Head to Head Survey: MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares MediaAlpha and Meta Platforms’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MediaAlpha	7.94%	-301.42%	28.23%
Meta Platforms	29.83%	33.18%	20.07%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for MediaAlpha and Meta Platforms, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MediaAlpha	0	5	3	1	2.56
Meta Platforms	0	9	34	4	2.89

MediaAlpha presently has a consensus price target of $14.29, suggesting a potential upside of 14.24%. Meta Platforms has a consensus price target of $785.22, suggesting a potential upside of 32.45%. Given Meta Platforms’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Meta Platforms is more favorable than MediaAlpha.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MediaAlpha and Meta Platforms”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MediaAlpha	$1.11 billion	0.69	$25.62 million	$1.62	7.72
Meta Platforms	$200.97 billion	7.52	$60.46 billion	$26.55	22.33

Meta Platforms has higher revenue and earnings than MediaAlpha. MediaAlpha is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Meta Platforms, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

MediaAlpha has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Meta Platforms has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.4% of MediaAlpha shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Meta Platforms shares are held by institutional investors. 14.6% of MediaAlpha shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of Meta Platforms shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Meta Platforms beats MediaAlpha on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. It optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc. engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately. The Reality Labs segment provides augmented and virtual reality related products comprising consumer hardware, software, and content that help people feel connected, anytime, and anywhere. The company was formerly known as Facebook, Inc. and changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in October 2021. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California