Trump Media Shares Slide After Debate as Lockup Expiry Looms

(Bloomberg) — Shares of Donald Trump’s social-media company tumbled on Wednesday following his debate against his presidential election opponent Kamala Harris.

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Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., which operates Truth Social and counts the presidential candidate as its top shareholder, slid as much as 18% at the market open in New York for its biggest intraday drop since April. The move comes as Trump’s odd of winning the election fell to 47%, according to data from betting market website PredictIt.

“What you saw in the betting market is people saying she won the debate, maybe moving up a point or two in the polls, and that’s why DJT is down,” said Matthew Tuttle, chief investment officer at Tuttle Capital Management.

The unprofitable media company’s drop extends a slump that has erased nearly $6 billion in market value since May. Wednesday’s decline puts the stock on track to fall for an eighth straight week and leaves it nearly 80% below its March high.

At times this year the shares have traded as a proxy for Trump’s election odds, rising sharply after an assassination attempt in July, when there was a sharp rise in betting-market odds of him winning a second term. At other times, it’s traded like a volatile meme stock, swinging wildly on little to no news or fundamental changes to its underlying business.

A spokesperson for Trump Media did not immediately respond to a Bloomberg News request for comment.

Trump Media, which went public earlier this year by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, is also facing another potential headwind: the expiration of a lockup period. That lockup period is set to expire as soon as Sept. 19, enabling insiders — including Trump himself — to start selling shares.

Other stocks seen as affected by the outcome of the election were also active. Among stocks seen as benefitting from a Trump presidency, cryptocurrency stocks followed Bitcoin lower and private-prison operator GEO Group Inc. slid 11%. Meanwhile, renewable energy stocks — seen as benefiting from a Harris administration — soared, with the Invesco Solar ETF rising over 3%.

–With assistance from Bailey Lipschultz and Subrat Patnaik.

(Updates for regular hours trading, beginning in second paragraph.)