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MediaAlpha (MAX): analysis traps
Where its figures could mislead a reader, and what to check before taking them at face value · Data: Q3 2026, to Sep 30, 2026, filed Oct 28, 2026; rules v1.1
MediaAlpha (MAX): 1 rule of 10 triggered on the filings to Sep 30, 2026: FCF growth = the business improved. 1 to review; 1 with insufficient data; 3 not applicable. Each is a question to verify, with the normal explanation that would produce the same figures.
Check these first
FCF growth = the business improved Triggered · severity high · confidence medium
Free cash flow rose $20M (+43%), from $46M to $65M, but working capital released $36M more cash than the year before: more than the whole increase came from sources that need not repeat. Operating cash flow before working capital fell by $16M.
Innocent reading: An expansion programme finished, so capex fell back to maintenance levels for good.
A precise DCF value = the true value To review · confidence high
The DCF's point value is 29.00 a share (price 14.20); 77% of it is the terminal value, a number about years no one has seen. Moving operating margin by ±3 pts alone takes it from 15.76 to 42.25; across every method the research ran the range is -28 to 165. The value is a range; the decimals are not information.
Innocent reading: A stable, mature business with a narrow range of outcomes, where the point value is a fair summary.
Every rule
A01 FCF growth = the business improved Triggered severity high · confidence medium
Free cash flow rose $20M (+43%), from $46M to $65M, but working capital released $36M more cash than the year before: more than the whole increase came from sources that need not repeat. Operating cash flow before working capital fell by $16M.
The figures and how they are read
| Fiscal year before | FY2024 |
| Fiscal year | FY2025 |
| Operating cash flow, year before | $46M |
| Operating cash flow | $66M |
| Capex, year before | $254K |
| Capex | $340K |
| Free cash flow, year before | $46M |
| Free cash flow | $65M |
| Change in FCF | $20M |
| Change in capex | 86,000 |
| Working capital: change in its cash contribution | $36M |
| Of which: capex cut | 0.00 |
| Of which: working capital released | $36M |
| Share of the increase that need not repeat | +181.8% |
| Operating cash flow before working capital: change | -15985000.00 |
FCF = operating cash flow − cash capex; ΔFCF = ΔOCF − ΔCapEx; the working-capital part is the change in the cash-bridge items (receivables, inventory, payables, accruals), with the sign of the cash flow statement
Source: FY2025 (cash flow statement, fiscal year) · FY2024 (cash flow statement, fiscal year before)
What would explain it innocently
- An expansion programme finished, so capex fell back to maintenance levels for good
- Suppliers agreed longer payment terms in a contract
- Inventory was brought down after a glut and will stay down
What to look for in the filing
- Maintenance capex (what it costs to keep the assets working)
- Supplier payment terms and any supply-chain financing
- Management's capex guidance for next year
What would show the trap does not apply
- Next year's FCF holds or rises with capex back at its earlier level and working capital no longer releasing cash
- The 10-K's capex guidance and the segment capex show the cut is a completed programme, not deferral
- The working-capital release matches a disclosed change in terms or a divestiture, not stretched payables or a collection push
Look again: next filing.
A07 Stock compensation added back = no economic cost Not triggered confidence high
Stock compensation is 2.7% of revenue: small enough that adding it back changes little.
The figures and how they are read
| Fiscal year | FY2025 |
| Stock compensation | $30M |
| Revenue | $1.1B |
| SBC / revenue | +2.7% |
| Buybacks | $47M |
| Buybacks / SBC | 1.6 |
| Diluted shares, year before | 53.0M shares |
| Diluted shares | 66.8M shares |
| Diluted shares: change | +25.9% |
SBC / revenue from the cash flow statement's add-back; the diluted weighted share count year over year; buybacks from the financing section
Source: FY2025 (stock compensation, buybacks and the diluted share count, fiscal year)
B02 Receivables growing = future cash is certain Not triggered confidence medium
Receivables grew 29% against revenue 23% in Q3 2026; DSO 38 against a median of 40: collections are keeping pace with sales.
The figures and how they are read
| Quarter | Q3 2026 |
| Revenue, year over year | +22.7% |
| Receivables, year over year | +29.2% |
| Quarter before | Q2 2026 |
| Revenue y/y, quarter before | +25.9% |
| Receivables y/y, quarter before | +37.7% |
| Days sales outstanding | 37.7 |
| DSO, median of eight quarters | 39.5 |
| Receivables | $167M |
| Revenue | $376M |
receivables and revenue against the same quarter a year earlier; DSO = receivables / quarterly revenue × days, against the median of the eight quarters before
Source: Q3 2026 (receivables and revenue) · Q3 2025 (the same quarter a year earlier)
B08 Adjusted profit = economic profit Insufficient data
no reconciliation table read from the releases yet and fewer than three quarters with both an adjusted and a GAAP EPS
C02 Low net debt = no refinancing risk Not triggered confidence medium
$7M comes due within a year, 10.2× covered by cash and investments of $19M plus $54M of free cash flow.
The figures and how they are read
| Cash and investments | $19M |
| Debt | $175M |
| Net debt | $156M |
| Due within a year | $7M |
| Read from | the current portion of debt on the balance sheet |
| Free cash flow, twelve months | $54M |
| Cash plus free cash flow | $73M |
| Coverage of what is due | 10.2 |
| Due in the second year | — |
| Balance sheet date | 2026-09-30 |
due within a year from the maturity table (else the current portion of debt), against cash and investments plus free cash flow over the last twelve months (zero if negative); no credit lines assumed
Source: 2026-09-30 (debt maturities, cash and investments)
D03 EPS growth = profit growth Not triggered confidence high
EPS rose 56% and net income rose 73% in Q3 2026; the share count rose 11.0%: EPS growth follows profit growth.
The figures and how they are read
| Quarter | Q3 2026 |
| Quarter before | Q3 2025 |
| EPS, year before | $0.26 |
| EPS | $0.41 |
| Net income, year before | $15M |
| Net income | $26M |
| Diluted shares, year before | 56.6M shares |
| Diluted shares | 62.8M shares |
| EPS growth | +55.9% |
| Net income growth | +72.8% |
| Diluted shares: change | +11.0% |
| eps from profit | $0.19 |
| eps from share count | -$0.04 |
EPS and net income against the same quarter a year earlier; the EPS bridge attributes the change to profit first, then to the share count (the order is fixed and disclosed)
Source: Q3 2026 (net income, diluted shares, EPS) · Q3 2025 (the same quarter a year earlier)
E02 Low P/E at a cyclical peak = undervalued Not applicable
a loss on a trailing or mid-cycle basis: the P/E has no meaning
E07 A precise DCF value = the true value To review confidence high
The DCF's point value is 29.00 a share (price 14.20); 77% of it is the terminal value, a number about years no one has seen. Moving operating margin by ±3 pts alone takes it from 15.76 to 42.25; across every method the research ran the range is -28 to 165. The value is a range; the decimals are not information.
The figures and how they are read
| dcf value | 29.00 |
| price | 14.20 |
| terminal value share | +76.8% |
| swing by input | Operating margin / ±3 pts / 15.76 / 42.25; Revenue growth (each year) / ±5 pts / 23.56 / 35.47; WACC / ±1 pt / 24.6 / 35.1; Terminal growth / ±0.5 pt / 27.53 / 30.73 |
| range all methods | -28.35; 164.97 |
the DCF's point value against the share of it that is the terminal value and the value at each input moved by one step (growth ±5 pts, WACC ±1 pt, margin ±3 pts …); the range across every method the research ran
Source: 2026-11-08 (valuation research)
What would explain it innocently
- A stable, mature business with a narrow range of outcomes, where the point value is a fair summary
- The inputs that matter most are themselves well known (a regulated return, a long contract)
What to look for in the filing
- Which input you believe differs from the research's and why
- What the price implies for growth (the reverse DCF on the fair-value page)
What would show the trap does not apply
- The DCF's value is robust to the terminal growth and discount rate (the range's low end is still above the price)
- The company's cash flows over the next three years track the DCF's early years
Look again: next filing.
J06 A bank's low P/E and high profit = safe Not applicable
not a bank
J08 A REIT's low net income = the dividend is unsafe Not applicable
not a REIT
What the statuses mean
Triggered: the filings show the pattern; read the normal explanations and the missing evidence before concluding anything. To review: one quarter or a weak signal; a reader's judgement, not a pattern. Not triggered: the pattern is absent on these figures. Insufficient data: the filings read so far do not hold what the rule needs; this is not a clean bill. Not applicable: the rule is not meant for this kind of company (a bank's working capital, a loss-making quarter's EPS growth). Out of date: the latest filing is more than fifteen months old.
Severity is what the pattern could mean for cash, value or solvency; confidence is how reliable the inputs and the reading are. The two are kept apart.
Record a view
A reader's judgement, grounds, what would change it and the next review; kept in the browser (needs JavaScript).
Every rule and the companies it triggers on → MediaAlpha: cash flow →
Each rule reads the company's own filings by a fixed formula and says what would explain the same figures innocently. A triggered rule is a question to verify, not a finding of manipulation, and not a view on the stock. Missing data is shown as missing, never as clear. Not investment advice.