Newsmax's initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange Monday surged as much as 683% in midday trading to a high of $78.27, with more than four million shares traded.

Newsmax (NMAX) rose to an even higher $82.25 a share at 3:56 p.m. EST and, Bloomberg reported, was one of the 30 most actively traded stocks on Fidelity's platform.

Newsmax's whopping $7.34 billion market capitalization was not far behind other major media stocks such as The New York Times and CBS parent company Paramount, which have market caps of $8 billion and $8.4 billion respectively, Forbes reported.

On Monday afternoon, Newsmax was more valuable than Tegna and Sinclair combined, which own nearly 250 local TV stations, Forbes noted.

Newsmax raised $75 million in its initial public offering, selling 7.5 million shares at $10 each, and an additional $225 million in a private preferred offering that closed last month.

Newsmax's business model "may be primed for the current shift in viewing habits," Fast Company reported, noting the conservative news company's sizable 31% increase in viewership in 2024, primarily from the 2024 presidential election.

As Newsmax CEO and founder Christopher Ruddy told CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday morning, while the cable news ecosystem "is going down," Newsmax's live news sets it apart with content that viewers are looking for via both traditional television and streaming.

"Even though we're on a legacy platform with cable, we also have an incredible streaming channel, a [Newsmax] Plus service [and] we're doing amazing things on podcast now," Ruddy said. "Our view at Newsmax is, don't be legacy media where you fall in a rut; do all platforms.

"We don't see ourselves as a value stock," Ruddy told CNBC. "We see ourselves as a growth stock, so those multiples are going to be a lot higher."

Newsmax is one of the fastest-growing news media companies in the U.S. Last year a Reuters Institute study found Newsmax was a top 12 U.S. news brand.

"In fact, we're the No. 4 cable news channel in the United States, right behind CNN," Ruddy added. "We're No. 7 of all cable channels based on Nielsen's coverage rating."

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This communication contains forward-looking statements. The Company bases these forward-looking statements on its expectations and projections about future events, which it derives from the information currently available to it. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or its future performance, including: its financial performance and projections; growth in its revenue and earnings; and the Company’s business prospects and opportunities. You can identify forward-looking statements by those that are not historical in nature, particularly those that use terminology such as "may," "should," "expects," "anticipates," "contemplates," "estimates," "believes," "plans," "projected," "predicts," "potential," or "hopes" or the negative of these or similar terms. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, you should consider various factors, including: the Company’s ability to change its direction; its ability to keep pace with new technology and changing market needs; and the competitive environment of its business. These and other factors may cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are only predictions. The forward-looking events discussed in this communication may not occur, and actual events and results may differ materially and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Company. The Company is not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement.