Shares of Newsmax Inc. have surged more than 700% during their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, in a chaotic debut that drew comparisons to the meme stock rallies of recent years and left the conservative media outlet with a market capitalisation close to US$9 billion.
Trading under the ticker NMAX, Newsmax opened at US$14 after pricing its initial public offering at US$10 per share. Within hours, the stock shot to an intraday high of US$82.25—prompting 12 volatility-induced trading halts before closing at US$83.51, a 735% increase from the IPO price. Shares rose a further 8% in after-hours trading, peaking at US$89.
The company raised US$75 million in the IPO by selling 7.5 million shares, following a US$225 million private preferred offering in February. The listing was led by Digital Offering LLC.
Founded in 1998 by journalist Christopher Ruddy as a digital outlet, Newsmax entered the cable TV space in 2014. It now ranks as the fourth-highest-rated cable news channel in the United States, behind Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, with an average of 309,000 primetime viewers according to recent Nielsen data.
While its audience remains a fraction of Fox News’s viewership—Fox averages around 3.1 million primetime viewers—Newsmax has carved out a loyal base with its pro-Trump, right-wing content. That base appears to have followed it to the stock market.
Retail traders flooded into the stock on Monday. Newsmax was one of the 30 most actively traded stocks on Fidelity’s platform, with buy orders outnumbering sell orders three to one. The company also trended on online investor forums such as Stocktwits and Reddit, where users referenced the stock “going to the moon.”
The debut has drawn comparisons to past speculative trading frenzies involving GameStop and AMC, where rapid price surges were largely detached from company fundamentals. Despite Monday’s rally, Newsmax remains unprofitable, reporting a US$55 million loss in the first half of 2024 on US$80 million in revenue, according to regulatory filings. The company also listed US$142 million in liabilities against US$69 million in assets.
Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy told CNBC on Monday that the channel’s growth was driven by demand for an alternative to Fox News, adding that Newsmax occupies a “centre-right” space in the market. He said the company aims to expand its programming and digital footprint with the capital raised.
The IPO arrives at a time when traditional cable networks face declining viewership as audiences shift to streaming. Yet Newsmax has seen ratings improve following the political resurgence of Donald Trump, whom called Ruddy ahead of the listing. Ruddy later posted on social media: “I shared with POTUS my new saying: ‘A rising Trump lifts all boats!’”
Newsmax settled a US$40 million defamation lawsuit in 2023 with voting technology company Smartmatic over false claims related to the 2020 US presidential election.
The stock’s outsized first-day performance has drawn scrutiny. While more than two dozen stocks have posted debut gains of over 300% in recent years, historical trends suggest caution. According to Dealogic data, the average company in that group has since declined by 85% from its IPO price.
For now, though, Newsmax’s valuation places it alongside major US media companies such as the New York Times Company (US$8bn) and Paramount Global (US$8.4bn), and ahead of combined valuations for Tegna and Sinclair, which own nearly 250 local stations.
