Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) soared 14% on Wednesday in its second day of trading on the Nasdaq (^IXIC).
The parent company of Donald Trump's social media platform Truth Social climbed 16% in its first official trading day on Tuesday. It went public after merging with special purpose acquisition vehicle Digital World Acquisition Corp. in a deal approved by shareholders last week.
DJT's strong debut comes amid a meme stock resurgence as some trades viewed as lacking fundamentals have seen eye-popping returns.
According to an SEC filing from DWAC, Trump Media lost $49 million in the first nine months of last year and brought in $3.4 million in revenue. At current levels, its market cap now sits around $8 billion.
Other meme-friendly names like Reddit (RDDT) and GameStop (GME) have also seen massive run-ups in recent days while riskier assets like bitcoin (BTC-USD) and commodities have soared since the start of the year.
Some names are coming back down to earth. Reddit and GameStop were down about 13% and 16%, respectively, in Wednesday's trade.
Short interest in DJT stock — bets that the stock price will fall rather than rise — is about 11% of outstanding shares, according to the latest data from S3 Partners. Average short interest in public companies sits in the 3% to 4% range.
The former president founded Truth Social after he was kicked off major social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, the platform now known as X, following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots in 2021. Trump has since been reinstated on the platforms.
Trump will maintain a roughly 60% stake in Truth Social, a stake currently worth roughly $4 billion. The merger's completion also comes as the former president faces a $454 million fraud penalty and grapples with a campaign fundraising shortfall as he gears up for a 2024 election rematch against President Biden.
But Trump will have to wait before cashing in his shares.
According to the terms of the merger, stakeholders are subject to a six-month lockup period before selling or transferring shares. The only exception would be if the company's board votes to make a special dispensation.
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
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