Former President Donald Trump delivered a fiery performance during Thursday night’s presidential debate, launching sharp attacks at the incumbent President Joe Biden, whose voice was hoarse as he struggled to find his words. This performance has reignited concerns about Biden’s health and mental sharpness, as well as Trump’s tendency to distort the truth. Despite an initial surge following Biden’s stumbles, Trump Media stock took a downturn around mid-day on Friday.
The shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Trump’s far-right social media platform Truth Social, dropped by 4% on Friday, trading at $35.18 per share. They had previously surged by up to 15% in pre-market trading on Friday and opened with a 4% increase after closing Thursday with a more than 6% decline. As of June 10, the former president holds nearly 65% of the outstanding common stock in Trump Media.
Since going public on the Nasdaq under the ticker DJT on March 26 following its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp, Trump Media’s stock has seen a rise of over 100% this year. Despite being likened to meme stocks like GameStop and AMC due to its volatility, the company’s strong performance is largely attributed to Trump’s continued presence in the news cycle.
According to John Rekenthaler, Morningstar’s VP of research, Trump’s relevance in the news, especially during this year’s elections, is beneficial for the company’s stock. Even after Trump faced 34 criminal counts in his New York hush money trial, the stock experienced significant fluctuations but ultimately ended positively for the media company. Although it has dropped by around 30% since the trial concluded, recent gains have managed to offset nearly half of those losses incurred post-conviction.
