One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$27.44 our estimate vs market $11.29
Wall Street consensus: $15.43 (-43.8% lower than our fair-value estimate)
59% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
MediaAlpha, Inc.
MAX · NYQ · Communication Services · Internet Content & Information
Current price
$11.29
52-week range
$7.09 - $14.70
Market cap
$598.10M
Balance sheet
Distressed
3.16x Stretched
Net debt $152.97M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
0 Risks
3 rewards · 0 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 10.0% last year.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 8/10 years.
- Reward Trades at 7.0x P/E vs peer median 7.9x (11.7% cheaper).
What this company does
MediaAlpha, Inc.
MediaAlpha operates an online marketplace that helps connect people who are shopping for insurance with the companies that sell it. The company makes its money by charging these insurance providers a fee for every potential customer it sends their way. This is important because as more people use the internet to compare insurance quotes, MediaAlpha's platform becomes a key tool for insurance companies to find new clients.
How the company got here
MediaAlpha was founded in 2011 by a team that previously worked together at an online travel comparison company. They saw an opportunity in the insurance industry, which was slower to adopt new technology. Starting with a simple website for comparing auto insurance, the company grew by collecting user information to provide valuable leads (potential customer contacts) to insurance carriers. Over time, it expanded its partnerships and became a public company in 2020, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MAX.
What it actually does
Think of MediaAlpha as a matchmaker for the insurance world. It doesn't sell insurance itself, but instead operates a technology platform that connects people shopping for insurance with the companies that sell it, like carriers and agents. Insurance companies pay MediaAlpha for each potential customer it sends their way, which could be through a click, a phone call, or a detailed contact form known as a lead. This system helps insurance sellers find new customers more efficiently, and it helps websites that attract insurance shoppers make money from their visitors.
Property & Casualty Insurance
This is MediaAlpha's largest and most important business area, making up the vast majority of its revenue. It focuses on insurance for personal belongings, mainly auto and home insurance. When you see ads or fill out forms to compare car insurance rates on various websites, there's a good chance MediaAlpha's technology is working behind the scenes. Insurance companies bid in a real-time auction for your inquiry, and MediaAlpha earns a fee for making that connection.
Health Insurance
This segment connects consumers with providers of health insurance, including Medicare-related plans. While a smaller part of the business compared to Property & Casualty, it provides diversification. The company helps health insurance sellers find customers, especially during important times like open enrollment periods. Recently, this area has seen changes as the company adjusted its practices to address regulatory concerns.
Life Insurance
This is a smaller, but still relevant, part of MediaAlpha's business. It operates on the same principle as the other segments: connecting people who are looking for life insurance policies with the companies and agents that sell them. The platform helps life insurance advertisers find potential customers in a targeted and measurable way.
What management is betting on now
MediaAlpha is focused on capitalizing on the rebound in spending by property and casualty insurance companies as their profitability improves. The company is also investing in technology, including conversational AI (artificial intelligence that can chat with users), to make it easier for consumers to shop for insurance. A key part of their strategy is to be a neutral and transparent marketplace, which helps them build trust with both the insurance sellers and the websites that supply the customer traffic. Management is also focused on generating strong free cash flow (cash left after paying for operating costs and investments) and has been actively repurchasing its own shares.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$8.01M
FY2024 Q4
$14.48M
FY2025 Q1
$23.64M
FY2025 Q2
$25.55M
FY2025 Q3
$23.55M
FY2025 Q4
$-7.49M
FY2026 Q1
$-1.60M
FY2026 Q2
$41.81M
Revenue
$316.88M
Net income
$39.44M
Diluted EPS
0.65
Operating cash flow
$42.59M
Free cash flow
$41.81M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$310.00M
Net income
$11.47M
Diluted EPS
0.21
Operating cash flow
$-1.56M
Free cash flow
$-1.60M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$291.15M
Net income
$31.41M
Diluted EPS
0.50
Operating cash flow
$-7.45M
Free cash flow
$-7.49M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$306.51M
Net income
$14.91M
Diluted EPS
0.26
Operating cash flow
$23.62M
Free cash flow
$23.55M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$251.62M
Net income
$-18.74M
Diluted EPS
-0.33
Operating cash flow
$25.72M
Free cash flow
$25.55M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$264.31M
Net income
$-1.95M
Diluted EPS
-0.04
Operating cash flow
$23.70M
Free cash flow
$23.64M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$300.65M
Net income
$4.64M
Diluted EPS
0.09
Operating cash flow
$14.53M
Free cash flow
$14.48M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$259.13M
Net income
$9.48M
Diluted EPS
0.17
Operating cash flow
$8.06M
Free cash flow
$8.01M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $27.44 vs current price $11.29
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $15.43 (-43.8% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $27.44 a share — about 143.1% above today's price of $11.29, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $153.0M. Interest coverage 3.2x.
Net debt
$152.97M
Interest coverage
3.16x
MediaAlpha, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 3.2 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
MAX
BASELINE
MediaAlpha, Inc.
Total debt $176.71M Interest coverage 3.16x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $77.66M Interest coverage 8.06x +155% vs MAX Carries about 2.6x more debt cushion than MAX.
Total debt $1.94M Interest coverage 18.63x +489% vs MAX Carries about 5.9x more debt cushion than MAX.
Total debt $436.06M Interest coverage 3.16x -0% vs MAX Has roughly the same debt cushion as MAX.
Total debt $405.28M Interest coverage -2.19x -100% vs MAX This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with MAX.
Total debt $356.09M Interest coverage 0.58x -82% vs MAX Carries about 5.4x less debt cushion than MAX.
What you should know
The case for and against MAX
3 Rewards
0 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 10.0% last year.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 8/10 years.
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Trades at 7.0x P/E vs peer median 7.9x (11.7% cheaper).
Risks
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
6.97x
Forward P/E
6.75x
P/B
21.06x
P/S
0.49x
EV/EBITDA
8.34x
PEG ratio
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Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
14.7%
Operating margin
6.4%
Net margin
7.9%
ROE
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ROA
17.4%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
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Current ratio
1.29x
Quick ratio
1.24x
Total debt
$176.71M
Total cash
$23.75M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.22B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
14.6%
EPS TTM
1.62
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$57.21M
Free CF TTM
$65.26M
FCF margin
5.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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