Newsmax, the right-wing cable news channel, has been on a roller coaster since its shares started trading on the public markets on Monday.
The stock rocketed to a high of $279 on the New York Stock Exchange this week, a price that briefly valued the company at more than $20 billion. On Wednesday, the stock crashed to $52, giving it a market valuation of about $5 billion by the time the market closed. It was briefly ahead of U.S. Steel, which is valued at roughly $9.5 billion.
The wild stock market debut was just the latest unexpected twist for Newsmax, started more than two decades ago as a long-shot challenger to more established cable news channels like Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.
Chris Ruddy, the founder of Newsmax, said in an interview on Wednesday that he wasn’t focused on the gyrating share price of the company.
“Whether the stock price goes to $1,000 or it goes to $10, I have to do the same thing: Continue building Newsmax and to do my job,” Mr. Ruddy said.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is Newsmax?
Newsmax is the brainchild of Mr. Ruddy, a former New York Post reporter with ties to President Trump’s social circle in South Florida. Mr. Ruddy, 60, founded Newsmax in 1998 and has since built it into a conservative media darling, with a cable channel, a magazine and a digital subscription service, Newsmax+. Like many other conservative media businesses, Newsmax sells health supplements, which it calls its “nutraceuticals business.”
The company, which is known primarily for its cable channel, has reliably conservative programming, with anchors including Greg Kelly, a former Fox News host, and Michael Savage, a right-wing radio host. The channel is carried on most major cable and satellite providers, including DirecTV, Dish, Comcast, Charter and Verizon.
Why is its stock surging?
The channel made its stock market debut on Monday and has benefited from the investor enthusiasm in companies associated with Mr. Trump, such as the Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of his Truth Social platform.
Despite its lofty valuation, Newsmax has struggled to turn a profit during the run-up to its stock market debut. In the first half of 2024, Newsmax generated $79.8 million in revenue but lost $55.5 million, warning investors that difficulties facing the TV industry could affect the company’s ability to turn a profit.
Still, the stock surge is a windfall for Mr. Ruddy, who, with affiliates, controls 81.4 percent of the company’s voting power.
How does Newsmax compare with other cable channels?
Newsmax’s audience is tiny compared with that of Fox News, the dominant right-wing cable channel. In the first quarter of 2025, an average of 305,000 viewers watched Newsmax shows in prime time, a small fraction of the three million viewers that tuned in to Fox News during the same period, according to data from Nielsen.
Compared with other channels, Newsmax does not charge cable and satellite companies a premium fee for the right to distribute its channels, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. That allows Newsmax to gain distribution across many cable and satellite systems, a boon for advertising, but it puts it at a financial disadvantage to many of its competitors.
But Mr. Ruddy said on Wednesday that Newsmax was steadily increasing the fees it charged cable and satellite providers, adding that the per subscriber rates are set to double or triple in renegotiations.
“Right now, we’re getting a fraction of what CNN has, but we have a lot of potential,” Mr. Ruddy said.
What legal troubles is Newsmax facing?
Like other conservative cable channels, Newsmax was sued after the 2020 presidential election by the voting machine companies Dominion and Smartmatic, which have argued that the channel advanced baseless conspiracy theories about their products.
Newsmax settled its lawsuit with Smartmatic last year for $40 million, which it said in a financial filing would be paid off fully by June. The settlement also included an option for Smartmatic to buy a block of Newsmax preferred stock for $5,000 per share.
But the lawsuit with Dominion is still active, with a trial set to begin later this year. Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in compensatory damages. Newsmax said in a financial filing that the case with the election technology company could have “a material adverse effect on Newsmax’s financial position.”