Analyzing MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) and Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB)

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

Volatility and Risk

Grab has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MediaAlpha has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Grab and MediaAlpha’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grab	$2.36 billion	5.44	-$434.00 million	($0.10)	-32.70
MediaAlpha	$388.15 million	3.27	-$40.42 million	($0.89)	-21.67

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

Profitability

This table compares Grab and MediaAlpha’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grab	-18.43%	-6.77%	-5.10%
MediaAlpha	-10.41%	N/A	-27.85%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

55.5% of Grab shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of MediaAlpha shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.6% of Grab shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.5% of MediaAlpha shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Grab and MediaAlpha, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grab	0	0	6	0	3.00
MediaAlpha	1	0	5	0	2.67

Grab currently has a consensus target price of $5.10, suggesting a potential upside of 55.96%. MediaAlpha has a consensus target price of $18.20, suggesting a potential downside of 5.65%. Given Grab’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Grab is more favorable than MediaAlpha.

About Grab

Grab Holdings Limited engages in the provision of superapps in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The company offers its Grab ecosystem, a single platform with superapps for driver- and merchant-partners and consumers, that allows access to mobility, delivery, digital financial services, and enterprise sector offerings. The company is headquartered in Singapore.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. It optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.