Trump Media & Technology Group stock (DJT) extended its three-day slump, falling over 10% on Friday. The move capped off a volatile week that included multiple trading halts and massive swings in both directions just days ahead of the presidential election.
Over the five-day period, the stock has fallen about 20% despite a double-digit surge to kick off the week. Shares reversed course by Wednesday, suffering their largest percent decline after plunging around 22%.
Since Tuesday, more than $4 billion has been shaved from the company’s market cap, although the stock still has more than doubled from its September lows.
The oscillating of shares between highs and lows will likely continue as the election nears. One investor has 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.
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.”
Interactive Brokers’ chief strategist Steve Sosnick said DJT has taken on a meme-stock “life of its own.”
“It was volatile on the way up and when a stock is that volatile in one direction, it has a tendency to be that volatile in the other direction,” he said in a call with Yahoo Finance earlier this week.
Prior to this week’s sell-off, shares in the company, the home of the Republican nominee’s social media platform Truth Social, had risen as both domestic and overseas betting markets shift in favor of a Trump victory. 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.
The betting markets have tightened in recent days. And national polls show both candidates in a virtually deadlocked race. Polls in key battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, which are likely to decide the fate of the election, also show razor-thin margins.
In September, the stock traded at its lowest level since the company’s debut following the expiration of its highly publicized lockup period. Shares had also been under pressure as previous polling in September saw Harris with a bigger lead on the former president.
