Phunware stock in focus as Bill Ackman predicts Trump will win

Phunware (NASDAQ: PHUN) stock price has done well this year, helped by the ongoing trends in the US election. It has jumped by over 53% in 2024, beating the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices. 

Phunware’s shares jumped by over 10% in the pre-market as investors reacted to the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. 

Phunware stock chart

Most analysts, including prominent liberals agreed that Biden’s performance was not good and predicted that Trump might win the election. In a long Tweet, Bill Ackman, a well-known hedge fund manager, made the case that Americans should support Trump.

Other liberals like Thomas Friedman, Frank Bruni, and Patrick Healy shared their concerns about Biden in their New York Times opinions. And the NYT cited more Democrats who argued that Biden should drop out of the race.

It is unclear whether Biden will agree to drop out, a move that would put Trump’s campaign at risk. Most polls have shown that Trump would likely lose the election by a wide margin if he was paired with another moderate Democrat.

Phunware stock has done well this year because the company has worked with Donald Trump before. It was one of the developers of Trump’s applications in the last general election. It is unclear whether it is working with his campaign this year.

Fundamentally, Phunware’s business is not doing well. Earlier this month, the company announced an At the Market (ATM) equity offering worth $120 million to boost its balance sheet. These are substantial sums of money considering that its valuation stands at about $59 million. 

Phunware’s earnings were also not good as the company’s revenues for the first quarter came in at just $0.9 million. Its loss narrowed to $2.3 million and it ended the quarter with just $21.6 million in cash and $5 million in debt.