MediaAlpha NYSE: MAX reported record second-quarter 2026 results, with revenue, contribution and adjusted EBITDA rising from a year earlier as participation broadened among property and casualty insurance carriers using its marketplace.
Revenue increased 26% year over year to $317 million, exceeding the high end of the company’s guidance range. Contribution rose 18% to $47.2 million, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 19% to $29.3 million, slightly above the midpoint of guidance.
Chief Executive Officer Steve Yi said the company’s growth is becoming less dependent on a small number of large carrier partners. He said additional P&C carriers are increasing advertising spending and expanding campaigns as personal-auto underwriting profitability, though below peak levels, remains historically strong.
“This is no longer just a story about concentrated growth among a handful of large partners,” Yi said. “It is a widening base of carriers that keeps ramping.”
Carrier Demand Broadens
Yi said that since 2021, more than 80% of P&C advertising-spend growth in MediaAlpha’s marketplace and elsewhere has come from two carriers. However, he said a broader group of insurers is beginning to increase its participation. The company’s third-, fourth- and fifth-largest carriers nearly quadrupled their spending on the platform during the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, according to Yi.
MediaAlpha’s top two carriers devoted a double-digit percentage of their total advertising budgets to the company in 2025, Yi said. By comparison, the remainder of its top 10 carriers collectively allocated about 3% of their advertising budgets to MediaAlpha.
The company sees a longer-term opportunity as insurers move from agent-based distribution and brand advertising toward direct-to-consumer sales supported by performance-based digital advertising. Yi said carriers still spend more than $2 on agent commissions for every $1 spent on advertising, while only 40% of advertising spending is currently directed toward digital channels.
During the question-and-answer session, Yi said the company expects the insurance market’s growth-oriented cycle to continue through the rest of 2026 and into 2027. He said some agent-based carriers are using MediaAlpha both to support direct-to-consumer efforts and to connect agents with online shoppers.
For carriers that have not yet substantially adopted the company’s marketplace, Yi said the primary constraint is often capability. He said MediaAlpha is expanding its work beyond operating a marketplace by offering technology integrations, managed services and support for portions of the conversion process.
AI Investments and Referral Traffic
Yi said advances in artificial intelligence could accelerate the industry’s transition toward direct-to-consumer distribution. On the carrier side, he said AI can enable more consumers to purchase policies without speaking to a live agent, potentially raising conversion rates and reducing acquisition costs.
MediaAlpha is also using predictive AI and machine learning to match consumers with carriers, Yi said. The company processes millions of insurance shoppers each month and uses consumer attributes and observed marketplace activity to improve advertiser return on ad spend and publisher yield.
The company is also using generative AI in its product suite and in tools for insurance agents. Yi said these efforts have helped MediaAlpha expand the number of agents it serves while maintaining a relatively lean team in Phoenix.
Yi said the company’s publishing partners continue to report that referrals from large language model-driven search are growing organically and can be comparable in volume to Google organic search for some partners. He said this traffic remains a relatively small part of MediaAlpha’s total marketplace activity but has been viewed as high quality because searches can include more detailed consumer information and reflect higher purchase intent.
Chief Financial Officer Pat Thompson said the company’s core business, excluding Under-65 Health, posted revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth of more than 30% year over year in the second quarter. Under-65 Health represented about 1% of revenue in the quarter, in line with company expectations.
Margins, Capital Returns and Outlook
Contribution growth trailed revenue growth during the second quarter, reflecting what Thompson described as a modest mid-quarter dip in take rates. He said the decline resulted from investments made with existing partners that carried near-term costs but were expected to provide longer-term benefits. Take rates had recovered by the end of the quarter, he said.
Thompson also explained that a growing number of carriers outside the company’s top partners use its open marketplace and related services. Transactions in that marketplace are recognized on a gross-revenue basis and typically carry contribution margins in the teens, while private-marketplace transactions are recognized on a net basis.
During the quarter, MediaAlpha repurchased about 2.2 million shares for $20 million, or an average price of $9.22 per share. The company said it has repurchased $41 million of stock year to date and $88 million over the past four quarters, representing about 13% of its outstanding shares.
The company also repurchased $69 million of tax receivable agreement liability in June for $31 million, a 55% discount. The transaction generated a $38 million gain recorded in the second quarter. MediaAlpha funded the purchase through a $15 million revolver draw and cash on hand.
MediaAlpha ended the quarter with $23.7 million in cash and $30 million available under its revolver. Thompson said the company expects to complete the vast majority of the remaining $45 million under its $100 million share-repurchase authorization by year-end.
- Third-quarter revenue is projected at $330 million to $355 million, representing about 12% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.
- Third-quarter contribution is expected to be $51.5 million to $54.5 million, or about 16% growth at the midpoint.
- Third-quarter adjusted EBITDA is projected at $32 million to $35 million, up about 15% at the midpoint.
- MediaAlpha reaffirmed expectations for $90 million to $100 million in free cash flow for full-year 2026.
Excluding Under-65 Health, the company expects third-quarter contribution to rise 20% and adjusted EBITDA to increase 21% year over year at the midpoint of its outlook.
About MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX)
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.
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