Trump’s social media firm up 280 per cent from low hit in 2023

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group surged as much as 22 per cent on Monday, after the former president brought his campaign to Manhattan the day before

Donald Trump’s high-profile event at the Madison Square Garden was followed by a surge in his media stock.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group — the parent company of Truth Social — surged as much as 22 per cent on Monday, after the former president brought his campaign to Manhattan the day before. Trump’s social media firm is now up almost 280 per cent from a low hit on September 23. It is now trading at its highest level since June.

Other Trump-affiliated meme stocks — or equities popular with the retail-investor crowd that do not necessarily trade on fundamentals — also got a boost on Monday. Rumble, a conservative video network, gained 12 per cent at intraday highs. Meanwhile, Phunware, a software company that worked on Trump’s 2020 campaign, gained as much as 15 per cent.

Sunday’s rally at the Madison Square Garden drew a large crowd and featured several key speakers, including Elon Musk. The event kicked off the final stretch of Trump’s campaign before November’s election day.

Though some speakers drew condemnation for making inflammatory remarks, it had no bearing on Truth Social’s share activity. In recent weeks, Trump Media has soared on rising sentiment that the Republican candidate could retake the White House.

Ever since the firm went public in March, investors have treated it as a proxy for Trump’s election chances, putting aside the firm’s paltry fundamentals.

In this context, the firm’s five-week rally overturns a downturn that had persisted since the summer. Despite its difficulty in turning a meaningful profit, Trump Media now carries a market cap of more than $9 billion.