DJT shares rise after Biden stumbles in Trump debate

The stock price of Trump Media soared more than 11% in premarket trading Friday morning after majority shareholder Donald Trump benefited from President Joe Biden stumbling through their first presidential debate.

Trump Media, which trades under the DJT ticker, had closed down 6.42% on Thursday afternoon at $36.73 per share. But the Truth Social app owner traded at more than $40 per share early Friday, with volume heavy at more than 3 million shares changing hands as the stock price gave back some of its early gains.

Trump, the former president who is the presumptive Republican nominee, owns almost 65% of Trump Media shares. The company’s market capitalization was around $6.5 billion as of Friday despite having meager revenue.

Political observers and Democratic donors said Biden, 81, gave a dismal performance on Thursday night in his debate against Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta. Biden’s speech was garbled at times. He also lost his train of thought, and his face looked blank with his mouth agape at times as Trump spoke.

One major Democratic fundraiser told CNBC that Biden’s performance was a “disaster.”

“This is terrible. Worse than I thought was possible. Everyone I’m speaking with thinks Biden should drop out,” that donor said.

This is developing news. Check back for updates.