In a remarkable rise and fall, Donald Trump's meme stock, owned by Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), surged to unprecedented heights in March, only to crash-land shortly after. Financial experts point out that this volatile journey underscores the fleeting nature of stock-market wealth when there is no real business backing it.

TMTG's value reached an astonishing $11 billion, surging as high as $79 per share on March 26. However, recent disappointing performance updates and plans to issue additional shares caused the stock to plummet by approximately 70%, settling at just below $23 at Tuesday's close. As a result, the company's market value now stands at about $3 billion.

Donald Trump, who owns a significant 58% stake in TMTG, saw the value of his holdings skyrocket to over $6 billion before experiencing a rapid decline to below $2 billion in less than a month. This rollercoaster ride momentarily propelled him into the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and secured him a spot among the world's top 300 wealthiest individuals. However, with the drastic decrease in his net worth, Trump has now fallen off the rich list entirely.

Analysts speculate that TMTG's price fluctuations may reflect Trump's popularity and the confidence his supporters have in him, as well as the market's perception of his current political influence. Michele Costola, a researcher at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, draws a parallel between TMTG and publicly listed European soccer clubs, whose stock prices rise and fall based on their performance. Costola suggests that Trump's company's market value could also be influenced by his political performance and the outcomes of the trials he is involved in.

Imran Yousaf, an assistant professor at China's Wenzhou-Kean University who studies meme stocks, believes Trump's significant fan base could empower him to influence the stock market, particularly with regards to TMTG. However, he points out that this influence is unlikely to sustain unless the company offers a compelling product or service, as a company's stock typically reflects its underlying fundamentals in the long run.

Yousaf likens TMTG's stock to cryptocurrencies, where hype and speculation often overshadow the fundamentals driving valuations. He acknowledges that memes can temporarily boost the stock but emphasizes that the sharp rise in Truth Social's price is not fully supported by its fundamentals.

In an announcement on Tuesday, TMTG revealed plans to launch a streaming platform that will provide news, religious, and family-friendly programming. The platform aims to offer a space for content creators whose work may have been "canceled" or suppressed by other outlets. TMTG CEO Devin Nunes, a former US congressman, expressed the company's desire to provide these creators with a guaranteed platform where they won't face censorship.

As TMTG navigates these uncertain waters, the future of Trump's meme stock remains unclear. While his base may initially invest in Truth Social, experts warn that its long-term success hinges on the delivery of a substantiated product or service. As Warren Buffett famously stated, the stock market may act like a voting machine in the short run, but ultimately, it is the weighing machine that determines an entity's value.