Trump Media shares hit new low after DJT ban lifted

Shares of Trump media fell to its lowest price since 2021 on Monday, days after majority owner Donald Trump and other company insiders received the green light to begin selling their shares in operator Truth Social.

The stock, which is listed as DJT on the Nasdaqclosed more than 10% lower at $12.15 per share in a turbulent trading session, marking the company's sixth consecutive day of losses.

Trump Media's stock price has fallen nearly 85% since the company made a sharp rise in its stock market debut in late March.

Monday's decline sent the stock to its lowest level since before October 2021, when it was announced that blank-check firm Digital World Acquisition Corp. was planning a merger with then-private Trump Media.

News of the deal sent DWAC shares soaring more than 350%, and the stock fell in the years that followed before rising again in early 2024 in anticipation of the completion of the merger with Trump Media.

The company's market capitalization, which exceeded $10 billion in March, has now shrunk to less than $2.5 billion. Trump owns nearly 57 percent of the company's outstanding shares, a stake that is still worth nearly $1.4 billion.

Trump and other company insiders were bound by lock-up agreements that prohibited them from selling their shares in the first few months after Trump Media's IPO.

These restrictions expired on Thursday at the close of trading.

Trading volume increased significantly when the lock-up was lifted, with more than 14 million shares changing hands on Thursday and nearly 22 million on Friday, far exceeding the 30-day average volume of about 8.3 million shares.

Traders exchanged more than 18.3 million shares on Monday.

Asked for comment on the recent stock price movement, a Trump Media spokesperson issued a statement defending the company's operations.

“Trump Media ended last quarter with $344 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt, while also launching an in-app streaming platform on our custom content delivery network,” the statement said. “With more innovations planned soon, TMTG is optimistic about our growth strategy.”

Trump, a major draw for Truth Social users and many of the company's retail investors, said in early September that he would not sell his stake. The stock price briefly shot up after his comments.

Other early investors have made no such promises. They include DWAC sponsor ARC Global and United Atlantic Ventures, a company controlled by two former contestants on Trump's reality show “The Apprentice.”

ARC and UAV owned nearly 11 percent of DJT's outstanding shares, Trump Media said in a regulatory filing in early September. But ARC's stake may have increased after a Delaware judge ruled Sept. 16 that Trump Media had breached an agreement with the sponsor and owed it more shares.