Trump-related stocks set to see big swings as election approaches | Wilnesh News
Three stocks are generating buzz among day traders on hopes of a Donald Trump victory next week. Retail investors are increasingly focused on stocks such as Trump Media & Technology, Rumble and Phunware, which could benefit if the Republican presidential candidate wins. That’s already giving these names some wild moves — and they’re likely to get more involved as Americans head to the ballot box. Some of these stocks have more obvious ties to the former president than others. Trump Media Technology owns the alternative social media platform TruthSocial, and its stock code is “DJT”, which is also the initials of the business tycoon-turned-politician. Phunware made Trump’s campaign app, and Rumble is a conservative-focused video platform. To be sure, these trades are considered risky due to high volatility and poor financial conditions. None of these companies will be profitable in 2023. On top of that, Wall Street analysts rarely, if ever, cover these names. The latest NBC News poll also shows the race between him and Vice President Kamala Harris is in a stalemate. “It’s not new to make financial bets based on which stocks you think will perform best based on the election results,” said Christopher Schwarz, a finance professor at the University of California, Irvine, whose research focuses in part on retail trading. On the members. But when it comes to names like DJT, “there’s no fundamental reason for these stocks to be priced anywhere near their current price.” Still, these names are sure to make headlines and appear on Reddit’s WallStreetBets and more in the lead-up to and immediately following the election. on the forum. CNBC has compiled more information on these names, as well as some factors of interest to traders: Trump Media & Technology TruthSocial parent company is getting the most attention, as the nominee’s holdings were worth more than $5 billion. He holds about 114 million shares, equivalent to more than half of the company’s ownership. The stock has seen volatile trading in recent days as voting day approaches. The stock plunged more than 20% on Wednesday, reversing a gain of more than 8% the day before. Before Wednesday, the stock had rallied ahead of the election. It pulled the stock back from a slump that saw it fall below the $12 mark. Tuesday’s closing price was $51.51. Currently, shares are up over 160% in October, which would be the first positive month since March. They are up more than 140% so far this year. Trump Media has seen its highest annual net daily inflows from retail investors in recent days, according to data analyzed by Vanda Research. This highlights the outpouring of interest in the name during pre-election rallies. On Tuesday alone, retail traders were net buyers of Trump Media, worth $14.4 million. It was also the most discussed stock on WallStreetBets, a popular Reddit forum for stock traders, over the past seven days, according to Quiver Quantitative data as of Wednesday afternoon. The stock has been named more than 17,000 times on forums this year, the company said. The president and vice president of the United States are largely exempt from government conflict-of-interest rules. Still, Trump would be the first to govern with control of a public company. His DJT holdings are equivalent to nearly 75% of his net worth. Trump said he has no plans to sell the position. “I don’t think there’s ever been an exceptional situation where a future president of the United States could have such a direct economic impact on a specific company,” said Schwartz of the University of California, Irvine. Schwartz said that given the fundamentals of Trump Media’s business And with a high price-to-sales ratio, there’s no reason for it to even be publicly traded. In view of this, he said that the transaction was purely based on “speculation”. “The Trump media has no fundamental value – it’s worthless,” he said. “That’s why the election results could have such a big impact on stock prices.” Trump Media reported losses in both net income and EBITDA in 2023. Phunware and Rumble are two other stocks with less direct ties to Republican candidates. Phunware is promoted as a mobile software and blockchain company. In addition to the Trump campaign app, Phunware lists Marriott Hotels, Atlantis and the Mayo Clinic as clients on its website. The stock has experienced significant volatility over the past year, trading as high as above $24 and as low as below $3. According to FactSet, the company employed only 25 people at the end of 2023, and it posted a loss in terms of net profit and EBITDA for the year. Phunware also saw an increase in daily net investor inflows in October, Vanda data showed. Shares have soared more than 140% this month. The stock will also gain more than 80% by 2024, which is expected to end a two-year losing streak. PHUN YTD mountain Phunware, all four analysts surveyed by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) have a buy rating on the stock year-to-date. The average price target implies a nearly 90% upside to the stock price above the $15 mark. To be sure, price target estimates within this group vary widely—from as low as $8 to as high as $20. Rumble, on the other hand, did not see a similar spike as November 5 approached. Still, the company is seen as having ties to Trump, given its video platform’s popularity among conservatives. The company, which had nearly 160 employees as of the end of last year, also posted losses in net profit and EBITDA that year. Backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, the company went public in September 2022. Shares rose 13% in October and are up 36% so far this year. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock price has been less volatile, ranging from $3.33 to $9.20. Both analysts polled by the London Stock Exchange have a rating on the stock. Both have price targets of $8, which suggests shares could rise more than 34% over the next year. —CNBC’s Robert Frank and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
