Trump Media and Technology Group stock (DJT) was suspended several times in early trading on Tuesday, but the stock still managed to extend its five-week gain, rising nearly 10%.
The volatile move in stock prices comes as investors bet that Donald Trump is more likely to win the November presidential election, scheduled a week from Tuesday.
Tuesday’s gains built on Monday’s more than 21% rally following the former president and Republican candidate’s heavily criticized rally held at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden (MSG) over the weekend. At current levels, the stock is trading at its highest since May, and the stock is up about 270% from its September lows.
Trump’s rally sparked a backlash from both sides of the political spectrum after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made inflammatory jokes about Latinos and the black community, and anti-immigrant comments also dominated headlines. .
The soaring price of DJT stock is unlikely to continue in the short term. One active investor warned that DJT stock could fall to $0 if Trump loses next week’s election.
“This is a 10/20 bet on the election,” Matthew Tuttle, CEO of investment fund Tuttle Capital Management, said Monday on Yahoo Finance’s Catalyst show.
Read more: What the 2024 campaign means for your wallet: Yahoo Finance’s presidential election guide
Mr. Tuttle, who currently owns a put option on the stock, said the stock’s price movement depends on a trading strategy of “buying rumors and selling facts.”
“The day after he wins, this is going to collapse,” he surmised. “If he loses, I think it will be zero.”
Shares of the company that runs Truth Social, the Republican candidate’s social media platform, have risen recently as betting markets at home and abroad shift in favor of Trump’s victory, leading to a rise in shares of Polymarket, PredictIt, All prediction sites such as Calci are pointing to Trump winning. His presidential chances are ahead of Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris.
However, national opinion polls show that both candidates are in incredibly close races, especially in key battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which will likely determine the fate of the election.
The stock price recovery comes after the stock traded at its lowest level since the company’s debut following the end of a much-touted lock-up period last month. Stocks were also under pressure because the last poll in September showed Harris with a slight lead over the former president.
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Former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, October 27, 2024 in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) · ASSOCIATED PRESS
Trump’s recent campaign momentum follows Elon Musk’s appearance at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this month, including a recent stop at a local McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. It was the same location where the former president survived an assassination attempt in July.
Musk, a tech billionaire who is CEO of Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX and also the owner of social media platform He has openly expressed his support. President Trump has said he would consider adding Musk to his Cabinet, but the businessman even said he would not be able to do so “because of everything going on.”
Musk attended Sunday night’s MSG event along with UFC President Dana White, former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Meanwhile, Ms. Harris has begun a spate of recent media appearances, facing pressure to decide how to fund her proposals on the economy and immigration. She appeared in Texas last week and entered Michigan on Monday to highlight the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act and its impact in battleground states.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a community rally at the Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center on Sunday, October 27, 2024 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) · ASSOCIATED PRESS
Trump founded Truth Social after being banned from major social media apps such as Facebook (META) and Twitter (now X) following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump has since returned to those platforms. He officially returned to X in mid-August after a hiatus of about a year.
But as Truth Social seeks to challenge the social media establishment, its fundamentals have long been in question.
DJT’s second-quarter results reported in August revealed a net loss of $16.4 million, about half of which was related to costs related to the company’s SPAC transaction. The company also reported revenue for the quarter that ended June 30 of just under $837,000, down 30% from a year earlier.
Earlier this month, the company revealed that its COO resigned in September.
Trump maintains a roughly 60% interest in DJT. At its current price of about $52 per share, Trump Media has a market capitalization of about $10.3 billion, and the former president’s stock holdings are worth about $6.2 billion.
Alexandra Canal is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canalEmail LinkedIn, alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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