Trading on Trump Media stock was halted three times on Election Day because the share price changed too quickly.
Trump Media, which trades under the stock tucker DJT, opened Tuesday—Election Day—at $37 a share, up 8.5% from Monday’s closing price. The stock continued to rally on Tuesday, trading at over $40 a share by mid-afternoon. Then suddenly the stock started to fall precipitously, dropping 15% in 15 minutes.
Over the course of 14 minutes, from 2:48 p.m. to 3:03 p.m., trading on the stock was halted three separate times because of excess volatility. The pauses in trading came because there were too many shares changing hands at once, causing the price to oscillate wildly in the span of just a few minutes.
The first pause came at 2:48 p.m. when the price dropped from $37 to $34 in about a minute. After a five-minute pause meant to cool off the market and avoid a total sell-off, the stock resumed selling at 2:53 p.m. It was paused again about 90 seconds later. Once the second pause was lifted, the stock lasted only marginally longer—115 seconds—before trading was stopped for a third time.
After the market closed on Tuesday Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns the social-media platform Truth Social, reported earnings for the third quarter. The company continued to operate with huge losses and small revenues. Trump Media had $1 million in revenue that amounted to a net loss of $19.2 million, according to SEC filings. Those losses compounded existing financial struggles that have persisted since the start of the year. In the first three quarters of 2024 Trump Media had losses of $363.2 million, with total revenue of $2.6 million. Trump Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of normal business hours.
The stock for Trump Media has often moved independently of financial results, instead changing in concert with the political fortunes of its largest shareholder: former President Donald Trump. Throughout the race, it often moved alongside Trump’s election odds. When it seemed like Trump was poised to run away with the race following the first assassination attempt on his life in July, the stock soared. In September, after Vice President Kamala Harris trounced Trump in the debate, shares plunged.
With Election Day here, traders were poised to make their final play on the stock, whose future value hinges on whether Trump will make it back to the White House. Election Day saw 143 million shares, with about an hour still to go before the market closed, according to data from Refinitiv. The run-up to Election Day saw exorbitant trading activity on the stock, likely from eager traders looking to ride the rising share price to some quick gains and from those who already owned and were hoping to cash out before voters rendered their judgment.
The day before the election saw a further 121 million shares traded, according to the same Refinitiv data. And in October, the stock had its two biggest trading weeks ever. That upswing in trading came as the polls showed Trump pulling away from Harris in what had otherwise been a tight race, based on polling data.
Trading on Trump Media was also halted last week after a day of highly volatile price changes. Over the last month, Trump Media stock rose 85%.
