Donald Trump has lost $4 billion in wealth amid bumpy ride for Trump Media & Technology Group
Former President Donald Trump's personal stake in Trump Media & Technology Group topped more than $6 billion in March when its shares soared after making their public market debut. Nearly six months later, that fortune has dwindled to less than $2 billion amid losses and shrinking revenue.
A months-long slump has lopped more than 70% from the stock's valuation since its late March peak, with the shares hitting a new low on Wednesday. As the biggest shareholder in Trump Media & Technology, Trump has suffered the largest losses, although the decline is only on paper for now since he's not yet able to sell any of his shares.
Trump owns about 60% of Trump Media & Technology Group, a money-losing social media company that trades under the ticker DJT (the former president's initials). The company has gained a following among Trump's supporters, typically retail investors who have flocked to groups on Truth Social to express concern about the declining share price and blame short sellers for the stock's swoon.
"Just a thought why doesn't [Trump Media & Technology Group] just halt the stock (based on say on company news) while they check into all the manipulation," one member of the DJT investor group wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. "This would get the shorters scrambling!!!"
Trump Media shares sank $1.10, or 6%, to $16.98 on Wednesday, its lowest price since it began trading in March. The stock was little changed in Thursday trading.
But short sellers — investors who bet that a stock will fall by borrowing shares and then buying the stock if it declines, allowing them to lock in the difference — aren't to blame for the slide in the company's market value, according to Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of financial data firm S3 Partners. For one, there's very little stock available to short, he noted.
"With today's DJT trading volume at 5.3 million shares, even if every available share to borrow was shorted today it would be less than 8% of today's trading volume," Dusaniwsky told CBS MoneyWatch. "DJT's stock price move over the last couple of weeks was primarily due to long selling and not short selling."
Trump Media didn't return a request for comment.
Here are three reasons why Trump Media shares are under pressure.
Meme-stock behavior
Analysts have previously noted that Trump Media shares tend to perform similarly to so-called meme stocks, or companies whose stock prices are more influenced by buzz and social media than underlying business fundamentals, such as revenue or profit growth.
For instance, after Trump survived an assassination attempt in July, Trump Media's stock price soared more than 30%. Polls at the time also gave him the edge in the November presidential election.
But about one week later, President Joe Biden stepped back as the Democratic nominee and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been gaining in the polls and now stands neck and neck with Trump in key battleground states, according to the latest CBS News polling.
Since Biden's decision to step back on July 21, Trump Media shares have shed 51% of their value.
Shrinking revenue and losses
Truth Social might have a core base of Trump fans, but that hasn't yet translated into either profits or growing revenue.
Last month, Trump Media said its second-quarter revenue fell 30% to $836,900 from a year earlier. It also reported losing $16.4 million during the quarter, a narrower shortfall from its $22.8 million loss in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing. The company blamed the decline in ad sales on a change in revenue sharing with one of its advertising partners.
Recent advertisers on Truth Social include companies hawking ivermectin, the antiparasitic drug cited by some people as a miracle cure for the coronavirus and other illnesses, as well as dating sites for conservatives, Truth Social hoodies and MyPillow.
An expiring lockup
Lastly, Trump Media is approaching the end of a so-called lock-up provision, which so far has restricted Trump and other company insiders from selling their shares.
These lock-ups, a common restriction on Wall Street, are designed to keep big investors from dumping their shares in a company soon after the company goes public. That's because large stock sales by insiders can cause a company's shares to tank.
That lockup will expire on September 19, allowing Trump and other insiders to sell their shares in the company. While it's unclear whether any will do so, the possibility of such sales could also be adding to the stock's volatility.