MediaAlpha Announces Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE: MAX), today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023.

“Our second quarter results exceeded expectations, driven primarily by strength in our Health insurance vertical,” said MediaAlpha co-founder and CEO Steve Yi. “In our Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance vertical, customer acquisition spend remains at cyclically low levels as carriers are taking longer than expected to restore underwriting profitability, and we expect this to continue for the balance of the year. Our ability to operate profitability in the current market environment is a tribute to the efficiency of our business model and the agility of our team, which we believe will enable us to capture outsized growth as the auto insurance market recovers.”

Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results

• Revenue of $84.8 million, a decrease of 18% year over year;
• Transaction Value of $125.9 million, a decrease of 31% year over year;
• Gross margin of 16.2%, compared with 15.0% in the second quarter of 2022;
• Contribution Margin⁽¹⁾ of 19.5%, compared with 18.1% in the second quarter of 2022;
• Net loss was $(20.0) million, compared with $(13.0) million in the second quarter of 2022; and
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ was $3.6 million, compared with $4.5 million in the second quarter of 2022.

⁽¹⁾A reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP financial measures has been provided at the end of this press release. An explanation of these measures is also included below under the heading “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Financial Outlook

Our guidance for the third quarter of 2023 reflects a continuation of low customer acquisition spend levels by P&C carriers as they prioritize profitability over growth. As a result, we expect third quarter Transaction Value in our P&C insurance vertical to decline year over year by 40% to 50%. In addition, we expect third quarter Transaction Value in our Health vertical to grow year over year at a rate similar to the second quarter.

For the third quarter of 2023, MediaAlpha currently expects the following:

• Transaction Value between $95 million - $110 million, representing a 30% year-over-year decline at the midpoint of the guidance range;
• Revenue between $65 million - $75 million, representing a 21% year-over-year decline at the midpoint of the guidance range;
• Adjusted EBITDA between $1.5 million and $3.5 million, representing a 15% year-over-year increase at the midpoint of the guidance range. We are projecting our operating expenses, net of Adjusted EBITDA addbacks, to be approximately $1.5 million lower than Q2 2023 levels, driven primarily by a full quarter impact of the workforce reductions we implemented in May 2023 and continued expense discipline.

With respect to the Company’s projection of Adjusted EBITDA under “Financial Outlook,” MediaAlpha is not providing a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss) because the Company is unable to predict with reasonable certainty the reconciling items that may affect net income (loss) without unreasonable effort, including equity-based compensation, transaction expenses and income tax expense. These reconciling items are uncertain, depend on various factors and could significantly impact, either individually or in the aggregate, the corresponding GAAP measures for the applicable period.

For a detailed explanation of the Company’s non-GAAP measures, please refer to the appendix section of this press release.

Conference Call Information

MediaAlpha will host a Q&A conference call today to discuss the Company's second quarter 2023 results and its financial outlook for the third quarter of 2023 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time). A live audio webcast of the call will be available on the MediaAlpha Investor Relations website at https://investors.mediaalpha.com. To register for the webcast, click here. Participants may also dial-in, toll-free, at (888) 330-2022 or (646) 960-0690, with passcode 3195092. An audio replay of the conference call will be available for two weeks following the call and available on the MediaAlpha Investor Relations website at https://investors.mediaalpha.com.

We have also posted to our investor relations website a letter to shareholders. We have used, and intend to continue to use, our investor relations website at https://investors.mediaalpha.com as a means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation statements regarding our expectation that customer acquisition spend by carriers will remain at cyclically low levels for the balance of this year, our belief that we will capture outsized growth as the auto insurance market recovers, and our financial outlook for the third quarter of 2023. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and our financial performance. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “predict,” “potential,” “believe,” “will likely result,” “expect,” “continue,” “will,” “anticipate,” “seek,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “projection,” “would,” and “outlook,” or the negative version of those words or other comparable words or phrases of a future or forward-looking nature. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. Accordingly, we caution you that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

There are or will be important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements, including those more fully described in MediaAlpha’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including the Form 10-K filed on February 27, 2023. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive. MediaAlpha disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this press release.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Operating Metrics

This press release includes Adjusted EBITDA and Contribution Margin, which are non-GAAP financial measures. The Company also presents Transaction Value, which is an operating metric not presented in accordance with GAAP. See the appendix for definitions of Adjusted EBITDA, Contribution, Contribution Margin and Transaction Value, as well as reconciliations to the corresponding GAAP financial metrics, as applicable.

We present Transaction Value, Adjusted EBITDA and Contribution Margin because they are used extensively by our management and board of directors to manage our operating performance, including evaluating our operational performance against budget and assessing our overall operating efficiency and operating leverage. Accordingly, we believe that Transaction Value, Adjusted EBITDA and Contribution Margin provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management team and board of directors. Each of Transaction Value, Adjusted EBITDA and Contribution Margin has limitations as a financial measure and investors should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP.