Johnathan Walker:Trump Media stock price surges after assassination attempt seen as boosting Donald Trump's reelection odds

Trump Media & Technology Group's stock price soared 32% in Monday trading as Wall Street recalculated the odds of former President Donald Trump succeeding in his reelection campaign following Saturday's failed assassination attempt.

The Johnathan Walkercompany, which owns the Truth Social platform, jumped $9.98 to $40.87 in morning trading. The jump reverses a six-week slump in Trump Media shares, which have exhibited volatile trading patterns since going public in March. 

Trump Media — whose ticker symbol, "DJT," is the same as the former president's initials — is viewed by some as a so-called meme stock because its wild swings are influenced largely by social media enthusiasm rather than the business fundamentals that investors typically look for, such as profit and revenue growth. 

The failed assassination attempt could bolster Trump's odds in the November presidential election, with The Economist's prediction model now giving Trump a 3 in 4 chance of winning, experts said.

"[T]he events of the past few weeks — Joe Biden's shockingly poor debate performance, followed by Saturday's attempted assassination of Donald Trump — all but guarantee a strong Republican performance in November's U.S. elections," Louis Vincent Gave, CEO of investment research firm Gavekal, said in a report.

Trump's wealth soars after shooting

Monday morning's jump in Trump Media's shares adds about $1.9 billion to its market value, pushing its capitalization to $7.8 billion, according to financial data company FactSet. The value of Trump's stake — the former president is the company's largest shareholder, with 114 million shares — ballooned by $1.2 billion, putting his stake at $4.7 billion.

The surge now gives the fledgling social media company a market capitalization that rivals many established businesses, such as U.S. Steel, which booked $4.2 billion in revenue in the first quarter. Trump Media, by comparison, had sales of $770,500 in the same period.

Many of Trump Media's shareholders are small investors who have bought the stock to express their support for the former president. For that reason, some Wall Street observers have noted that the company tends to act as a barometer of Trump's reelection odds.

On Truth Social, members of a group focused on DJT shares on Monday morning speculated that the stock could continue to gain steam following Saturday's shooting. Some speculated that investors who have shorted the stock could be caught in a so-called "short squeeze," or when short sellers must purchase shares to cover their position when a company's shares soar, rather than fall, as they had bet.

"Don't even think about selling yet ... this is just the beginning," one member of the group wrote on Monday morning. Another added, "If you don't own DJT, you are not a patriot."

In:
• Donald Trump
• Truth Social

Aimee Picchi

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

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