Trump Media & Technology Group shares surged more than 36% on Tuesday in their debut on the Nasdaq that comes more than two years since its merger with a blank-check firm was announced. - REUTERS
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00:00 Donald Trump's media company enjoyed a stellar stock market
00:05 debut on Tuesday.
00:06 Shares in Trump Media and Technology Group soared as much
00:10 as 59 percent in New York trade.
00:12 By day's end, the firm behind the Truth Social Network was
00:15 valued at close to $8 billion.
00:18 Analysts say that's an extraordinary number for a
00:20 company that reported barely more than $3 million in revenue
00:23 over the first nine months of last year.
00:26 Though Wealth Alliance President Eric Ditton says it looks like
00:29 a classic meme stock driven more by enthusiastic retail
00:33 investors rather than any financial fundamentals.
00:36 "Roughly half the country is supporting Donald Trump and
00:41 he's got some financial difficulties.
00:43 I think there's a lot of people out there that just say,
00:44 'I'm going to buy the stock just to help the Donald.'
00:48 And they're doing it now.
00:50 Would I touch the stock personally?
00:51 No."
00:52 The debut may be a timely boost for Trump.
00:56 He's been struggling to raise money for his campaign and
00:59 legal expenses as he faces four criminal cases.
01:02 Now his stake in TMTG is worth around $6 billion,
01:06 though lockup rules bar him from selling the stock or
01:09 borrowing against it for six months.
01:12 As for Truth Social, it gets a $300 million cash injection as
01:15 part of the deal.
01:17 But Vespula Capital founder Jeff Tomasulo says it remains hard to
01:21 justify the lofty valuation put on its parent firm.
01:25 "The stock is probably worth, if you really,
01:28 probably a $3, $4 stock, but it's trading at $70 or $69.
01:32 But when you look at it from a fundamental perspective,
01:35 you're looking at a $3 stock."
01:38 Recent figures show that Truth Social had fewer than 9
01:40 million users signed up, a tiny fraction of the number on X.
01:45 That may not matter much for TMTG's stock,
01:47 if it's really just a way to bet on Donald Trump's future
01:50 success.
01:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]