Jeremy Bowman, The Motley Fool
5 min read
In This Article:
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Newsmax stock has steadily declined since a brief surge after its IPO.
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The stock trades at a premium valuation.
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It's delivering solid growth, but traditional media has been a challenging industry for investors.
Newsmax (NYSE: NMAX) has only been a publicly traded company for a couple of months, but it's stuffed a lot of excitement into a short period of time.
After pricing its shares at $10 on March 31, the stock skyrocketed to $233 over a two-day trading frenzy before plunging back down to earth.
A limited float, high demand, interest in a conservative media brand, and the meme stock effect all combined to send the stock briefly soaring.
Since then, Newsmax has gradually declined, closing at $18.09 a share on June 4, though that's still up more than 80% from its IPO price.
However, Newsmax shareholders did get some good news recently. The stock is set to join the small-cap Russell 2000 index at the end of the month, meaning that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the index will have to buy shares of Newsmax, which should help boost the stock price.
With Newsmax getting some recognition from the best-known small-cap index, it's a good time to ask if the stock is worth buying. Here's what you need to know about Newsmax.
IPOs for traditional media companies aren't particularly common in the current era, but Newsmax seemed to see an opportunity to capitalize on interest in conservative media brands in the wake of President Donald Trump's election, and it has so far paid off.
In addition to the core broadcasting business, which includes two linear cable channels and a streaming channel, Newsmax also has a digital business, Humanix Publishing, that includes a print and e-book publishing house; Medix Health, which sells 22 nutraceutical products aimed at Newsmax's demographic; an advertising and media strategy business; and an insurance agency, Crown Atlantic Insurance, that primarily sells life insurance and retirement solutions like annuities.
As a business, Newsmax's growth has been surprisingly strong; total revenue rose 26% last year to $171 million. Advertising revenue, which makes up the majority of its revenue, was essentially flat, but revenue from affiliate fees surged due to new contractual relationships that began in late 2023. On an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) basis, it flipped a $10.4 million loss in 2023 to a $10.3 million profit in 2024, due to strong performance in the broadcasting division.
