One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$129.26 our estimate vs market $53.83
Wall Street consensus: $105.00 (-18.8% lower than our fair-value estimate)
58% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Maximus, Inc.
MMS · NYQ · Industrials · Specialty Business Services
Current price
$53.83
52-week range
$52.73 - $100.00
Market cap
$2.83B
Balance sheet
Watch
6.28x Adequate
Net debt $1.47B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
0 Risks
3 rewards · 0 risks
- Reward Returns 22.2% on equity, ahead of 33% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
- Reward Trades at 8.1x P/E vs peer median 11.9x (31.9% cheaper).
What this company does
Maximus, Inc.
Maximus is a contractor for governments, getting paid to run large public programs like helping people enroll in health insurance or providing job-seeking support. The company makes most of its money from long-term contracts with U.S. federal and state agencies, which can provide a steady stream of revenue (the money a company brings in from sales). Its business depends on governments continuing to hire outside companies to manage these complex but essential citizen services.
How the company got here
Founded in 1975 by David V. Mastran, Maximus started as a consulting firm for the U.S. government. A key turning point was in the late 1980s when it won a contract to help with a welfare-to-work program in Los Angeles County, shifting its focus to running government programs. Major policy changes, like welfare reform in the 1990s and the Affordable Care Act in 2010, created more opportunities for private companies to manage government services, fueling Maximus's growth. The company went public in 1997 and has since expanded by acquiring other companies, particularly to enhance its technology and clinical assessment capabilities.
What it actually does
Maximus is a contractor that governments hire to run large public service programs. Think of them as a behind-the-scenes operator for services like Medicaid, Medicare, and student loan programs. For example, they run call centers where people can get information about their benefits, help individuals enroll in health insurance plans, and provide job search and training services for welfare recipients. Essentially, Maximus steps in to handle the complex administrative and technology-related tasks of government programs that serve millions of people.
U.S. Federal Services
This is the company's largest segment, making up more than half of its business. It provides a wide range of services directly to the United States federal government. This includes running call centers for Medicare, processing student loan defaults, and conducting medical disability exams for veterans to determine their eligibility for benefits. They also offer technology services like modernizing government IT systems and ensuring cybersecurity (protecting computer systems from theft or damage).
U.S. Services
This division works with state and local governments across the United States. A major part of their work is helping to administer health and human services programs. This involves determining if people are eligible for programs like Medicaid, enrolling them, and providing customer service through large call centers. They also manage welfare-to-work programs, which include everything from assessing job seekers' needs to providing training and support to help them find and keep a job.
Outside the U.S.
This segment provides similar services to governments in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. A significant part of this business involves conducting health and disability assessments to determine a person's eligibility for government support. They also run employment programs designed to help people who are unemployed find jobs. While smaller than its U.S. operations, this segment extends the company's business model to international markets.
What management is betting on now
The company's leadership is focused on three main areas for future growth. First, they are concentrating on expanding their work with the U.S. federal government, seeing it as a major area of opportunity. Second, they are heavily investing in technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, to make their services more efficient and improve the experience for citizens interacting with government programs. Finally, Maximus is continuing to grow its clinical services, such as performing health assessments, which are specialized and in high demand.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$164.64M
FY2024 Q4
$131.88M
FY2025 Q1
$-102.99M
FY2025 Q2
$25.51M
FY2025 Q3
$-198.21M
FY2025 Q4
$641.85M
FY2026 Q1
$-250.66M
FY2026 Q2
$179.02M
Revenue
$1.31B
Net income
$98.06M
Diluted EPS
1.80
Operating cash flow
$189.53M
Free cash flow
$179.02M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.35B
Net income
$93.94M
Diluted EPS
1.70
Operating cash flow
$-244.40M
Free cash flow
$-250.66M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.32B
Net income
$75.29M
Diluted EPS
1.27
Operating cash flow
$649.37M
Free cash flow
$641.85M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.35B
Net income
$105.98M
Diluted EPS
1.86
Operating cash flow
$-182.72M
Free cash flow
$-198.21M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.36B
Net income
$96.57M
Diluted EPS
1.69
Operating cash flow
$42.71M
Free cash flow
$25.51M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.40B
Net income
$41.20M
Diluted EPS
0.69
Operating cash flow
$-80.00M
Free cash flow
$-102.99M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.32B
Net income
$72.50M
Diluted EPS
1.18
Operating cash flow
$163.83M
Free cash flow
$131.88M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.31B
Net income
$89.75M
Diluted EPS
1.46
Operating cash flow
$199.33M
Free cash flow
$164.64M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $129.26 vs current price $53.83
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $105.00 (-18.8% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $129.26 a share — about 140.1% above today's price of $53.83, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $1.5B. Interest coverage 6.3x.
Net debt
$1.47B
Interest coverage
6.28x
Maximus, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 6.3 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
MMS
BASELINE
Maximus, Inc.
Total debt $1.63B Interest coverage 6.28x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $6.94B Interest coverage 10.34x +65% vs MMS Carries about 1.6x more debt cushion than MMS.
Total debt $4.12B Interest coverage 4.97x -21% vs MMS Carries about 1.3x less debt cushion than MMS.
Total debt $603.72M Interest coverage 4.72x -25% vs MMS Carries about 1.3x less debt cushion than MMS.
Total debt $2.68B Interest coverage 4.07x -35% vs MMS Carries about 1.5x less debt cushion than MMS.
Total debt $5.62B Interest coverage 4.81x -23% vs MMS Carries about 1.3x less debt cushion than MMS.
What you should know
The case for and against MMS
3 Rewards
0 Risks
Rewards
-
Returns 22.2% on equity, ahead of 33% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
-
Trades at 8.1x P/E vs peer median 11.9x (31.9% 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)
8.08x
Forward P/E
5.93x
P/B
1.68x
P/S
0.53x
EV/EBITDA
6.17x
PEG ratio
2.06x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
25.5%
Operating margin
11.4%
Net margin
7.0%
ROE
22.2%
ROA
8.6%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.96x
Current ratio
2.21x
Quick ratio
1.96x
Total debt
$1.63B
Total cash
$157.45M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$5.32B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
6.3%
EPS TTM
6.66
EPS 5Y CAGR
18.8%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$411.78M
Free CF TTM
$366.16M
FCF margin
6.9%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
2.5%
Payout ratio
18.5%
Last ex-div date
2026-05-15