The value of former President Donald Trump’s social media company spiked Monday after he was injured in an attempted assassination over the weekend. Trump Media & Technology Group’s share price surged more than 30% Monday morning, putting it on track for what would be the biggest single-day gain since the company debuted in late March.
During premarket trading, Trump Media shares skyrocketed by 70% at one point before the gains eased during regular trading. The spike is sharply lifting the value of Trump’s dominant stake in the owner of Truth Social.
At current prices, Trump’s 114.75 million shares in Trump Media are worth nearly $5 billion. That’s up from $3.5 billion on Friday, the day before Trump was shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trading under the ticker symbol “DJT,” Trump Media has achieved a massive valuation despite making little revenue and Truth Social remaining a tiny player in social media.
Experts have said Trump Media is a meme stock: trading on momentum and hype, not fundamentals.For months, Trump Media has been a way for investors to bet on Trump returning to the White House, making Truth Social the primary platform for presidential communications.
Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, told CNN on Monday that traders are already speculating that Trump’s chances of winning in November have gone up significantly in the past few days.
“You are seeing the Trump trade on steroids here. DJT is the go-to,” Tuttle said. The rally comes as Trump prepares to formally accept the Republican nomination for president at the convention in Milwaukee this week.
Trump Media recently announced it has been added to the Russell 1000 Index of large-cap stocks and the Russell 3000 Index. As a result, countless retail investors now own a piece of Trump Media through mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
— CutC by bbc.com
