Trump Media reports $16 million loss for quarter as revenue falls

Trump Media, the social media company whose majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump, on Friday reported a net loss of more than $16 million for the most recent financial quarter, as its already meager revenue fell 30% to just $836,900. Trump Media owns the Truth Social app, which is often used by the former president. The stock price of Trump Media, which trades under the DJT ticker, has fallen sharply from a high of more than $71 per share shortly after began publicly trading in late March following a merger with a so-called special purpose acquisition corporation. Trump Media stock closed at $26.21 per share Friday afternoon, a decrease of .49%. The company has a market capitalization of nearly $5 billion, an extraordinarily high valuation given its very modest sales. In a 10-Q filing Friday afternoon, Trump Media reported a loss of $16.37 million for the second quarter ending June 30, compared to a $22.8 million loss for the second quarter in 2023. About half of the loss for the past quarter was due to legal expenses related to Trump Media’s merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., the company said. “Additionally, the Company incurred $3.1 million of IT consulting and software licensing expenses, primarily related to its software licensing agreement to power its new TV streaming service,” Trump Media said in a press release. Revenue for the most recent quarter of $839,000 compared to $1.2 million for the same quarter last year. “A significant portion of the decrease was attributable to a change in the revenue share with one of our advertising partners, in connection with an agreement intended to improve the Company’s short-term, pre-Business Combination financial position,” Trump Media said in its 10-Q filing. “Additionally, revenue has varied as we selectively test 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, with no debt. “The Company believes its strong balance sheet will enable the expansion and refinement of its new TV streaming platform, Truth+, which was launched in August 2024 on the Company’s custom-built content delivery network (‘CDN’),” Trump Media said in a press release. “With its strong balance sheet and zero debt load, the Company believes it has sufficient working capital to fund operations for the foreseeable future,” the company said. Donald Trump, who is the Republican presidential nominee, and his running mate Sen. JD Vance of Ohio are set to face the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in November’s election.