The re-election of Donald Trump has been followed by a boost to the share prices of several publicly-traded news businesses.
The rises, which are part of a broader record-setting surge in the US stock market following the election, indicate the market has bet on growth at these companies under the new administration.
But they put investor confidence at odds with the mood of many journalists in the US who see Trump’s campaign trail threats as indicators of a challenging editorial and business environment to come.
Gains at the nine listed news businesses analysed by Press Gazette were in most cases larger than the gains in the S&P 500 index which tracks the performance of the US stock market.
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We have tried to select companies with a greater focus on news publishing, so this group misses some entities with large entertainment portfolios, for example CNN parent Warner Bros Discovery and CBS parent Paramount Global, although both those companies have also seen their prices rise this week.
Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corporation and Fox Corporation, which both boast right-leaning brands supportive of Trump, have both seen share price growth this week — but in both cases their prices grew less than those of liberal rivals.
Daily Beast and Dotdash Meredith parent IAC for example was among the biggest risers, seeing its price grow 10% between the ends of Monday and Thursday and 5.6% compared with a month earlier. (Like the rest of the market, share prices at most of the companies analysed here dipped in the immediate run-up to the election.)
The New York Times Company, too, saw its share price rise 6.4% versus Monday (when its price dropped following its third quarter earnings report) to $55.80.
The biggest “Trump trade” beneficiary in the short term was USA Today parent company and local publishing giant Gannett, which saw its share price jump 12% to $5.50 — however this followed a large drop in its price last week when it posted a loss of $19.7m in the third quarter. The company closed on Thursday trading at 0.7% less than its price a month earlier.
Fellow local newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises was the only corporation on the list to have lost value across the week of the election, although its share price appreciated significantly on Thursday and the losses come after its share price nearly doubled in October.
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What’s behind the share price rises at US news publishers?
The media price rises are odds with Trump’s both historic and recent hostility toward the press.
Speaking at a rally two days before the election Trump declared: “To get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news – and I don’t mind that so much.” Declaring victory on Wednesday, he similarly referred to publishers CNN and MSNBC as “the enemy camp” while describing running mate JD Vance’s willingness to appear on those networks.
At the end of October Trump began a lawsuit against CBS News, claiming the broadcaster had edited a 60 Minutes interview with opponent Kamala Harris in order “to paper over Kamala’s ‘word salad’ weakness”. He has also spoken of a desire to strip broadcast licences from networks he felt were treating him unfairly.
Former Trump National Security Council advisor Kash Patel, who has been tipped for roles in the new administration, has previously insisted a new Trump government will prosecute journalists for helping Joe Biden “rig presidential elections”.
The price rises may simply reflect broader investor belief that anticipated Trump tax cuts will benefit business performance across corporate America, including at news companies.
Several publishers saw significant subscription and revenue boosts during the first Trump administration, although experts have expressed scepticism over whether the phenomenon will be repeated.
Commenting on the share price boost at the NYT, Barron’s associate editor Andrew Bary wrote this week: “The Trump win probably is good for all news media since he generates buzz and controversy that is good for viewership, subscriber growth, and engagement. Few things sell newspapers—or their current equivalent—better than Trump.”
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