MAX Gears Up to Report Q3 Earnings: What Is in the Cards?

MediaAlpha, Inc.MAX is set to report third-quarter 2026 earnings on Oct. 28, after the closing bell.

The company's earnings surprise history has been impressive. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, delivering an earnings surprise of 79.3% on average.

MediaAlpha, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

MediaAlpha, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | MediaAlpha, Inc. Quote

Shares of MAX have had a decent run over the past month. The stock has risen 29.4% against the industry's 10.3% and the Zacks S&P 500 composite's 1.1% decline.

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Q3 Expectations for MAX

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues in the to-be-reported quarter is pegged at $347.69 million, indicating a 13.4% increase from the third-quarter 2025 actuals. Growth is expected to be driven by increased advertising spending among property and casualty (P&C) insurers, supported by favorable underwriting profitability and intensifying competition for policyholders.

MediaAlpha's growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and expansion of platform solutions, including managed advertising services and technology integrations, are expected to help traditional insurers strengthen their direct-to-consumer capabilities. These initiatives should deepen carrier relationships and drive a greater share of advertising budgets toward MAX's platform, supporting sustained revenue growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Property and Casualty revenues is pegged at $338.91 million, indicating a 17.7% increase from the year-ago figure.

For Life Insurance, the consensus mark is pegged at $5.67 million, indicating a 1.8% increase from the year-ago figure.

The consensus mark for Health Insurance revenues is $2.97 million, indicating a 76.9% year-over-year decline. Persistent weakness in under-65 health insurance, a sub-vertical of MAX's digital advertising and customer-acquisition platform that connects insurance shoppers under the age of 65 with health insurance carriers and brokers, is likely to have contributed to the decline in revenues.

The consensus estimate for earnings is pegged at 33 cents per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 26.9%. We expect strong P&C revenues to have benefited the bottom line in the quarter.

What Our Model Says About MAX

Our proven model predicts a likely earnings beat for MAX this time around. A positive Earnings ESP combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.