Donald Trump’s Social Media Platform 'Truth Social' Drops by $4 Billion in Worth in Just One Week

Former President Donald Trump's alternate to X, formerly known as Twitter, Truth Social recently faced an immense spike in its value. The nascent media venture is experiencing a notable downturn in investor sentiment merely a week after its public debut, with a significant reversal in the company's stock value amounting to a $4 billion reduction.

The decline in Trump Media & Technology Group's shares, which entered the Nasdaq Composite Index on March 25 with the ticker "DJT" (in honor of the former president's initials), coincides with the revelation of escalating losses outlined in a regulatory filing per CBS News. Moreover, the company has acknowledged that its accountant has issued a cautionary statement, expressing doubts about its ability to sustain operations.

Trump Media & Technology Group's stock saw a sharp decline of $13.30, or 21%, to $48.66 on Monday, April 1. This falls below its initial price of $49.90 per share last week and marks a substantial 39% drop from its peak of $79.38 on March 26. Despite the recent decline, the stock remains elevated compared to its pre-public offering levels when it was still under the name Digital World Acquisition Corp., a shell company orchestrated for the purpose of bringing Truth Social to the public market. 

The ex-POTUS, who holds a 57% stake in the newly listed company, has experienced a substantial decrease in his wealth, at least on paper, due to the decline in the stock price. His ownership stake, which reached its peak value of $6.3 billion last week, has now dwindled to $3.8 billion. Trump Media's market capitalization continues to be notably high for a company that operates at a loss and generated only $4.1 million in revenue last year. Even after Monday's stock value drop, Trump Media maintains a significant valuation of $6.7 billion. This places it ahead of established companies such as Bausch & Lomb, Alcoa Corp., and Harley-Davidson, despite their substantial annual revenue in the billions.

The soaring valuation of Trump Media has drawn comparisons to "meme" stocks like GameStop, which often attract individual investors based on social media hype rather than traditional metrics like profitability and revenue growth favored by institutional investors. Truth Social has emerged as an alternative to established tech giants like Meta's Facebook, despite facing losses in its initial stages. Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, remarked last week that while GameStop was hailed as the ultimate "meme stock," Trump Media has surpassed it in capturing attention and investor interest as reported by CBS News. Trump Media & Technology Group revealed further financial details on Monday. The company reported $4.1 million in revenue for the previous year, up from $1.5 million in the preceding year. However, it experienced a significant loss of $58 million in 2023, compared to a million profit in the prior year.