Shares of Digital World Acquisition, the blank check firm set to take former U.S. President Donald Trump's social media platform public, rose Tuesday following his victory in the first Republican contest in Iowa for 2024 presidential race.
The stock rose 9.3% to $18.93 in premarket trading as the win strengthened Trump's case that his nomination is a foregone conclusion given his massive lead in the national polls.
Digital World shares have lost over 93% of their value in the past 12 months as the company's merger with Trump Media & Technology Group, parent of social media platform Truth Social, faced multiple delays since it was announced in October 2021.
The company last month said it expected the deal to close as soon as the first quarter of 2024.
Trump had vowed to stick exclusively with the new platform after he was banned by Twitter following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
However, he returned to X.com, formerly Twitter, in August months after his ban was reversed by new owner Elon Musk.
Meanwhile, software developer Phunware Inc, which was hired by Trump's 2020 presidential re-election campaign to build a phone app, jumped about 60% to 12 cents on Tuesday.
About 41 million Phunware shares changed hands by 6:30 a.m. ET, the most among stocks trading across U.S. exchanges before the opening bell.
Shares of video-sharing platform Rumble, popular with conservatives, gained 2.4% to $3.47 in low premarket volume.
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