MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.25 EPS

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) released its earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.25, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $291.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $296.42 million. MediaAlpha had a negative return on equity of 117.28% and a net margin of 2.30%.MediaAlpha’s revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.08 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from MediaAlpha’s conference call:

• MediaAlpha delivered record 2025 results with $2B Transaction Value, $1B revenue and $100M Adjusted EBITDA, driven by 65% P&C growth and 45% total Transaction Value growth.
• The company materially narrowed its Under‑65 health business—health vertical revenue declined ~40% in Q4 and Under‑65 health contribution fell to ~$7M from $41M in 2024; health is expected to be a mid‑single‑digit % of Transaction Value in 2026.
• Management highlighted AI tailwinds—P&C click volume rose >20% YoY in Q4 and the platform is embedding AI to price media more granularly, which they say increases targeting effectiveness and reinforces scale/data defensibility.
• Capital return acceleration—repurchased ~$47.3M (~7% of shares) in 2025 and the board boosted the buyback by $50M to a $100M program, with the majority expected to be executed in 2026.
• Strong cash generation and near‑term outlook—generated $99M free cash flow in 2025 (net ~$65M excluding FTC), guided Q1 Transaction Value up ~23% YoY and reiterated a full‑year free cash flow target of $90M–$100M.

MediaAlpha Trading Up 15.5%

Shares of MAX stock opened at $8.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $584.64 million, a P/E ratio of 23.00 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.41. MediaAlpha has a 12 month low of $7.09 and a 12 month high of $13.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MAX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MediaAlpha from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on MediaAlpha from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MediaAlpha from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MediaAlpha in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.58.

Insider Activity at MediaAlpha

In other MediaAlpha news, General Counsel Jeffrey B. Coyne sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.30, for a total value of $36,500.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 436,783 shares in the company, valued at $3,188,515.90. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Keith Cramer sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total transaction of $71,600.00. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 182,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,304,222.64. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 474,900 shares of company stock worth $5,569,954 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in MediaAlpha by 680.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,429,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,493 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,367,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,714,000 after purchasing an additional 309,455 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of MediaAlpha by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,045,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,538,000 after purchasing an additional 100,300 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 804,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,413,000 after purchasing an additional 33,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shay Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MediaAlpha by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Shay Capital LLC now owns 790,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,991,000 after purchasing an additional 120,100 shares during the last quarter. 64.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha, Inc is a technology company that operates a real-time digital marketplace for the distribution of insurance and adjacent services. The company’s platform connects buyers—consumers seeking insurance policies—to sellers, including insurance carriers and distribution partners, through programmatic bidding and data-driven pricing. By leveraging transaction-level data and proprietary auction mechanics, MediaAlpha enables carriers to acquire customers more efficiently and at scale.

The firm offers a suite of products that help clients optimize marketing spend and improve conversion rates.