One for the record books was the Newsmax IPO.
The cable TV firm, which was priced at $10 a share, rose as high as $265 before closing its first day of open-market trading at $83.51 and its second day at $233. In its first two days of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the stock (NMAX) was up 2,230% as a result.
According to FactSet data, Newsmax’s second-day performance, which saw a 179% spike, was among the best ever for a new listing.
However, by the end of Wednesday’s third session of public trading, the stock had dropped 77.5%.
Christopher Ruddy, Newsmax’s founder and a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, holds 39.2 million Class A shares through a revocable trust. Those shares each afford him 10 votes each, according to Bloomberg, giving him 81% voting control of the company.
From the archives (March 2009): Chris Ruddy is the right’s great online ally and may be a bigger internet star than Rush Limbaugh
Before Wednesday’s sharp retreat from its nosebleed levels, the right-wing TV outlet had eclipsed the value of Fox News parent Fox Corp. (FOX) (FOXA). Fox shares similar ownership with News Corp, which owns MarketWatch publisher Dow Jones and Co.
In fact, observed Charlie Bilello, the chief market strategist at wealth-management firm Creative Planning, after Day 2 on the NYSE, Newsmax’s market capitalization, at $32 billion, was higher than those of 235 companies among the S&P 500.
Its trailing 12-month sales of $156 million are not higher than any of those companies – in fact, its sales are 78% below those of the company with the lowest annual sales among the S&P 500 SPX, he added.
