Shares in Newsmax surge on first day of public trading

Public shares in the conservative news outlet Newsmax on Monday soared more than 700% on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. 

The company's initial public offering was priced at $10 a share last Friday, which brought in a total of $75 million for the company after 7.5 million Class B shares went public, according to Deadline.

Newsmax founder Chris Ruddy told CNBC that he believes the surge in popularity stems from conservative viewers wanting an alternative to Fox News, which has consistently placed first in terms of ratings for all cable news programs. Newsmax is fourth in the ratings, also behind MSNBC and CNN.

“I think there was a demand for more competition against Fox,” Ruddy said. “We believe we’re conservative with an independent news mission, and ask tough questions of the Trump administration."

The news outlet also ranks in the top 20 among cable network average viewership for both prime time and daytime, with an average of 309,000 prime time viewers every night and 211,000 daytime viewers.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.