Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ: DJT) fell 6% to $6.94 in afternoon trading, while Rumble (NASDAQ: RUM) dropped 8% to $5.66 as a broad market selloff punished smaller, more volatile stocks.
The declines stand out sharply against the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY), which fell a comparatively modest 1.44% during the same session.
Social media as a sector held up even better than the broader market, with the Global X Social Media ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL) declining just 0.4%, underscoring how concentrated the selling pressure was on these two names.
Both Trump Media and Rumble sit within the communication services sector under the internet content and information industry, a space where smaller, high-beta stocks tend to amplify broader market moves in either direction.
The Global X Social Media ETF holds positions in both companies, though each represents only a small slice of the fund’s portfolio relative to its larger social media holdings.
Trump Media operates Truth Social, the Truth+ streaming service, and the Truth.Fi financial brand, with Truth+ providing family-friendly live TV channels and on-demand content to subscribers.
The company also offers Truth API, a business-to-business product that licenses access to public Truth Social posts, while Rumble runs a video-sharing platform designed as an alternative distribution channel for content creators.
In late September, Trump Media and TAE Technologies filed a registration statement for an all-stock merger that would leave each side’s shareholders holding roughly equal portions of the combined company.
TAE Technologies develops fusion energy, power management systems for AI computing, and cancer therapy technology, making the proposed deal a significant strategic shift for Trump Media beyond its current media and financial brands.
Trump Media carries a large balance sheet of cash, digital assets, equity securities, and short-term investments, even as its revenue remains minimal relative to those holdings, which helps explain the stock’s outsized swings during volatile sessions.
The company expects its legal expenses tied to legacy litigation to fall significantly going forward, as it considers those matters substantially resolved, potentially easing one source of financial uncertainty.
The bull case for Trump Media centers on the TAE merger pushing the combined entity into fusion energy and power management for AI computing, with management framing the deal as a move into energy security infrastructure.
The bear case rests on the approvals the merger still requires from both shareholders and regulators, along with the inherent risk that commercial fusion power remains unproven and any setback at TAE could weigh on the combined company’s prospects.
Rumble’s bull case depends on continued audience growth, while slowing user numbers represent the primary downside risk, with advertising, subscriptions, licensing, and creator tipping forming the platform’s main revenue streams.
Investors may want to keep position sizes in both stocks modest until the TAE merger clears its shareholder and regulatory hurdles, given the elevated volatility both names carry relative to the broader social media sector.
