By Nora Quintanilla |
New York (EFE).- Trump Media, Donald Trump’s company that encompasses his social network Truth Social, has lost around 30% of its stock market value since it debuted a month ago on the Nasdaq index, subject to the fluctuation of the speculators and the judicial situation of the former president.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), its full name, went on the market on March 26 by merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp., an instrumental company whose sole purpose is to take another company public, known as a “spac”, and in Initially the operation was a success.
The “spac” went from being worth less than $50 per share the day before the debut to skyrocketing to $70 in the following opening, already merged with TMTG and bearing Trump’s initials as a label; Then there were a few crazy hours in the stock market in which it reached a peak of $79.
It was good news for Trump, the majority shareholder with a stake of around 60%, although a clause prevents him from selling shares until September and that means that his assets are linked to the progress of the listed company and that money is blocked at a time. when you need liquidity.
However, the financial fundamentals that TMTG has disclosed so far, and which analysts and investors are focusing on, paint an unflattering picture: losses of $58 million in 2023, forecasts of red numbers in the future and the recognition of some weak internal controls.
This situation has made TMTG attractive to speculators known as ‘short-sellers’, funds or ‘bearish’ individuals, who make money by betting on the fall of a listed company and have popularized the term “meme action” that is applied to volatile stocks like GameStop or AMC.
After the unprecedented criminal trial against Trump began in New York, the firm’s shares fell 15%, and fell another 10% after disclosing its plans to dedicate itself to streaming television, although the strong swings to one side and the other They are the tone and the strange thing is a quiet day.
Money and politics go hand in hand
In any case, the expectation for the IPO that gave a boost to the shares seems to have given way to market players more interested in money than in politics, and that are giving headaches to TMTG’s executive management.
The company’s CEO, Devin Nunes, a former Republican Party official, has asked the directors of the Nasdaq index for help for what he considers stock market “manipulation”, accusing four firms of monopolizing 60% of its trading volume, among them the Citadel venture fund.
Citadel has said it follows the law and called Nunes a “proverbial loser,” language that reveals a backstory: Citadel chief Ken Griffith supported Nunes’ congressional campaign before he left for Trump Media. , and also supported Nikki Haley, Trump’s former rival for the White House.
Political squabbles and stock market speculation aside, Trump Media closes its first month with the stock above $40 and a capitalization of $5.77 billion, a midpoint between the initial peak of $70 and the point of $22 at which it bottomed out after the beginning of the criminal trial.
All is not lost in times of big expenses
The last week has been positive for ‘DJT’ and for the bearer of those initials, since it has remained above a minimum agreed upon in the IPO procedures so that the former president could obtain a “bonus” of millions of securities that They expand your potential loot.
Trump faces large fines following lawsuits for fraud against the Trump Organization and for defamation against the writer E. Jean Carroll, as well as expenses for other proceedings, without forgetting his campaign as the main Republican candidate for the White House.
