Trump Media’s Stock Soars as Truth Social App Goes Public

The share price of Donald Trump‘s social media company jumped by more than 50% minutes after it began public trading under the ticker DJT on Tuesday morning.

Trading in Truth Social was briefly halted amid the rise due to volatility before it resumed around 9:40 a.m. ET. More than 6.5 million shares in Trump Media had changed hands by 9:50 a.m.

The ticker debuted on the NASDAQ stock market nearly three decades after the former President used it to launch his publicly traded hotel and casino company to success. That stock was ignominiously delisted from the New York Stock Exchange nine years later.

Trump Media’s merger with the shell company Digital World Acquisition Corp., known as DWAC, was completed Monday, adding almost $4 billion in paper profits to Donald Trump’s net worth.

Trump Media’s market valuation could be $6 billion at Tuesday’s opening bell, despite the company reporting less than $3.5 million in revenue over the first three quarters of 2023.

On its last day of trading Monday under the DWAC ticker, the company’s shares soared more than 35% after a New York appeals court decreased the amount of a bond Trump would have to post to pause collection on a business fraud judgment.

The company’s shareholders are hopeful that its Truth Social app platform will significantly grow its market share enough for the firm to turn a profit. Perhaps its growth could be further boosted if Trump is elected president in November.

Trump Media, like the previous company traded under the DJT ticker symbol, is currently operating at a loss, reporting $49 million in losses for the first nine months of 2023.

Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, Trump’s previous company that went public in 1995 under the DJT ticker, faced financial challenges and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2004.

Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts operated in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and faced bankruptcy with $1 billion in losses before the delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.

In a 2004 interview with NBC News, Donald Trump referred to the bankruptcy as a success and a technical matter that worked better than other alternatives.