Topline
Shares of former President Donald Trump’s social media company fell to their cheapest price in months Monday, following the first day of trading after the Truth Social parent reported its latest quarterly financial performance and as Trump returned to X, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform that is perhaps the chief competitor of Truth Social.
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference last week.
Key Facts
Trump Media stock fell 5% to below $25 per share Monday, hitting the lowest closing share price since April 16.
The drop followed the company’s Friday afternoon earnings report which included $836,900 in revenue, an extremely low number for a company with a market capitalization of about $4.7 billion.
For comparison, fellow social media company Reddit most recently posted $281 million and has a market cap of $8.6 billion, meaning Trump Media stock is trading at about 180 times as expensive compared to quarterly sales as Reddit stock.
The dip was also an apparent reaction to Trump’s return to posting to X, formerly known as Twitter, after a 3.5-year hiatus from the rival platform save for a single post last August, after the platform’s prior leadership suspended Trump due to his posts ahead of and during the deadly January 6 riots.
Forbes Valuation
Trump, who owns a 65% stake in his namesake company which trades under the ticker of DJT in nod to Trump’s initials, got about $170 million less rich Monday due to the stock’s slump, falling from $4.9 billion to $4.7 billion, according to Forbes estimates. The value of Trump’s social media wealth pile fell to $2.7 billion Monday, making up a majority of his net worth, with real estate and his golf clubs accounting for much of the rest of his riches.
Key Background
Trump’s X return came hours ahead of his 8 p.m. EDT conversation with Musk, a supporter of Trump’s campaign but the majority owner of a competitor social media platform. DJT stock tends to be highly volatile given its unusually light financial results for a firm of its valuation and that some consider it to be a “meme stock” whose price moves in reaction to non-earnings developments, such as confidence in Trump’s odds to secure another term as president. Trump’s social media nest egg sits billions of dollars below where it was just a few months ago, with the value of Trump’s stake peaking this summer at nearly $5 billion on July 15, when betting odds of his reelection peaked in the first trading session after the failed attempt on his life. Trump Media began trading as an independent public company in March after completing its yearslong attempted reverse merger with a blank-check firm. The firm announced earlier this month it intends to launch a Truth+ streaming platform, offering another potential stream of revenue.
Further Reading
Trump Media to the Saudi Arabian influence on golf and what real-life billionaires think of ” Succession.” Send tips to dsaul@forbes.com. Follow Saul for analysis on the biggest daily economic and stock market happenings, ranging from inflation data to tech earnings to deep-dives on hot button assets.
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