DJT stock is extending gains after shares rose to their highest level since July on bets that Trump will win the US election

Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) stock extended gains on Wednesday, rising over 4% as investors bet on former President Donald Trump's improving chances of winning the November election in less than two weeks.

The moves come after the stock hit its highest level since July on Tuesday, with shares closing up nearly 10%.

Other Trump-linked stocks moved in lockstep with DJT, with mobile advertising software company Phunware (PHUN), which has ties to the former president, rising about 20% on Wednesday after rising over 40% in the previous session.

Conservative-leaning video platform Rumble (RUM) saw previous gains, rising as much as 8% on Wednesday. But in the afternoon the shares gave up these gains and closed down over 4%.

Shares of the company, home of the Republican candidate's social media platform Truth Social, recently surged as both domestic and foreign betting markets shifted in favor of a Trump victory, with prediction sites such as Polymarket, PredictIt and Kalshi all calling for Trump's win show presidential chances ahead of those of the Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris.

But national polls show both candidates are in incredibly close races, particularly in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan that will likely decide the fate of the election.

The stock's rebound came after the stock traded at its lowest level since the company's inception following the expiration of the highly publicized lock-up period last month. Stocks were also under pressure as previous polls in early September showed Harris slightly ahead of the former president.

Trump's latest campaign swing, which just included a stop at a local McDonald's in Pennsylvania, follows an appearance by Elon Musk at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this month. It was the same place where the former president survived an assassination attempt in July.

Tech billionaire Musk, who serves as CEO of Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX and also owns the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), has been vocal about his support for Trump ahead of next month's election. Trump has even said that he would consider a Cabinet post for Musk, but that the businessman probably wouldn't be able to serve “in all the things he has going on.”

At the rally, Musk told the crowd that Trump is the only candidate who can “preserve democracy in America,” adding that if Trump doesn't win, this will be “the last election.”

Meanwhile, Harris recently began a series of media appearances pressuring her about how she would fund some of her proposals around the economy and immigration.

The story continues

Trump founded Truth Social after he was banned from major social media apps like Facebook (META) and Twitter, now X, following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. Trump has since been reinstated on these platforms. After about a year off, he officially returned to X in mid-August.

But as Truth Social attempts to take on social media incumbents, the company's fundamentals have long been in question.

In August, DJT reported second-quarter results that showed a net loss of $16.4 million, about half of which came from costs related to the company's SPAC deal. The company also reported revenue of nearly $837,000 for the quarter ended June 30, down 30% from a year earlier.

Earlier this month, the company announced that its COO had resigned in September.

Trump owns around 60% of DJT. At current levels of over $35 per share, Trump Media has a market capitalization of around $7.1 billion, giving the former president a stake of around $4.3 billion. Immediately after the company's stock market debut, Trump's stake was worth just over $4.5 billion.

Trump Media folded at the end of March after merging with special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp. to the Nasdaq stock exchange. But the stock has had a rocky run since then, with shares fluctuating between highs and lows as the moves were typically tied to a volatile news cycle.

Over the past six months, the stock has lost about 8% – a huge improvement after rallying after the stock bottomed out last month.

Shareholders, including the former president, were subject to a six-month lock-up period before they could sell or transfer shares. That lock-in period expired on September 19, although Trump said at the time that he would not sell his stake.

“I have absolutely no intention of selling,” the former president told reporters at a news conference before the lock-up period expired. “I love it. I use it as a way to get my word out.”

Alexandra Canal is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and send her an email at [email protected].

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