Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of struggling social media platform Truth Social, is began its long-delayed journey as a public company at Tuesday’s opening bell under the ticker symbol “DJT.”

The stock surged about 56% at the open, to $78, and trading was briefly halted for volatility. Trump Media shares have since stabilized at around $70, marking a 40% increase from Monday’s close.

Wall Street is assigning Trump Media an eye-popping valuation of around $13 billion — a price tag that experts warn is untethered to reality.

The skyrocketing share price comes despite the fact that Trump Media is burning through cash; piling up losses; and its main product, Truth Social, is losing users.

“This is a very unusual situation. The stock is pretty much divorced from fundamentals,” said Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, who has been studying initial public offerings (IPOs) for over 40 years.

  • Demosthememes@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 months ago

    As tempting as that might be in the real world, in the financial world - this would be an expensive move, the most expensive short there is right now. Nearly all the available DJT stock was sold short but that has cost those people millions already.

    Trump Media Is Now the Most Expensive US Stock to Bet Against. His theatrics are literally all that is driving the stock up because, on paper, it should be an obvious losing hand.

        • BrokenGlepnir@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          I’m not sure about that. I thought shorting was a promise to buy the stock for someone in the future, in return for the price now. That way if it goes down you make a profit. The real opposition of buying is not buying. Or maybe buying the compeditor.

          • FlowVoid@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            The opposite of buying is selling. When you buy, the price goes up and when you sell it goes down.

            Normally you buy a stock before selling it. The opposite is selling a stock before buying it, which is known as shorting the stock.