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Shares of Trump’s media company rebound from all-time low

By Thomson Reuters Sep 25, 2024 | 12:13 PM

Shares of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s media company sprang back over 6% on Wednesday, rebounding from all-time lows after restrictions on insider selling expired last week.

Two straight days of gains in Trump Media & Technology Group, which is 57% owned by the Republican presidential nominee, have lifted it 12%, bringing its market capitalization to $2.7 billion.

In the two sessions after restrictions on insider selling lifted at the end of Thursday, shares of Trump Media, which operates the Truth Social app, tumbled to their lowest since the company’s stock-market debut in March.

The stock was last at $13.64 after trading as high as $14.48 earlier on Wednesday.

Trump, whose stake in Trump Media is now worth roughly $1.6 billion, said on Sept. 13 he did not plan to sell his shares, turning the focus to other major stakeholders who could cash out.

Traders have exchanged an average of $275 million worth of Trump Media shares a day since the insider trading restrictions ended, higher than the average daily turnover of $188 million for the rest of September, according to LSEG data. No insiders have filed disclosures of share sales.

Trump Media saw its value balloon to nearly $10 billion following its Wall Street debut, lifted by Trump retail traders who saw it as a speculative bet on his chances of securing a second four-year term as president in the November elections.

Since then, Trump Media shares have steadily lost ground, with share declines accelerating after President Joe Biden ended his failing reelection bid on July 21.

United Atlantic Ventures and Patrick Orlando, whose fund ARC Global Investments II sponsored the blank-check company that merged with Trump Media in March, together own about 11% of Trump Media shares, according to a company filing.

Trump Media is burning cash and its revenue is equivalent to two Starbucks coffee shops. Its stock is trading at the equivalent of almost 700 times its revenue, far exceeding the valuation of even AI superstar Nvidia, which recently traded at 31 times its revenue, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Marguerita Choy)