Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) rose about 4% in premarket trading on Tuesday after closing more than 10% higher on Monday after Elon Musk made a surprise appearance at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa., over the weekend. This is the same location where the former president survived an assassination attempt in July.
Tech billionaire Musk, who is CEO of Tesla ( TSLA ) and SpaceX and also owns social media platform X (formerly Twitter), has spoken about his support for Trump ahead of next month’s election. Trump even said he would consider a cabinet position for Musk, but the businessman would not be able to serve “with all the things he’s doing.”
At a rally Saturday, Musk told the crowd that Trump is the only candidate who can “save democracy in America,” adding that this will be the “last election” if Trump doesn’t win.
The former president remains in a deadlocked race against current vice president and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, who has just begun a series of media appearances in an effort to build on her new momentum in the polls.
Harris appeared on an episode of “Call Her Daddy,” a popular podcast geared toward Generation Z, along with a sit-down interview for “60 Minutes.”
Trump maintains a 60% interest in DJT. At current levels of about $19 per share, Trump Media has a market cap of about $3.8 billion, giving the former president’s stake a value of $2.3 billion. After the company’s public debut, Trump’s stock was worth just over $4.5 billion.
Trump Media went public on the Nasdaq in late March after merging with special purpose acquisition firm Digital World Acquisition Corp. news cycle.
Last month, the stock traded at its lowest level since the company’s debut following the expiration of a widely publicized lock-up period.
Stakeholders, including former presidents, are subject to a six-month lock-up period before they can sell or transfer shares. The lock-up period expires on September 19, although Trump has said he will not sell his shares.
“I have absolutely no intention of selling,” the former president told reporters at a press conference before the expiration. “I like it. I use it as a way to get my words across.”
In June, the stock rose (and then fell) after incumbent Joe Biden stumbled in the first presidential debate in 2024 with Trump. Biden dropped out of the presidential race a month later.
Since Biden’s announcement, stocks have remained under pressure as investors debate the likelihood of a Harris win.
In May, Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records intended to influence the 2016 presidential campaign – a verdict that sent shares down 5% the day after the conviction. His sentence was adjourned until November 26.
Shares have fallen about 70% since the company’s public debut.
Trump founded Truth Social after the removal of major social media applications like Facebook (META) and Twitter, now X, after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots. Trump has now been reinstated on the platform. He officially returned to X in mid-August after a hiatus of about a year.
But while Truth Social is trying to hire a social media official, the company’s fundamentals have long been in question.
In August, DJT reported second-quarter results that showed a net loss of $16.4 million, about half of which was due to expenses related to the company’s SPAC deal. The company also reported earnings of just $837,000 for the quarter ended June 30, a 30% year-over-year decline.
Last week, the company announced that its COO had resigned in September.
Alexandra Canal as a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow him in X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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