Newsmax’s Value Cut in Half After 2,230% Surge Loses Momentum

(Bloomberg) --Newsmax Inc. shares were cut in half on Wednesday after a raucous two-day surge fueled in part by retail traders briefly made it larger than Fox Corp.

The stock slumped as much as 50%, wiping out $15 billion in market value, after a 2,230% surge in Newsmax’s first two days as a public company. Retail investors were less vocal about the stock in trader chatrooms compared to prior days, with buy orders on Fidelity’s platform more muted compared to those for larger companies.

Still, the company’s stock remains up more than 1,000% from its $10 offer price, giving it a more than $15 billion market capitalization, which means plenty of early buyers are sitting on vast amounts of paper wealth.

Among other newly-public companies to catch the attention of meme stock traders, Waton Financial Ltd. — which debuted Tuesday under the ticker “WTF” — slumped as much as 66% after surging 396% in its first session. Coreweave Inc., which raised $1.5 billion in an IPO last week, surged as much as 65% in a two-day flurry that saw the companies’ ticker peppered across trader message boards.