Trump Media stock sunk another 10% and hit a new low

Shares in the company behind former President Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social hit a new post-merger low of $33.48 on Wednesday afternoon, bringing Trump Media’s market capitalization to approximately $4.6 billion. As of Wednesday afternoon, the company had almost halved its market value from highs of more than $8 billion during its first trading week.

The stock regained some ground to close Wednesday down 8.6% to $34.26 per share.

Trump Media went public on the Nasdaq $NDAQ under the ticker DJT on March 26, after completing its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

Analysts said the company’s initial stock boom had little to do with its underlying business and more to do with support for Trump, lumping Trump Media in with so-called “meme stocks,” like GameStop $GME, AMC, and Reddit $RDDT.

In its first week on the Nasdaq, Trump Media was considered one of the most expensive stocks to short-sell, according to S3 Partners. Short-sellers are traders who bet that stocks will fall by borrowing shares and selling them high with the belief that they can be repurchased later at a lower cost.

The Trump Media stock bubble was short-lived.

The company’s stock began its free fall last week after it disclosed a loss from operations of almost $16 million in 2023, plus interest expense of $39.4 million, while bringing in just $4.1 million in revenue. That’s compared with a loss from operations of $23.2 million, plus interest expense of $2 million, on $1.5 million in revenue in 2022.

In a regulatory filing, Trump Media said it “lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable period of time,” raising “substantial doubt” as to its ability to continue operations. The company said it expects to continue incurring operating losses and negative cash flow “for the foreseeable future.”