What Happened?
Shares of insurance customer acquisition platform MediaAlpha (NYSE: MAX) jumped 13.1% in the morning session after the company reported decent fourth-quarter 2025 results that featured a significant earnings beat and a strong outlook, which overshadowed a miss on revenue.
While revenue for the quarter fell 3.2% year-over-year to $291.2 million, missing analyst expectations, the company's profitability told a different story. MediaAlpha posted earnings per share of $0.50, a substantial increase from $0.08 in the same quarter of the previous year and easily topping the consensus estimate of $0.24. In addition to the earnings beat, the company's outlook for the next quarter exceeded expectations. Management guided for first-quarter revenue of $295 million and EBITDA of $30.5 million, both of which were comfortably ahead of Wall Street's forecasts, signaling positive momentum ahead.
Is now the time to buy MediaAlpha? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
MediaAlpha’s shares are very volatile and have had 25 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for MediaAlpha and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 1 day ago when the stock dropped 3.2% on the news that the Trump administration's announcement of new global tariffs, reignited trade policy uncertainty.
The move came swiftly after the Supreme Court ruled the previous week that the president could not use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for such duties, a decision that had initially sent markets higher. However, the administration invoked a different authority, the Trade Act of 1974, to impose a 15% global tariff for up to 150 days. The rapid reimposition of trade barriers creates significant uncertainty for companies across multiple sectors that depend on international supply chains and global trade. Investors are now weighing the potential impact of these new duties on corporate earnings and broader economic activity.
MediaAlpha is down 25.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $8.87 per share, it is trading 35.3% below its 52-week high of $13.71 from December 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of MediaAlpha’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $165.67.
The 1999 book Gorilla Game predicted Microsoft and Apple would dominate tech before it happened. Its thesis? Identify the platform winners early. Today, enterprise software companies embedding generative AI are becoming the new gorillas. Click here for access to our special report that reveals one profitable leader already riding this wave, it’s free.
