Trump Media & Technology Group stock (DJT) was briefly halted several times in early trading on Tuesday, but shares still managed to extend their five-week surge, rising nearly 10%.
The volatile stock moves come as investors bet on improved chances that Donald Trump will win the November presidential election, set for a week from Tuesday.
Tuesday’s gains built on a more than 21% gain Monday following the former president and Republican nominee’s highly criticized rally at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden (MSG) over the weekend. At current levels, the stock is trading at its highest level since May, with shares up about 270% from their September lows.
Trump’s rally sparked backlash from both sides of the political aisle after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made inflammatory jokes about Latinos and the Black community, while anti-immigration comments also dominated headlines.
The surge in DJT stock is unlikely to continue beyond the short term. One current investor warned that if Trump loses the election next week, shares of DJT could plunge to $0.
“It’s a binary bet on the election,” Matthew Tuttle, CEO of investment fund Tuttle Capital Management, told Yahoo Finance’s Catalysts show on Monday.
Read more: What the 2024 campaign means for your wallet: The Yahoo Finance guide to the presidential election
Tuttle, who currently owns put options on the stock, said the trajectory of shares hinges on “a buy the rumor, sell the fact” trading strategy.
“I would imagine that the day after him winning, you’d see this come down,” he surmised. “If he loses, I think it goes to zero.”
Shares in the company, the home of the Republican nominee’s social media platform Truth Social, have seen a recent rise as both domestic and overseas betting markets shift in favor of a Trump victory, with prediction sites like Polymarket, PredictIt, and Kalshi all showing Trump’s presidential chances ahead of those of Democratic nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris.
National polls, however, show both candidates in an incredibly tight race, especially in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which are likely to decide the fate of the election.
The recovery in shares comes after the stock traded at its lowest level since the company’s debut following the expiration of its highly publicized lockup period last month. Shares had also been under pressure as previous polling in September saw Harris edging slightly ahead of the former president.
