Trump Media Stock Hit On Loss In FY23

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. or TMTG tanked on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Monday after the operator of the social media platform Truth Social founded by former U.S. President Donald Trump reported a loss in its fiscal 2023, compared to prior year’s profit.

Shares of Trump Media, which debuted the market last week, fell 21.5 percent on Monday’s regular trading to close at $48.66. In pre-market activity on Tuesday, shares were losing 4.4 percent further to trade at $46.52.

In its first financial filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a public company, Trump Media reported fiscal 2023 net loss of $58.19 million or $0.58 per share, compared to prior year’s profit of $50.52 million or $0.51 per share.

Loss from operations was $15.97 million, while interest expense was $39.43 million, sharply higher than prior year’s $2.04 million.

Revenue was $4.13 million in 2023, compared to $1.47 million a year earlier.

While announcing the results, TMTG CEO Devin Nunes said, “Closing out the 2023 financials related to the merger, Truth Social today has no debt and over $200 million in the bank, opening numerous possibilities for expanding and enhancing our platform. We intend to take full advantage of these opportunities to make Truth Social the quintessential free-speech platform for the American people.”

It was in October 2021 that Trump announced the launch of his own social media platform called TRUTH Social, with access limited to invited guests only, after he was shunned by multiple social media platforms over dangerous and inciting posts.

In January 2021, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook had banned Trump from their platforms following an attack apparently instigated by him on the US Capitol that killed five.

Trump Media’s stock market debut followed the company’s business combination with blank check company Digital World Acquisition Corp.

According to Trump Media, the commencement of its trading on the public markets testifies to Americans’ demands for free-speech platforms that reject the stifling censorship imposed by Big Tech.

Trump Media also said its ticker symbol “DJT” pays direct homage to the company’s former Chairman and Director, and the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

The media platform had climbed as much as 50 percent in the initial trading on its public debut, closing the first day at 16.1 percent higher, reaching a market capitalization of $6.58 billion.

After the shares plummeted, the market capitalization of Trump Media stands at around $5.52 billion.