Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group spiked more than 10% Wednesday afternoon, reversing course after weeks of free-falling that saw the media company’s stock sink to new low after new low.
Trump Media stock traded at $14.09 per share, after closing up roughly 5% Tuesday. This is its first upward movement since the end of the share lockup agreement last week, allowing Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump to finally sell his shares in the company.
But so far, Trump has held onto his shares of the company — a potential driver for the positive market activity. This sudden surge added roughly $200 million to the company’s market valuation, bringing its market capitalization to $2.82billion.
Trump said earlier this month he has “absolutely” no plans to dump his stake in the company — even though he stood to earn upward of $2 billion from a potential stock sale.
“The reason I built it is because I don’t want to have my voice shut down,” Trump said during a press conference at his golf course near Los Angeles on Sept. 13. “A lot of people think that I will sell my shares, you know, they’re worth billions of dollars, but I don’t want to sell my shares. I don’t need money.”
Trump holds 114.75 million shares of Trump Media, or about 60% of the company’s outstanding stock. In a regulatory filing in June, Trump Media cited Trump’s divestment from the company as one of the top risks to its business.
In the weeks leading up to the potential sale, Trump Media stock plunged to several new lows. Earlier this week, shares fell to a new 52-week low of $11.75 — the lowest share value since it went public on the Nasdaq on March 26, after completing its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Since then, the company’s market value has plummeted by roughly 76%.
