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Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Former President Donald Trump’s right-wing social media platform Truth Social, plunged 16% in pre-market trading Wednesday, following his first debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump Media stock dipped to $15.57 per share, after closing up more than 3% Tuesday at $18.63 apiece ahead of the face-off. Much of Trump Media’s market performance has been dependent on the company’s connection to the former president — and has become a proxy for his campaign success and election odds.
A CNN poll of 605 voters who watched Tuesday night’s presidential debate found that a majority — 63% — of viewers said Harris delivered a stronger debate performance. While the majority of voters polled said the event didn’t affect their decision, Trump supporters were more likely than Harris supporters to say the debate made them reconsider their choice, according to the poll. The former president found himself playing defense on issues including abortion, often playing into his Democratic rival’s hand and appearing rattled.
Trump Media itself has said in regulatory filings that its “success depends in part on the popularity of its brand and the reputation and popularity” of Trump, and that “adverse reactions to publicity relating to [Trump], or the loss of his services, could adversely affect TMTG’s revenues and results of operations.”
Its shares spiked following what many saw as a stronger debate performance from Trump against President Biden in June, and after an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July. Despite some unexplained spikes, however, the company’s stock has trended downward in recent months.
This comes just weeks before Trump will get the green light to offload his 114.75 million shares of Trump Media, or about 60% of the company’s outstanding stock. The Republican presidential hopeful stands to make upwards of $2 billion from the stock sale — although the value of those returns depends on the share price.
Since debuting on the Nasdaq on March 26 after completing its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, Trump Media stock has plunged about 68%.
John Rekenthaler, vice president of research at Morningstar (MORN+0.71%), previously said Trump Media stock would “go to zero or something close to it” if Trump were to lose the presidential election in November.