Conservative media outlet Newsmax Inc. is having a meme-stock moment, with shares surging 1,500% since its debut as a public company on Monday.
The stock opened up another 92% at $160.44 apiece on Tuesday, building on a 735% surge in its debut session which saw the shares halted multiple times. The gains give the company a market value of more than $16 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The surge is reminiscent of the meme stock craze in 2020 and 2021, with investors piling into stocks to power eye-popping gains which detach shares from their fundamental value.
Newsmax reported $171 million in revenue last year, meaning it trades at a trailing price-to-sales ratio of more than 85, calculations by Bloomberg show. That blows away the peak metrics for meme stocks GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., which peaked at four and 14 respectively, data compiled by Bloomberg show. However, it pales in comparison to the lofty levels investors powered President Donald Trump’s media company to, which soared well above 2,000 times ahead of his reelection.
The media firm joins a cohort whose shares spiked in their first few sessions as a public company. Just seven other stocks ended their debut sessions up more than 700% after a US IPO in the past five years, delivering returns to well-timed trades. Such firms have been losers in the long run, with shares of the average company in the group down nearly 94% from their IPO prices, with crashes from their respective peaks sitting closer to 99%.
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