As of press time, Newsmax’s increase is still close to 600%. According to local media statistics, pure TV network IPOs in the U.S. stock market are extremely rare, and there has been no IPO comparable to Newsmax in recent decades.
Compared with Nvidia's "son" data center service provider CoreWeave, which broke 10% on the second day after its listing next door, Newsmax's surge once again illustrates how important the timing of new stock listings is.
From any perspective, this company's success can only be attributed to one reason - the rise of the conservative wave in the United States.
What is very counter-intuitive is that when the media’s founder and former New York Post investigative reporter Christopher Rudy started his business in 1998, he positioned Newsmax as a digital media platform. It was not until 2014 that it was transformed into a cable news network. Against the background of the rise of streaming media and the decline of traditional TV stations, Newsmax's transformation and listing have all stepped on the trend of the era when right-wing politicians in the United States are becoming more active and the audience for related content is expanding.
(Rudy pictured with Trump in 2017)
Rudy said in an interview with the media on Monday that the center-right media industry in the United States now needs an opponent that can compete with Fox News.
Although the US television news network has long been dominated by Fox News, CNN and Microsoft National Broadcasting Company (MSNBC), Newsmax has quietly approached the leading group. Nielsen confirmed on Monday that Newsmax's ratings have been able to "consistently" rank fourth in the United States. Overall, Newsmax ranks among the top 20 cable networks in both prime time and daytime average ratings.
Rudy also boasted on Monday that this was a remarkable achievement for an emerging cable company that was only 10 years old.
It is worth mentioning that Rudy posted on social media last week that he received a congratulatory message from Trump from the President’s Office, and also specially sent a posed photo of Trump holding a mobile phone and showing the person he was talking to.
(Source: X)
Trump has given exclusive interviews to Newsmax several times, most recently last week. At the same time, the Trump administration has also made adjustments to the White House press corps that closely reports on presidential affairs. White House reporters from the Associated Press and Reuters have been kicked out of the press corps. Newsmax, which firmly supports Trump, is naturally a beneficiary.
(Source: Newsmax)
Newsmax claims that the company reaches more than 40 million U.S. viewers each month through television broadcasts and multi-platform content. With the addition of YouTube TV, the number of households covered has reached nearly 60 million.
According to the prospectus, out of Newsmax’s total share capital of 128 million shares, Rudy holds 39.23 million Class A shares, corresponding to more than 80% of the voting rights.
(Source: SEC)
Like other "Trump stocks," Newsmax's financial situation is quite worrying. The financial report shows that the company's revenue in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 was US$135 million, with losses of US$19.93 million and US$41.77 million respectively. Revenue in the first half of 2024 was US$79.83 million, and losses expanded to US$55.51 million.
So before going public, Newsmax also conducted a $225 million convertible preferred stock raising last month, and those shares will be converted at a 25% discount to the IPO price.