Donald Trump's Trump Media posts earnings as DJT stock halts on Election Day. Here are the details.
Donald Trump's Trump Media & Technology Group had an eventful Election Day 2024, with its DJT stock halted three times after the shares suddenly plunged. At the end of the trading day, the Truth Social owner released its third-quarter earnings, showing a continued decline in revenue.
The company's third-quarter results, disclosed in a U.S. Securities & Exchange filing, shows that the fledgling social media business continues to lose money, while its revenue slipped 5.6% compared with a year earlier. Still, that marks an improvement from the prior quarter, when Trump Media's sales tumbled 30%.
Donald Trump's stake in DJT
DJT stock has been on a rollercoaster since going public in March, with the shares surging or falling in line with news about Trump, its largest shareholder, with about 57% of the company's shares. The erratic fluctuations of the shares have prompted comparisons with so-called meme stocks, which trade on social media buzz rather than the fundamentals that investors prefer, such as revenue and profitability growth.
"This has been an extraordinary quarter for the company, for Truth Social users, and for our legion of retail investors who support our mission to serve as a beachhead for free speech on the internet," Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes said in a statement.
The company said it lost $19.2 million in the quarter ended September 30, compared with a loss of $26 million in the year-earlier period. Sales fell 5.6% to $1.01 million.
How DJT stock performed on Election Day
DJT stock initially surged almost 19% on Election Day before giving up those gains and closing down 1%. Trading in the stock was also halted three times on Tuesday by the New York Stock Exchange due to sudden drops in its price.
The shares have been on a wild ride since going public in March, initially surging and giving former president's 57% stake a value of $5.2 billion. But the shares tumbled after Vice President Kamala Harris entered the presidential race, eventually hitting a low of $11.75 per share in September and shaving Trump's stake to $1.4 billion.
But after hitting that low, the shares more than quadrupled after Trump was predicted to win the presidential race by betting markets like Polymarket.
Yet in recent days, DJT stock has lost much of those gains, shedding 34% of its value since its most recent high of $51.51 per share on October 29.
