Truth Social, former president Donald’s Trump’s clone of Twitter, has a fraction of the customers of opponents like Reddit and X. The firm has by no means turned a revenue, and simply occurs to be the place the place Trump is presently posting.

But on the Nasdaq, the inventory alternate the place Truth Social turned a publicly traded firm at the moment, there is a totally different story: Truth Social has develop into a licensed meme inventory. Trump supporters appear to have conflated their help for the previous president with the inventory itself, and are shopping for en masse.

The inventory rapidly rose greater than 40 p.c after being listed and trades below a ticker of Trump’s initials, DJT. The firm is now valued at greater than $6.8 billion. The worth, nevertheless, may change rapidly; the inventory was so unstable that it briefly halted quickly after it was listed. The firm’s monetary efficiency has been underwhelming. It posted $3.3 million in income and misplaced $49 million within the first three quarters of 2023, according to regulatory filings.

Still, Trump’s followers have posted on Reddit, X, and Truth Social about how they plan to carry the inventory in defiance of conventional investing logic. Previous meme shares like GameStop and cryptocurrency tradition have helped present the script, however the rhetorical components is easy: Short sellers will perish, this inventory goes to the moon, and don’t promote it doesn’t matter what.

“Let’s go baby! Trump 2024 to the moon,” one consumer posted on Reddit, adopted by the rocket ship emoji.

In one other Reddit thread, stockholders mentioned at what worth they might promote shares within the firm. “At least waiting for the election win,” one consumer posted, with the tag Diamond DWAC, a reference to “diamond hands,” a want to carry a inventory regardless of volatility.

“$150 maybe … but probably waiting for the launch of TMTG+ streaming and also stories videos,” one other replied. “Or when our founder is The Leader of The Free World (again) and most reported on person on the world with the most attention on him and his platform. So maybe never‼️”

Reddit consumer deepfuckingbagholder speculated that the corporate may finally be value 1 trillion {dollars}. When one other consumer replied, saying that valuation could be nearly unattainable, deepfuckingbagholder wrote again: “This stock represents the value of Trump’s brand and I personally believe it can achieve that valuation.”

Truth Social is, predictability, a hotbed of conspiracy theories. Election denialism, vaccine skepticism, and the great replacement theory are all prominently featured on the location. The firm has additionally been mired in controversy because it started, following Trump’s ban from Twitter after the January 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol. A former senior worker filed a whistleblower criticism with the SEC, and different former workers have sued the corporate, alleging breach of contract. Shareholders voted to take the corporate public final week, merging Trump Media and Technology Group with a publicly traded holding firm, Digital World Acquisition Corp.

The outsize valuation of Truth Social has made Trump extremely wealthy. His web value rose $4 billion to $6.5 billion, making him one of many world’s 500 richest individuals, in line with calculations by Bloomberg News. Trump is restricted from promoting shares within the firm for about six months, so his web value may nonetheless tank, nevertheless, if the worth of Truth Social falls.

On Truth Social, one consumer mentioned a prayer.

“Bless all the patriots invested in #DJT,” GothamGal wrote. “Bless this investment, and make us successful so that we may do your will and bring glory to you. Bless and protect our president DJT, and our country. In Jesus name.”