Newsmax Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

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Newsmax (NYSE:NMAX) reported record second-quarter revenue and its first profitable quarter as a public company, supported by growth in affiliate fees and international licensing revenue.

Revenue for the second quarter of 2026 rose 16.5% year over year to $54.1 million, while net income totaled $2.9 million, or $0.02 per share. That compared with a net loss of $75.2 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $5.7 million, improving from negative $3.8 million a year earlier.

Chief Executive Officer Christopher Ruddy said the company’s one-time costs associated with becoming public, as well as legal costs, were “largely behind us,” providing what he described as a cleaner view of the underlying business. He said Newsmax remains in investment mode despite reaching profitability.

Affiliate Fees and Licensing Drive Revenue Mix

Broadcasting revenue increased 20.5% to $45.8 million. Chief Financial Officer Darryle Burnham said the gain reflected higher affiliate-fee revenue from new contractual relationships and rate increases that took effect in late 2025 and 2026, along with expanded international licensing agreements.

Affiliate revenue rose 81.9% year over year to $13.4 million, while licensing revenue climbed to $4.6 million from $0.7 million in the prior-year quarter. Burnham said the company’s revenue mix is shifting toward affiliate fees and licensing, which helped lift gross margin to 43.1% from 38% a year earlier.

Advertising revenue declined 3.5% to $28.8 million, primarily due to lower customer order volume and a difficult comparison with election-related demand in the previous year. Digital advertising, however, grew 21.3%.

Total digital revenue decreased 1.3% to $8.3 million. Subscription revenue fell 9.9% to $6.3 million because of lower new-customer acquisition, partly offset by expanded affiliate agreements that increased availability on linear cable providers. Product sales revenue declined 31.7% to $1.1 million, driven by lower book and supplement sales.

Burnham said the company ended the quarter with $25.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and $102.4 million in short-term investments, for a total cash and investment position of $128.3 million. The company reported no debt.

Audience, Streaming and Social Expansion

Ruddy said Newsmax reached 26.9 million total viewers during the quarter, up 4% from a year earlier and representing its highest second-quarter reach in four years. The audience included 11.3 million adults ages 35 to 64, according to the company.

The company said it remained the fourth-highest-rated cable news channel and ranked second in its category for engagement among adults ages 35 to 64. Ruddy said Newsmax has been the fastest-growing basic cable network since Nielsen began measuring it in 2020, up more than 280% across key dayparts.

On social platforms, Newsmax said total followers increased more than 28% year over year to more than 26 million.

Streaming remains a strategic investment area, Ruddy said. The Newsmax+ catalog now has more than 300 titles, including family-oriented programming, original premium specials and documentaries. Newsmax2, the company’s free streaming channel, also continued to add news hours across major platforms.

Management said it is focused on improving engagement and retention at Newsmax+ and converting its expanded programming lineup into subscriber growth. Ruddy described the company’s approach across television, digital, social media, apps and streaming as cross-promotion rather than a single customer-acquisition funnel.

International Licensing and AI Partnership

Newsmax launched Newsmax Polska during the quarter and said its distribution footprint now extends to more than 100 countries. The company licenses its brand and content to local operators, which run channels in their respective markets.

Ruddy said international licensing fees were $3.6 million in 2025 and are expected to reach about $16 million in 2026, representing a 344% increase. Burnham said the $16 million estimate is based on agreements already in place and is not contingent on future deals. The company has previously discussed a $25 million annualized run rate for 2027 but did not provide additional guidance beyond that figure.

The company also highlighted a multiyear AI content partnership with Meta. Ruddy said Newsmax journalism and reporting will help power AI answers across Meta’s ecosystem. While the company did not disclose financial terms, Ruddy said it viewed the arrangement as consistent with the market and potentially the start of a meaningful licensing opportunity.

Management said Newsmax is in discussions with other AI companies and is evaluating ways to incorporate AI into its own operations. Ruddy said AI tools are helping speed content production, research, graphics and charts, though he said output must still be checked and verified.

Guidance Maintained

Newsmax reiterated its full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $212 million to $216 million, which would represent 13% growth at the midpoint. Management said it expects growth to be structural rather than cyclical, led by affiliate-fee expansion and licensing revenue.

Burnham said the company expects its full-year operating profile to improve compared with 2025, while continuing to invest in programming, talent, technology, distribution, digital initiatives and over-the-top streaming efforts.

During the question-and-answer session, Ruddy said elections typically support audience engagement, though midterm advertising tends to be more localized. He said the company expects political developments following the midterms and the start of the next presidential campaign cycle to contribute to engagement opportunities.

About Newsmax (NYSE:NMAX)

Newsmax (NYSE:NMAX) is a diversified media company that produces and distributes conservative-oriented news, opinion and informational content. The company operates across multiple platforms, including a cable news channel, a digital streaming service, a website, a print magazine and various mobile applications. Newsmax focuses on delivering political coverage, financial analysis and cultural commentary to its audience.

Originally launched as a news website in 1998, Newsmax expanded into print with the debut of Newsmax magazine in 2003 and later launched its flagship cable network, Newsmax TV, in 2014.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

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