Trump’s Truth Social reveals $58m loss as auditor raises doubts about viability

Shares in Donald Trump’s Truth Social dropped by as much as 25% on Monday after the social mediacompany revealed it lost $58.2m last year and an auditor disclosed “substantial doubt” over its ability to continue operating.

An extraordinary stock market debut last week leftTrump Media & Technology Group valued at more than $7bn. But it generated sales of just $4.13m in 2023, according to regulatory filings.

While over $4m in sales marks significant growth from $1.47m in 2022, the previous year, it underlines the small scale of Trump Media’s operation – and the depth of its losses.

BF Borgers of Colorado, an auditor for the company, said the losses “raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern”, according to Monday’s filings.

Shares in the group – and Digital World Acquisition, the shell company with which it merged to go public – have been surging since the turn of the year.

The company has a similar valuation to Reddit, a social network that also went public last month. Reddit generated sales of $804m in 2023, according to regulatory filings, and losses of $90.8m.

Net losses at Trump Media came to $58.2m in 2023. Stripping out interest expenses on its debt, the firm posted operating losses of $16m, down slightly from $23.2m in 2022.

A volatile market surge over recent months has nevertheless transformed Trump Media into a so-called meme stock, boosted by internet memes – posted, in its case, on platforms including Truth Social – urging retail investors to buy into it.

It has joined a small bevy of stocks, most famously the video games retailer GameStop, which rattled Wall Street by staging unexpected, turbulent rallies in recent years. Maintaining momentum after the initial surge has often proved