Shares of Donald Trump’s media and technology firm fell as much as 12% on Monday, extending a selloff that has now reduced the worth of his stake within the operator of Truth Social to $2.9 billion.
After its strong debut in late March, investors have soured on Trump Media & Technology Group after the corporate disclosed tens of millions of dollars in losses earlier this month and said it could struggle to fulfill its financial liabilities.
The corporate’s stock closed 8.4% lower at $37.17 on Monday, a far cry from the record high of $79 it had notched during its debut on March 26. It’s down about 40% thus far in April.
Investors have soured on Truth Social parent Trump Media & Technology after the corporate disclosed tens of millions of dollars in losses earlier this month. FellowNeko – stock.adobe.com
The declines are reducing a possible windfall for Trump who could sell his shares to boost money for his 2024 presidential campaign and legal expenses, although lock-up restrictions for six months could prevent him from selling or borrowing against his shareholding.
Trump – who owns about 78.75 million shares in the corporate – has seen a pointy slide within the valuation of his stake from around $6 billion last month.
The market value of whole of Trump Media & Technology Group is now below that figure, at about $5.55 billion.
However the declines are welcome news for short-sellers who’ve suffered hefty losses on the stock thus far this 12 months.
Trump Media & Technology Group has a brief interest of about 4.75 million shares, or 12% of its free float, in keeping with analytics firm S3 Partners.
The declines are reducing a possible windfall for Trump who could sell his shares to boost money for his 2024 presidential campaign and legal expenses. AP
Monday’s decline meant those betting against the stock made about $16 million in market-to-market profits, though those shorting the stock are still down 69% for the 12 months.
“DJT’s recent price weakness has offset the huuuuge financing costs short sellers are incurring and keeping lots of them within the trade,” said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners.