Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), the parent company of Truth Social, former President Donald Trump’s social media platform, have had a bumpy ride after Trump was found guilty of all 34 charges of falsifying company data that was intended to influence the 2016 presidential election. campaign.
Stocks initially fell (and then climbed back) during the extended trading hours following Trump’s conviction late Thursday. But the stock ended Friday’s session firmly in the red, down about 5%.
Trump, who is likely to appeal the verdict, will be sentenced on July 11 and faces up to four years in prison on each charge.
Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, went public after a merger with special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp.
Shares are down about 15% since the company’s public debut in late March.
Trump founded Truth Social after being kicked off major social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, the platform now known as president posted almost exclusively to his Truth Social account during the trial.
In April, an updated filing with regulators showed that Trump Media reported revenue of just over $4 million, while net losses were nearly $60 million for the full year ended December 31. The company warned that it expects losses to continue amid heightened profitability challenges.
In May, the company reported first-quarter results that showed a $327 million loss, largely related to expenses related to the SPAC deal. The company announced on April 29 that more than 621,000 different shareholders owned shares in Trump Media, noting that the “vast majority” of these were retail investors.
Trump has about a 60% stake in Truth Social. At Friday’s closing price of about $49 per share, Trump Media has a market capitalization of roughly $6.6 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.
At the end of April, the stock reached a milestone that netted Trump another $1.2 billion. However, stakeholders are still subject to a six-month lock-up period before they can sell or transfer shares.
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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