Contrasting MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) and Xometry (NASDAQ:XMTR)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for MediaAlpha and Xometry, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MediaAlpha	0	1	6	0	2.86
Xometry	1	2	4	0	2.43

MediaAlpha currently has a consensus price target of $25.14, indicating a potential upside of 97.20%. Xometry has a consensus price target of $27.71, indicating a potential downside of 10.97%. Given MediaAlpha’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe MediaAlpha is more favorable than Xometry.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MediaAlpha	1.41%	-11.98%	5.19%
Xometry	-9.72%	-10.16%	-4.74%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.4% of MediaAlpha shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of Xometry shares are held by institutional investors. 11.5% of MediaAlpha shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.8% of Xometry shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares MediaAlpha and Xometry”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MediaAlpha	$388.15 million	2.19	-$40.42 million	$0.17	75.00
Xometry	$463.41 million	3.33	-$67.47 million	($1.05)	-29.65

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

Volatility and Risk

MediaAlpha has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Xometry has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

MediaAlpha beats Xometry on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Xometry

Xometry, Inc. operates an online marketplace that enables buyers to source custom-manufactured parts and assemblies in the United States and internationally. It provides computer numerical control manufacturing, sheet metal forming, and sheet cutting; 3D printing, including fused deposition modeling, direct metal laser sintering, PolyJet, stereolithography, selective laser sintering, binder jetting, carbon digital light synthesis, multi jet fusion, and lubricant sublayer photo-curing; and die casting, stamping, injection molding, urethane casting, tube cutting, and tube bending, as well as finishing services, rapid prototyping, and high-volume production services. It serves aerospace, healthcare, robotics, industrial, defense, energy, automotive, government, education, and consumer goods industries. The company was formerly known as NextLine Manufacturing Corp. and changed its name to Xometry, Inc. in June 2015. Xometry, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland.