Shares of Trump Media, the parent company of former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, have soared significantly this week.
The stock, which trades under the DJT ticker on Nasdaq, rose about 21 percent on Monday and was up about 10 percent on Tuesday morning. The stock saw a decline during the early morning trading period, but was still up by about 3 percent as of 11 a.m. ET, when it was trading at more than $34.50 per share. The stock closed Friday at around $27.
Since going public in March, following a merger with a blank-check company, Trump Media’s stock has seen volatile swings. Shortly after it started trading, the stock soared to nearly $80 per share, but dropped to as low as $22.55 in recent weeks before rising again.
Stock prices fell by nearly 50 percent in the three or so weeks since former President Trump was found guilty by a Manhattan jury of falsifying business records to cover up payments during the 2016 election, which he had denied.
The 45th president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee is a majority stakeholder in Trump Media. However, he’s restricted from selling the stock until September unless the company’s board allows him to do so.
In a statement, Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman, said that his company is “expecting to be well positioned to energetically pursue TV streaming, other enhancements to the platform, and potential mergers and acquisitions.” The company, he added, has about 620,000 “retail shareholders” so far.
Due to the significant fluctuations, some analysts have described the stock as a “meme stock.” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, said in late May, after the conviction, that “the volatility today is not surprising.”
“The valuation of that stock has always been a bit of a question mark,” he added at the time. “It certainly isn’t making any money and is trading almost at an unfathomable level.”
In the midst of the downturn last month following the conviction, Trump Media officials alleged that it is the victim of market manipulation by “naked” short sellers. Naked short selling is a type of stock trade where an investor sells shares they don’t own and haven’t borrowed. Normally, traders must borrow a stock or confirm that it can be borrowed before they can sell it short.
In a letter to Nasdaq, Mr. Nunes said that the “anomalies” around trading of Trump Media shares “appear to be growing even more severe,” citing data from the SEC. He requested data about financial firms like Citadel Securities, Jane Street Capital, and UBS.
He then asked the Nasdaq to “fulsomely cooperate with any and all congressional or other investigations into these firms—including by promptly providing responsive data within Nasdaq’s possession.”
