Trump's Media stock declines more than 21% after declaring $58M loss in 2023

Donald Trump's social media company said on Monday that it lost around $58.2 million in the previous year, causing its stock down more than 21%, less than a week after a spectacular stock market launch.  

According to a company filing with securities regulators, Trump Media & Technology Group's losses in 2023 whose main product is Truth Social mark a sharp decrease from the $50.5 million in profit the former president's company recorded for 2022.  

According to the SEC filing, Trump Media's revenue increased to $4.1 million in 2023 from $1.5 million in 2022.  

Following its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a blank-check corporation, Trump Media started trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange on March 26 under the ticker DJT. And it's been a volatile ride. 

Trump Media's shares soared in their first couple days of trading surpassing $79 at one point but have since fallen closer to their initial offering price of $49.95. The company's stock closed at $48.66 after Monday's sell-off, meaning a lot of early investors are taking a hit. 

Industry analysts have compared the fervor around Florida-based Trump Media to the meme stock craze, which notably boosted shares of struggling companies such as GameStop and the movie chain AMC Entertainment to exorbitant heights in 2021. 

On Monday, shares for these so-called meme stocks slid as well, with GameStop and AMC down more than 4% and 15%, respectfully, at market close. And Reddit, another company that recently went public and has since been looped into meme stock frenzy comparisons, slumped nearly 7%. 

Trump’s social media site had been seen as a potential financial lifeline for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee as he faces an unprecedented onslaught of legal and financial challenges. 

In addition to four criminal cases which each come with their own expensive lawyers Trump faces a $454 million-plus civil fraud penalty after a New York state judge ruled that he and others at his company had schemed for years to dupe banks, insurers and others by inflating his wealth on financial statements. 

Last week, Trump won a break when an appeals court cut the amount, he needs to put up to pause collection while he appeals to $175 million, which Trump has said he will be able to cover. But he must come up with the money by Thursday. 

In the past, Trump posted a $92 million bond following his conviction for the sexual assault and defamation of author E. Jean Carroll. If the case makes it through appeals, the money is intended to guarantee that she will be awarded by a jury for his verbal abuse of her.  

It's unknown how much money Trump will have left over at the conclusion of the week. For the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2021, Trump's most recent annual financial disclosure indicated that he had around $294 million in cash or cash equivalents. 

Subsequently, he made an additionalroughly $186.8 million, according to state attorneys in New York, by selling the rights to oversee a golf course in New York City in June 2023 and the lease on his hotel in Washington in May 2022.  

Trump Media's move into the public market could also net the former president billions on paper although there hasn't been an immediate payout yet. In Monday’s filing, the company did not announce any changes to the provision that prevents insiders such as Trump from selling their shares for six months following its stock market debut. Still, some experts have speculated that the board might waive the provision for Trump and allow him to sell shares to help cover his legal bills.