Angel Studios, in its stock market debut, saw investor enthusiasm for its “values-based” entertainment strategy — an approach that co-founder and CEO Neal Harmon says flips the script on the industry’s prevailing streaming-subscription model.
Shares of Angel, which began trading Thursday on the NYSE under the symbol “ANGX” after it closed a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Southport Acquisition Corp., ended their first day on the public market up 8.4% (and was up an additional 13% in after-hours trading). That, however, came after a much bigger rally that saw the stock surge over 50% earlier in the session.
In an interview with Variety, Harmon said Angel is fundamentally different from other studios and streaming providers. The company boasts 1.5 million paying subscribers for Angel Guild, which in addition to providing first access to all of its shows and movies on streaming gives members the chance to vote on what projects it greenlights.
About 70% of Angel Guild’s subscribers say that religion is important to them. But the studio’s slate is broader than that, according to Harmon, centered on what Angel says is “the power of storytelling to amplify light.” By that, it means TV shows and films that focus on “what is good, beautiful and worth sharing,” per its mission statement.
“We see this as for people who think Hollywood gatekeepers are out of touch,” Harmon said. “We don’t have any problem with what’s being made. We are doing what is not being made.” He added, “There’s so much opportunity for growth, we don’t see this as a zero-sum game.”
Angel’s lineup does feature religious-themed content. That includes the movie “Sound of Freedom,” which grossed $250 million at the box office, starring Jim Caviezel as a former government agent a mission to rescue children from sex traffickers in Colombia. This spring, “The King of Kings” notched a box-office record for an animated biblical film. In December, Angel is slated to release thriller “Zero A.D.” starring Caviezel and directed by Alejandro Monteverde (who also helmed “Sound of Freedom”), set during the Massacre of the Innocents as told in the Gospel of Matthew.
But Angel Studios also features a range of content more broadly in the inspirational vein. Another upcoming release is “The Senior” starring Michael Chiklis, a sports drama from Wayfarer Studios set for a nationwide theatrical premiere on Sept. 19. Directed by Rod Lurie and written by Robert Eisele, “The Senior” is based on the true story of Mike Flynt (Chiklis) who, 35 years after getting kicked off his college football team, decides to return to the gridiron for his senior year of eligibility and prove to his family, former teammates, and himself that it’s never too late to tackle your dreams. The film costars Mary Stuart Masterson, Brandon Flynn, James Badge Dale and Rob Corddry.
And on Feb. 6, 2026, Angel will release its first rom-com: “Solo Mio,” starring Kevin James alongside Kim Coates, Alyson Hannigan, Julee Cerda, Julie Ann Emery, Jonathan Roumie and Nicole Grimaudo. The company is selective about what to release in theaters: Of the company’s 100 titles releasing in 2025, just eight will get theatrical runs, Harmon said.
Harmon said Angel’s move to become publicly traded has helped it win deals with talent — not just as an assurance that it’s a lasting player, but also because in some cases the company has granted equity to talent.
Besides its values-based entertainment lens, what also makes Angel different is its broad investor base, according to Harmon. The company has almost 70,000 investors, who represent “families like mine who want to support this programming.”
The reason the company went public via the SPAC route, according to Harmon, is because “the No. 1 concern from our community was that we would lose our way as a public company and forget the mission,” and potentially be targeted in a hostile takeover. “We don’t want [the content slate] to be determined by some big check-writer,” he said.
While it has a large number of individual investors, the way Angel is structured, the company’s founding team and its original 8,000 investors have supervoting shares (with 10 votes per share) versus one vote per share for its Class C shares. The supervoting shareholders maintain majority control of Angel Studios. The company also has an incentive program for senior Angel executives that grants them an additional 10% equity in the company if it exceeds a $10 billion valuation. “The entire team is aiming for that goal and they are incentivized to do so,” Harmon said.
“Angel is about the long term — about timeless principles and what lasts,” said Harmon. What’s less important, he said, is “where the stock trades 6 months from now or 10 years from now.”
Today, the company is not profitable. For the first six months of 2025, Angel’s revenue increased nearly threefold to $135 million while its net loss widened to $53.3 million (compared with a net loss of $37.4 million in the year-ago period), with the rise in operating expenses largely due to marketing spending on Angel Guild memberships.
“Long term, we need to be extremely profitable as a company,” Harmon said. “To remain independent, we need to be profitable.”
The Angel Guild’s basic tiers provide streaming of the studio’s movies and shows ($12/mo. with ads, $18/mo. with no ads) and the premium $20/mo. plan offers ad-free streaming plus two tickets to every Angel theatrical movie release and a 20% discount on merch.
But those perks are just part of the appeal, according to Harmon. Traditional streamers are “transactional,” he said, whereas Angel Guild offers members “real power” to decide what comes to the service and goes into theaters: “It’s a movement.”
Meanwhile, one of Angel Studios’ biggest hits was the TV series “The Chosen,” about the life of Jesus. Last year, Angel lost the rights to the series after an arbitrator gave 5&2 Studios founder Dallas Jenkins oversight of “The Chosen” franchise.
In addition to Neal Harmon, the Provo, Utah-based company’s senior leadership also includes two of his brothers: president Jordan Harmon and chief content officer Jeffrey Harmon. The Harmon brothers rang the NYSE closing bell on Thursday, in celebration of its first day as a publicly traded company.
Angel Studios was founded in 2014 as VidAngel, which operated a “family-friendly” streaming service that filtered out offensive content from movies. VidAngel was sued by Hollywood studios for copyright infringement for streaming movies without permission, and a jury ordered VidAngel to pay $62.4 million to Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. The company had already filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In 2020, a bankruptcy court approved its $9.9 million settlement with the studios and it reemerged as Angel Studios.
Pictured above: Michael Chiklis in Angel’s “The Senior”
