Newsmax (NMAX -0.81%) stormed onto the public markets earlier this year, with its stock soaring more than 700% out of the gate. In subsequent sessions, it surged to an intraday peak of $265 a share. Investors believed there was some kind of connection between the media company and President Donald Trump, and that resulted in it trading like a meme stock.
Newsmax runs a 24/7 news channel as well as other media properties, including radio shows, podcasts, and websites. The brand caters to a politically conservative crowd and has historically provided favorable coverage of Trump.
Image source: Getty Images.
Recent Nielsen ratings show that Newsmax is the fourth-most popular cable news outlet in the U.S. In the first quarter of the year, Newsmax reported a record 33.6 million viewers, up 50% year over year. Meanwhile, 15 million of those viewers came from the key 35- to 64-year-old demographic, which was up 63% year over year.
Where will Newsmax stock be in 1 year?
Most of the meme-stock magic has worn off, as Newsmax's stock trades below $13 per share as of this writing -- still above its $10 a share IPO price, though below the $14 a share at which it opened on its first trading day -- and a $1.63 billion market cap. Through the first half of 2025, Newsmax generated $91.7 million in total revenue, up about 15% year over year. The company's net loss, however, increased from a roughly $55.5 million loss to more than $92 million.
Newsmax has been dealing with high litigation costs related to its coverage of the 2020 election, which led to several defamation lawsuits and expensive settlements. Absent those costs, bottom-line results would have been much better.
While Newsmax's audience growth has been tremendous, when you annualize its revenues this year, the stock still trades at almost 9 times sales. That seems a tad expensive. At that valuation, its recent growth is not enough to tempt me away from other opportunities in the market. Newsmax might stumble over a price correction in the next year.
