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Tag: Trump Media

  • Trump Media plummets to new low on the first trading day the former president can sell his shares

    Trump Media plummets to new low on the first trading day the former president can sell his shares

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    Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group slumped to their lowest level ever at the opening bell Friday, the first trading day that its biggest shareholder, former President Donald Trump, is free to sell his stake in the company behind the Truth Social platform.

    Shares of Trump Media, commonly called TMTG, tumbled almost 7% to $13.73, putting the value of the company at less than $3 billion. Trump owns more than half of it.

    Trump and other insiders in the company have been unable to cash in on the highly volatile stock due standard lock-up agreements that prevent big stakeholders from selling stakes for a set period after a company becomes publicly traded. TMTG began trading publicly in March.

    Trump owns nearly 115 million shares of the company, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Based on TMTG’s share price early Friday, Trump’s holdings are worth, at least on paper, about $1.6 billion. It’s usually not in the best interest of big stakeholders to even attempt to sell large tranches of their stock because it could risk a broader sell-off.

    Since going public, shares in Trump Media have gyrated wildly, often depending on news related to Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.

    One week ago, the company’s shares jumped nearly 12% after Trump said he wouldn’t sell shares when the lock-up period lifted. The stock dipped more than 10% following the debate earlier this month between Trump and the Democrats’ nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. In mid-July, shares climbed more than 31% in the first day of trading following the first assassination attempt on Trump.

    Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. is now worth considerably less than several months ago. When the company made its debut on the Nasdaq in March, shares hit a high of $79.38.

    Truth Social came into existence after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Based in Sarasota, Florida, Trump Media has been losing money and struggling to raise revenue. It lost nearly $58.2 million last year while generating only $4.1 million in revenue, according to regulatory filings.

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  • Trump Media slides to new low as lock-up expires

    Trump Media slides to new low as lock-up expires

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    (Reuters) -Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group fell 5% on Friday as the Truth Social parent extended this week’s steep selloff after a lock-up on insider sales expired.

    Shares of the $2.9 billion firm, which is 57% owned by U.S. Republican candidate Donald Trump, have slumped about 18% in the past four straight sessions and is down about 80% from their April peak.

    Trump, whose stake is currently worth $1.6 billion, said last week he does not plan on selling his shares, turning the focus to other major stakeholders who could sell shares.

    United Atlantic Ventures and Patrick Orlando, whose fund, ARC Global Investments II, sponsored the blank-check company that merged with Trump Media in March, together own about 11% of Trump Media shares.

    With only a third of Trump Media’s shares currently available for trading, any stake sale is expected to rock the shares.

    “Not only will the possible new selling activity affect DJT’s stock price directly, it will also increase DJT’s stock lending pool which will facilitate increased short selling in the stock,” said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners, in a note on Thursday.

    Trump Media and Orlando did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

    Shares of the loss-making company were last trading at the lowest since their March debut at $14 as restrictions on insider sales expired Thursday after markets closed.

    (Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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  • Donald Trump nabs additional $1.1 billion ‘earnout’ bonus from DJT stock

    Donald Trump nabs additional $1.1 billion ‘earnout’ bonus from DJT stock

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    Trump Media & Technology Group stock (DJT) has hit a milestone that will secure Donald Trump an additional $1.1 billion.

    According to a regulatory filing, Trump is entitled to an additional 36 million shares if the company’s share price trades above $17.50 “for twenty out of any thirty trading days” over the next three years.

    Trump secured his “earnout” bonus at the end of Tuesday’s trading session, with the stock trading around $33 a share at the close.

    Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, went public on the Nasdaq after merging with special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp. in a deal approved by shareholders late last month. Shares are down nearly 60% since the end of March.

    Short interest in DJT stock — bets that the stock price will fall rather than rise — is about 13% of outstanding shares, according to the latest data from S3 Partners. The company recently attempted to fend off short sellers by advising investors on ways to prevent their shares from being loaned for short-interest positions.

    Trump maintains a roughly 60% stake in the company. At current levels, Trump Media boasts a market cap of roughly $4.3 billion, giving the former president a stake worth around $2.6 billion. Right after the company’s public debut, Trump’s stake was worth just over $4.5 billion.

    Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump does a little dance after speaking, Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at a rally in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

    Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump does a little dance after speaking, Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at a rally in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

    The former president founded Truth Social after he was kicked off major social media apps like Facebook (META) and Twitter, the platform now known as X, following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots in 2021. Trump has since been reinstated on those platforms.

    According to an updated regulatory filing released earlier this month, Trump Media reported sales of just over $4 million as net losses reached nearly $60 million for the full year ending Dec. 31. The company warned it expects losses to continue amid greater profitability challenges.

    The filing also confirmed stakeholders are still subject to a six-month lockup period before selling or transferring shares. The only exception to the lockup period would be if the company’s board votes to make a special dispensation. Although possible, experts told Yahoo Finance last month the attempt would likely result in multiple lawsuits on behalf of public shareholders.

    Trump faces a $454 million fraud penalty and a campaign fundraising shortfall ahead of his 2024 election rematch against Biden.

    Trump recently posted a $175 million bond in the fraud case, which puts the final payment on hold while he appeals the verdict.

    He is also on criminal trial related to alleged payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

    Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected to reflect Trump’s expected payout of $1.1 billion, not $1.1 million. We regret the error.

    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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  • Here’s how users on Truth Social are feeling about Trump Media’s steep stock decline

    Here’s how users on Truth Social are feeling about Trump Media’s steep stock decline

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    Donald Trump (left) and a phone displaying his social media app, Truth Social.Brandon Bell/Christoph Dernbach/Getty Images

    • The crash of Trump Media stock has rattled some Truth Social users.

    • Some on the social media site have claimed the company’s stock has been artificially devalued.

    • Shares of Trump Media are down about 30% in the last week.

    Truth Social users are feeling glum about Trump Media’s stock crash.

    Users on the social media platform — referred to on the site as “Truthsayers” — have been buzzing about the stock’s steep decline since it went public at the end of March. Shares of Trump Media have tanked more than 50% since March 27, with the stock dropping another 18% this week after the company moved to allow insider shareholders to potentially sell stock before the six-month lockup period is up. Shares declined further on Tuesday after the company announced that it would launch a streaming platform.

    Reactions to the plunge on the social media site ranged, with some users expressing shock and dismay, to acknowledgment that the shares might not regain lost value. A few said the sell-off was evidence of a conspiracy to discredit the former president and tank his net worth.

    “What is happening to DJT stock,” one user said in a reply to a post from Donald Trump’s official account, claiming they had invested their life savings into the company. “Please do something about the crash.”

    More conspiratorial Truthsayers have accused short-sellers of foul play, claiming that the share price has been artificially lowered somehow.

    “Remain Calm,” one user wrote on April 15, the day Trump Media shares plummeted 18%. “This drop was literally just someone selling 140k shares in 10 minutes premarket. This is extreme manipulation at best. There isn’t a massive sell-off. It’s one or a handful of people trying to cause panic.”

    “They’ll do anything to discredit President Trump,” another user replied. “God has different plans and will save the nations in HIS Perfect timing.”

    Other users blamed the Securities and Exchange Commission, as regulators did not pause trading of the stock during its decline. The SEC may suspend trading for up to 10 days if it believes doing so would protect the public in the event a company is not meeting its duties to shareholders. This is different, however, from a trading halt, which is ordered by an exchange to protect investors from excessive volatility.

    “DWAC has fallen over 30% over the last few trading days but they don’t cease trading.  They don’t like President @realDonaldTrump and his policies, especially his creation, Truth Social, so they are trying to destroy his company, DJT,” one user claimed.

    A smaller number of users were still touting the stock amid the plunge. Buying the shares is an “excellent” way to support Trump’s presidential campaign, and an investment in “uncensored free speech,” some Truthsayers wrote.

    Trump, who owns about 58% of Truth Social’s parent company, has fiercely defended the site from its critics. In a recent post on the site, the former president called his social media platform “AMAZING,” saying it had $200 million in cash on hand and no debt on its balance sheet.

    Truth Social has also looked to pass blame for the recent damage to its business. Shortly after the stock’s steep decline, Trump Media filed a suit against two of Truth Social’s creators, claiming they had failed “spectacularly” at their jobs and done “significant damage” to the company ahead of its highly-anticipated public debut.

    “I think daddy Trump has some surprises for us, we just have to be patient and wait for it,” one Truthsayer recently wrote on Trump Media stock. “NFA but I’ll buy more tomorrow. Gotta love the price.”

    Read the original article on Business Insider

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  • Barry Diller says Trump Media is ‘a scam’ and people buying shares are ‘dopes’

    Barry Diller says Trump Media is ‘a scam’ and people buying shares are ‘dopes’

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    Barry Diller, IAC chairman, had some harsh words for Trump Media and its shareholders.Mike Blake/REUTERS

    • Barry Diller thinks that shareholders of Truth Social’s owner have been scammed.

    • The IAC chairman pointed to Trump Media’s low revenue and said he doubts Truth Social will grow.

    • Shares for Trump Media and Technology Group initially surged after going public, but have since tumbled.

    Barry Diller has a message for Trump Media shareholders: “I think they’re dopes.”

    The owner of the Truth Social app, Trump Media and Technology Group, enjoyed a soaring debut when it went public last week, attracting the interest of retail investors and the “meme stock” crowd.

    But that moment in the sun was short-lived, and shares of the former president’s social media platform have since come crashing down to earth.

    Diller, media mogul and chairman of IAC and Expedia Group, didn’t sound very optimistic about the stock’s future when asked about it during a recent interview — and doesn’t get why people were so excited about it in the first place.

    “Why are you even talking about this? It’s a scam,” Diller said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Thursday.

    TMTG’s total revenue in 2023 was just $4.1 million, according to an SEC filing on Monday — while losing $58 million. Those numbers, Diller suggested, should not indicate “buy” to any reasonable investor.

    “It’s ridiculous,” he said. “The company has no revenue.”

    Questioning how anyone could see Trump Media as a valuable company, Diller concluded that its shareholders must not have financial soundness in mind when purchasing the stock. “They’re buying it for other reasons,” he said, calling them “dopes.”

    Diller likened the surge in Truth Social’s owner to the frenzy around Gamestop and other “meme stocks.”

    Diller said the platform offers little opportunity for future growth.

    “Why would it be bigger?” he asked, adding that Donald Trump — a major part of the platform’s appeal — is “only interesting now” because he’s “out there entertaining the folks” on the campaign trail.

    TMTG did not return a request for comment before publication.

    Truth Social’s barnstorming debut briefly inflated Trump’s net worth to an estimated $7.8 billion, making him richer than George Soros. But just a few days later, that number has tumbled to $6.4 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Friday.

    Meanwhile, short-sellers are already betting millions against the company, The New York Times reported, citing data from S3 Partners.

    Trump could also find it difficult to materially benefit from Trump Media in the short-term, since he is prevented from selling his shares for another six months as part of a “lock up” period — unless the company’s board allows otherwise.

    Read the original article on Business Insider

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