By Zaheer Kachwala, Medha Singh and Suzanne McGee
(Reuters) -Shares of conservative news outlet Newsmax soared another 180% on Tuesday, extending their eye-popping gains a day after a stellar debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
The stock has been popular with retail investors, remaining the top trending ticker on retail investor-focused social media stocktwits.com since its debut, which traders said parallels the pattern of other hotly-traded retail favorites, known as meme stocks.
The cable news operator, which raised $75 million in its “mini IPO” last week, is looking to expand its reach following President Donald Trump’s return to the White House earlier this year.
“It’s probably a perfect time for Newsmax to launch, simply because of all the volatility in the political arena currently,” said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management.
“This was a demonstration that there are more conservative investors than probably the market had anticipated,” he said.
By the end of Tuesday, Newsmax’s stock traded at $234 a share, up $150 from Monday’s close and nearly double the $125.98 where it began its day. That compared to the IPO price of $10 and eightfold gain after the offering on Monday, and brought the market value of the cable news network to $28.3 billion.
Stocks such as video sharing platform Rumble and Trump Media & Technology Group rallied in the run-up to the presidential election last year as investors banked on Trump’s victory.
“This is almost exactly the same pattern that we saw with DJT,” said Art Hogan, market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management.
“The trading volume is astronomical,” he added. “The same shares are getting bought and sold over and over.”
About $147 million worth of Newsmax shares changed hands in early trading, topping those of JPMorgan. By the end of the day, trading volumes topped 10.9 million shares, according to LSEG data. Only 7.5 million shares were sold in the IPO.
“This has all the makings of a classic meme stock,” said Dann Ryan, managing partner of Sincerus Advisory, a New York-based financial advisory firm.
Still, the online buzz on Reddit – home to many of the influencers that have been enthusiastic backers of stocks like Trump Media and GameStop – was mixed. While some embraced Newsmax’s anti-mainstream media pitch, others were wary of the speed and magnitude of its rally, especially as it remains unprofitable.
While the company’s revenue is growing, so are its losses. In 2024 the company lost $72.2 million on roughly $171 million in total annual revenue, compared to a loss of $41.8 million on revenue of $135.3 million in 2023.
Founded in 1998 by Christopher Ruddy, Newsmax started as a digital brand and launched its cable news channel in 2014. It also streams for free on platforms such as its Newsmax app and YouTube.
Ruddy owns all of Newsmax’s Class A shares, which do not trade publicly, as well as 30.6% of the Class B shares. As of Tuesday’s close, the value of his Class B stake alone topped $9.1 billion.
Trump promoted Newsmax during his first administration, when he frequently criticized other news outlets’ coverage of him.
In March Newsmax paid $40 million to settle allegations it defamed voting technology firm Smartmatic by reporting false claims that the company helped rig the 2020 U.S. election for Democrat Joe Biden over Trump, according to a regulatory filing.
A second voting technology firm, Domimion, sued Newsmax in 2021 over similar claims of defamation, and is seeking $1.6 billion in damages. Newsmax has denied the allegations. The case is scheduled to go to trial in Delaware in April.
An expected rebound in the U.S. IPO market has been tempered by the uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariff policy and fears of a prolonged trade war.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala, Medha Singh and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru and Suzanne McGee in Providence, Rhode Island; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Stephen Coates)
