MediaAlpha (MAX) Competitors

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

Is MAX or ACVA 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
MediaAlpha	1.58%	-46.92%	11.27%
ACV Auctions	-12.51%	-12.94%	-5.75%

Do analysts prefer MAX or ACVA?

MediaAlpha presently has a consensus target price of $17.92, suggesting a potential upside of 73.44%. ACV Auctions has a consensus target price of $22.05, suggesting a potential upside of 46.14%. 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
MediaAlpha	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
ACV Auctions	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.82

Which has higher valuation & earnings, MAX or ACVA?

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
MediaAlpha	$864.70M	0.80	$16.63M	$0.28	36.89
ACV Auctions	$674.16M	3.83	-$79.70M	-$0.45	-33.52

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in MAX or ACVA?

64.4% of MediaAlpha shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.6% of ACV Auctions shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.4% of MediaAlpha shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of ACV Auctions shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, MAX or ACVA?

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

Does the media refer more to MAX or ACVA?

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 1.18 beat ACV Auctions' score of 0.66 indicating that MediaAlpha is being referred to more favorably in the media.

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

Summary

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