Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) skyrocketed early Monday after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
Shares of the parent company of Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, surged about 40% shortly after the opening bell. Other Trump-related stocks, like conservative-leaning video platform Rumble (RUM), saw shares climb more than 10%.
Prediction bets of Trump winning the election jumped on several online betting sites following the event.
It was the first time a US president or major party candidate had been shot since the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
One political expert said the incident may not have a lasting impact on Trump’s presidential chances.
“This was a seismic event in political terms, and yet it didn’t have much of an impact on how people think about the election,” Terry Haines, founder of policy advisory firm Pangaea, told Yahoo Finance, saying that although the event will have a “short-term positive impact” on Trump’s campaign, he does not think it has “a long-term prospect.”
“The logic of this doesn’t match up. … It’s a terrible event but that does not mean voters are going to be much more likely to [vote for him.]”
Shares of DJT have been on a bumpy ride in recent months, oscillating between highs and lows.
Last month, the stock popped (then fell) after current commander in chief Joe Biden stumbled in his first presidential debate of 2024 with Trump.
In May, Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records intended to influence the 2016 presidential campaign — a verdict that sent shares down 5% the day after the conviction.
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 have fallen about 20% since the company’s public debut at the end of March.
Trump founded Truth Social after he was kicked off major social media apps like Facebook (META) and Twitter, the platform now known as X, following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots in 2021. Trump has since been reinstated on those platforms.
In April, an updated regulatory filing showed Trump Media reported sales of just over $4 million as net losses reached nearly $60 million for the full year ending Dec. 31. The company warned it expects losses to continue amid greater profitability challenges.
In May, the company reported first quarter results that revealed losses of $327 million, mostly tied to expenses related to its SPAC deal. The company disclosed as of April 29 over 621,000 different shareholders owned stock in Trump Media, noting the “vast majority” of these were retail investors.
Trump maintains a roughly 60% stake in DJT. At current levels of around $43 a share, Trump Media boasts a market cap of roughly $5.8 billion, giving the former president a stake worth around $3.5 billion. Right after the company’s public debut, Trump’s stake was worth just over $4.5 billion.
In late April, the stock hit a milestone that secured Trump an additional $1.2 billion in cash. Stakeholders, however, are still subject to a six-month lockup period before selling or transferring shares.
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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