Trump Media stock surges on day 2 of market debut

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Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) soared 14% on Wednesday in its second day of trading on the Nasdaq (^IXIC).

The parent company of Donald Trump's social media platform Truth Social climbed 16% in its first official trading day on Tuesday. It went public after merging with special purpose acquisition vehicle Digital World Acquisition Corp. in a deal approved by shareholders last week.

DJT's strong debut comes amid a meme stock resurgence as some trades viewed as lacking fundamentals have seen eye-popping returns.

According to an SEC filing from DWAC, Trump Media lost $49 million in the first nine months of last year and brought in $3.4 million in revenue. At current levels, its market cap now sits around $8 billion.

Other meme-friendly names like Reddit (RDDT) and GameStop (GME) have also seen massive run-ups in recent days while riskier assets like bitcoin (BTC-USD) and commodities have soared since the start of the year.

Some names are coming back down to earth. Reddit and GameStop were down about 13% and 16%, respectively, in Wednesday's trade.

Short interest in DJT stock — bets that the stock price will fall rather than rise — is about 11% of outstanding shares, according to the latest data from S3 Partners. Average short interest in public companies sits in the 3% to 4% range.

Trump Media stock soared on the second day of its market debut. (AP/Paul Sancya, Archivo)
Trump Media stock soared on the second day of its market debut. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The former president founded Truth Social after he was kicked off major social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, the platform now known as X, following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots in 2021. Trump has since been reinstated on the platforms.

Trump will maintain a roughly 60% stake in Truth Social, a stake currently worth roughly $4 billion. The merger's completion also comes as the former president faces a $454 million fraud penalty and grapples with a campaign fundraising shortfall as he gears up for a 2024 election rematch against President Biden.

But Trump will have to wait before cashing in his shares.

According to the terms of the merger, stakeholders are subject to a six-month lockup period before selling or transferring shares. The only exception would be if the company's board votes to make a special dispensation.

Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at [email protected].

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