MW 'DJT' stock drops as crypto-deal talk cools

By Steve Gelsi

Stock falls 10% after a runup on speculation around a crypto company purchase of Bakkt

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.'s stock fell more than 10% on Tuesday after a big runup in the previous session for the parent of President-elect Donald Trump's Truth Social media platform.

The stock fell back the day after rising about 17% after a report that Trump Media $(DJT)$ was near a deal to buy Bakkt Holdings Inc. $(BKKT)$, a cryptocurrency-centered company.

Bakkt said in a statement on Tuesday that its policy "is not to comment on market rumors or speculation."

While Trump Media is in the business of running a social-media company, it only booked about $1 million in revenue in its most recent quarter.

The company has plenty of currency for deals, with nearly $700 million in cash equivalents and a market capitalization of more than $7 billion.

Bakkt Holdings, on the other hand, has a market cap of $406 million, even with an 8% boost to its stock price on Tuesday and a whopping 162% rise in the previous session, when word of the deal with DJT initially surfaced.

In the third quarter, Bakkt reported a loss of $2.9 million, or 45 cents a share, compared to a loss of $17.3 million, or $4.74 a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Its third-quarter revenue rose to $328.4 million from $204..8 million.

For his part, Trump has been embracing cryptocurrency - including his own digital currency venture, World Liberty Financial.

Also read: Robinhood poised as 'major beneficiary' of Trump's crypto trading changes: analyst

As of just before 11 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and S&P 500 SPX were slightly down, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP was up.

-Steve Gelsi

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November 19, 2024 11:02 ET (16:02 GMT)

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