year over year.
Earlier this month, the company announced that its COO had resigned in September.
Trump has about a 60% stake in DJT. At current levels of over $33 per share, Trump Media has a market capitalization of about $6.7 billion, giving the former president a stake of about $4 billion. Immediately after the company’s public debut, Trump’s stake was worth just over $4.5 billion.
Trump Media went public in late March after merging with special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp. news cycle.
Over the past six months, shares are down about 8% – a huge improvement following the rally after shares hit their lows last month.
Stakeholders, including the former president, were subject to a six-month lock-up period before they could sell or transfer shares. That lock-up period expired on September 19, although Trump said at the time he would not sell his stake.
“I have absolutely no intention of selling,” the former president told reporters at a news conference before the lock-up period expired. “I love it. I use it as a method to speak my word.”
Alexandra Canal is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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