Donald Trump’s social media company lost a whopping $58 million in fiscal 2023 — a result likely to fuel skepticism about its wild stock market debut, leading experts to dubbing another “meme stock” like AMC and GameStop.
Parent company Truth Social also generated just $4.1 million in revenue over a 12-month period, according to regulatory filings released Monday. This is an improvement from its sales of $1.47 million from 2022. The company’s sales come from advertisements displayed on the social media app.
Trump Media & Technology Corp., which began trading under the ex-president’s initials “DJT” last week, plunged 10% to around $55.79 per share after Monday’s opening bell – after surging nearly 60%, to nearly $80 per share. stock, at some point after the IPO launched last Tuesday.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, owns a majority stake in the company but faces a series of charges that could keep him out of the November election.
In its filings, the company admitted that its success “depends in part on the popularity of our brand and the reputation and popularity of President Trump.”
“The value of the TMTG brand could decline if President Trump’s popularity were to suffer,” a filing states. “Adverse reactions to publicity relating to President Trump, or the loss of his services, could have a negative impact on TMTG’s revenues, results of operations and its ability to maintain or generate a consumer base. »
Last week, experts told the Post that Trump’s company was “detached from fundamentals” and trading much higher than its performance suggests, increasing the risk for retail investors who put their hard-earned money into stocks. actions.
Despite its weak sales and small user base, Trump’s company is currently worth nearly $7.5 billion – a shocking figure that has propelled the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee into the top 500 of Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Truth Social had an estimated base of just 494,000 monthly active users for its mobile app in February, according to data from analytics firm Similarweb. For comparison, Facebook had 142.4 million users, Elon Musk’s X had 75 million users, and even little-known Threads had 7.2 million.
The initial success of Trump Media has sparked speculation that the former president may seek to shed some of his assets to pay for his mounting legal costs, such as a $175 million bail payment due this week in connection with his civil fraud case in New York.
For now, the documents show that a six-month lock-up agreement preventing Trump and other shareholders from selling shares is still in effect. In order to circumvent the deal, the company’s board would have to grant Trump a special waiver.
Axios was first to report on the files.
New York Post
