MediaAlpha (MAX) Competitors

ACV Auctions (NASDAQ:ACVA) and MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) are both business services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment and dividends.

Which has more risk & volatility, ACVA or MAX?

ACV Auctions has a beta of 1.71, meaning that its stock price is 71% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MediaAlpha has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ACVA or MAX more profitable?

MediaAlpha has a net margin of 1.58% compared to ACV Auctions' net margin of -12.51%. ACV Auctions' return on equity of -12.94% beat MediaAlpha's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACV Auctions	-12.51%	-12.94%	-5.75%
MediaAlpha	1.58%	-46.92%	11.27%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of ACVA or MAX?

88.6% of ACV Auctions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of MediaAlpha shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of ACV Auctions shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.4% of MediaAlpha shares are owned 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.

Do analysts rate ACVA or MAX?

ACV Auctions currently has a consensus target price of $22.05, suggesting a potential upside of 46.14%. MediaAlpha has a consensus target price of $17.92, suggesting a potential upside of 73.44%. Given MediaAlpha's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe MediaAlpha is more favorable than ACV Auctions.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACV Auctions	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82
MediaAlpha	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media prefer ACVA or MAX?

In the previous week, ACV Auctions had 2 more articles in the media than MediaAlpha. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for ACV Auctions and 4 mentions for MediaAlpha. MediaAlpha's average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat ACV Auctions' score of 0.46 indicating that MediaAlpha is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
ACV Auctions	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
MediaAlpha	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, ACVA or MAX?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACV Auctions	$674.16M	3.83	-$79.70M	-$0.45	-33.52
MediaAlpha	$864.70M	0.80	$16.63M	$0.28	36.89

Summary

MediaAlpha beats ACV Auctions on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.