Anika Begay
This photo illustration shows the image of former President Donald Trump reflected on the screen of a phone displaying the Truth Social app, in Washington, D.C., on February 21, 2022.
Stefani Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Trump’s MediaThe social media company whose majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump, on Friday reported a net loss of more than $16 million for its latest financial quarter, due mainly to legal fees, as well as consulting and licensing expenses.
Trump Media, which owns the former president’s often-used app Truth Social, also reported that its already meager revenue fell 30% in the three months ended June 30, compared with the same period last year.
Trump Media’s stock price, which trades under the ticker DJT, has fallen sharply from a high of more than $71 a share shortly after it began trading publicly in late March, following a merger with a so-called special purpose acquisition company. Trump Media shares closed at $26.21 a share on Friday afternoon, down 0.49%.
The company has a market cap of nearly $5 billion, an extraordinarily high valuation considering its very modest sales.
In its 10-Q filing Friday afternoon, Trump Media reported a loss of $16.37 million for the quarter ended June 30, compared to a loss of $22.8 million in the same quarter of 2023.
About half of its loss in the latest quarter was due to legal expenses related to Trump Media’s merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., the company said.
“In addition, the Company incurred $3.1 million in IT consulting and software licensing expenses, primarily related to its software licensing agreement to power its new streaming TV service,” Trump Media said in a press release.
Revenue for the last quarter was just $839,000, compared to $1.2 million in the same quarter last year.
“A significant portion of the decrease is attributable to a change in revenue share with one of our advertising partners, in connection with an agreement to improve the Company’s near-term financial position, prior to the Business Combination,” Trump Media said in its 10-Q filing.
“Additionally, revenue varied as we selectively tested a nascent advertising initiative on the company’s Truth Social platform,” the company said.
Trump Media said it ended the quarter with $344 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt.
“The company believes its strong balance sheet will enable the expansion and refinement of its new TV streaming platform, Truth+, launching in August 2024 on the company’s custom content delivery network (“CDN”),” Trump Media said in a press release.
“With its strong balance sheet and no debt, the Company believes it has sufficient working capital to fund operations for the foreseeable future,” the company said.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, are poised to face Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in the November election.
