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DJT shares fall 5% one day after Trump conviction
Trump Media & Technology Group Stock (DJT), parent company of former President Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, has had a rough ride after Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records intended to influence the 2016 presidential campaign.
Stocks initially fell (then rose) in extended trading hours following Trump’s conviction on Thursday. But shares ended Friday’s session firmly in the red, falling about 5%.
Trump, who is likely to appeal the verdict, will be sentenced on July 11 and could face up to four years in prison on each count.
Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, went public on the Nasdaq after merging with special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp.
Shares fell about 15% since the company’s public debut in late March.
Trump founded Truth Social after he was kicked off major social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, the platform now known as X, following the January 6 Capitol riots in 2021. Trump has since been reinstated on those platforms, although the former president almost exclusively posted to his Truth Social account during the trial.
In April, a updated regulatory filing showed that Trump Media reported sales of just over $4 million as net losses reached nearly $60 million in the year ended Dec. 31. The company warned that it expects losses to continue amid greater profitability challenges.
In May, the company reported first-quarter results that revealed losses of $327 million, primarily tied to expenses related to the SPAC deal. The company disclosed on April 29 that more than 621,000 different shareholders owned Trump Media shares, noting that the “vast majority” of them were retail investors.
Trump maintains approximately 60% participation in Social Truth. At Friday’s closing price of about $49 per share, Trump Media boasts a market value of about $6.6 billion, giving the former president a stake worth about $4 billion. Shortly after the company’s public debut, Trump’s stake was worth just over $4.5 billion.
At the end of April, shares reached a milestone which guaranteed Trump an additional $1.2 billion. Interested parties, however, are still subject to a six-month lock-up period before selling or transferring shares.
Former President Donald Trump leaves the courtroom after a jury found him guilty of all 34 criminal charges in his criminal trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York. (Justin Lane/pool photo via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Alexandra Canal is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, linkedin, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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