Newsmax stock soared more than 120% Tuesday morning, extending its massive 735% gain on Monday following the conservative cable news outlet’s IPO.
Newsmax raised $75 million in its IPO Friday, with shares priced at $10. Newsmax’s rapid ascent in its first two days of trading pushed the company’s market cap to $16.7 billion. Shares traded around $190 early Tuesday.
NYSE – Nasdaq Real Time Price • USD
“This incredibly successful offering, combined with our previous Preferred Offering, provides us with the capital and financial freedom to accelerate our growth initiatives, expand our programming and further enhance our digital presence,” said CEO Christopher Ruddy, a media mogul and friend of President Donald Trump who founded the company in 1998.
Newsmax, which became a cable TV network in 2014, has faced an onslaught of critiques and legal battles for touting conspiracy theories. The company is facing an ongoing lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems seeking $1.6 billion in damages related to false claims it made in its coverage of the 2020 election, which Newsmax cited among risk factors to its business in its latest 10-K filing to the SEC.
A banner for Newsmax Inc. is displayed during the company’s IPO at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo · Reuters / Reuters
Newsmax settled another lawsuit with another election tech company Smartmatic in 2024 for similar claims and has paid $20 million of the $40 million settlement thus far, according to the filing. The news outlet, seen as a Fox News alternative, also drew criticism when it reported false claims and conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.
While Newsmax’s revenue soared roughly 26% to roughly $171 million in 2024, the company lost $72 million that year. The company also said in its filing that it has identified “material weaknesses” in its financial reporting controls such that there may be “a material misstatement” in its financial statements that it may not detect “on a timely basis.”
Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Bluesky @laurabratton.bsky.social. Email her at [email protected].
Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
