Positioning no disclosures inside 60 days, left as found
Options no verdict drawn today, left as found
Ethical passes the values gate
Price44.53 USD
Fair value53.51
Ethical score70.0/100
Our investment reviews on this name
2026-07-02Read Markup42.24+5.4% to today ✓First review on file: Markup
Our analytic regime reads on this name, dated and marked against the screened price. Small sample per name, and separate from the daily-framework accuracy on the Track Record page.
IAC Inc. holds its Markup at $44.53. The statistical read favours the sellers, held for 18 days.
As held on the ledger · 2026-07-17
Phase
Markup
Quantitative state
The statistical read favours the sellers, held for 18 days
Price at the screen
$44.53
Valuation
27.32 trailing · 17.18 forward price to earnings
Values screen
PASS· score 70.0
Beta
1.06
The Workings
Five Screens, Shown in Full
Full pass across all five screens. This security clears the Titan Ethical Standard: its business and its balance sheet both stay inside the lines.
Test
Figure
Limit
What it means
Status
Business activity
Permissible
Core business clean
Its core business isn't built on prohibited lines: no gambling, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, or interest-based lending.
Pass
Debt load
20.00%
Below 33%
Interest-bearing debt is just 20.0% of its assets, well under the one-third ceiling: it does not run on borrowed money.
Pass
Interest-bearing cash
5.74%
Below 33%
Cash held in interest-bearing accounts and securities is 5.7% of assets, under the one-third limit.
Pass
Receivables
19.76%
Below 49%
Money owed to the company is 19.8% of assets, under the 49% limit.
Pass
Revenue purity
1.95%
Below 5%
Only 1.9% of revenue comes from non-compliant sources, under the 5% line.
Pass
Five checks adapted from AAOIFI screening standards: business activity plus four balance-sheet ratios. All five must pass for ethical clearance. Every figure is arithmetic on public accounts, not judgement.
The Ethical Read
Why It Clears, in Plain English
IAC clears all five screens. Its business is in a permissible area, its interest-bearing debt is about 20%, inside the ~33% line, and interest is about 2% of its income, under the ~5% line, so it passes.
Read as at 2026-10-27. It updates when the underlying figures move, and past reads are kept below.
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Today IAC passes the screen. If new figures move it to a fail, we send you one short email with the before and after. Verdicts change rarely, so you may not hear from us for a long time.
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Fair value range in USD, drawn from the 2026-07-17 screen. The gold marker is the market price at the same screen. A 20.2% margin of safety to the base estimate.
Third-party analyst targets: 11 covering, consensus Buy. The average target sits +12% from the screen price.
Reading the gap · Both our model and the analysts see meaningful upside from here.
Price History & Projections
Where it has been, where the models see it going. History from market close data; projection points are our fair-value estimates and third-party analyst targets, dated to the 2026-07-17 screen.
Fair value and rating are our own model estimates; the Street's range reflects third-party analyst estimates. Analysis, not advice.
The Business, in Plain Words
Media publisher offers little beyond a thin margin
Picture a newsstand where fewer people stop each month and the owner still pays the same rent. IAC runs a collection of lifestyle sites and magazines that is shrinking revenue 12% a year while turning just 2% of sales into profit and delivering only 3% return on equity. The shares sit 27% below our fair value, yet the business shows no durable edge and the opportunity rating stays at none.
Forward earnings sit at 16.3 times, a multiple that would look reasonable only if growth were returning. Instead the company is still digesting past bets while margins remain wafer-thin and analysts' $50 median target offers little buffer against further slippage. Ethical checks clear, but that alone does not create an investment case.
The real risk is continued erosion of audience and ad dollars in a crowded digital market that rewards scale IAC has not built. Low returns can linger for years when management has few levers left. Analysis, not advice.
The risks · The main risks here are ordinary market swings and the chance our fair-value read proves too optimistic.
Plain-English interpretation of our own screen data. Analysis, not advice.
Where & How to Trade
IAC trades on Nasdaq. As a listed security it is accessible through almost any international broker offering its home market. New to this, or investing from abroad? Our guide to accessing global markets covers brokers, currencies and the practical steps.
The Dated Journal · Newest First, Never Edited
Every Entry, As Written
2026-10-18Markup$44.53+0.0%Entry 7
The analysis reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen. The risk-adjusted return profile shows modest positive risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 20% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading neutral. Over the past year the shares are up 15%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 21%. The street (12 analysts) rates it buy, with a mean price target of $52.
2026-10-02Markup$44.53+5.4%Entry 6
Our analysis reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved up 5.4% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen. The risk-adjusted return profile shows modest positive risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 20% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading neutral. Over the past year the shares are up 15%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 21%. The street (12 analysts) rates it buy, with a mean price target of $52. Since the last review it dropped out of the Tech 100.
2026-09-01Markup$42.24+0.0%Entry 5
Our analysis reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen. The risk-adjusted return profile shows modest positive risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 20% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading neutral. Over the past year the shares are up 15%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 21%. The street (12 analysts) rates it buy, with a mean price target of $52.
2026-08-01Markup$42.24+0.0%Entry 4
Our analysis reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen. The risk-adjusted return profile shows modest positive risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 20% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading neutral. Over the past year the shares are up 15%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 21%. The street (12 analysts) rates it buy, with a mean price target of $52.
2026-07-18Markup$42.24+0.0%Entry 3
Our analysis reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen. The risk-adjusted return profile shows modest positive risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 20% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading neutral. Over the past year the shares are up 15%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 21%. The street (12 analysts) rates it buy, with a mean price target of $52.
2026-07-03Markup$42.24+0.0%Entry 2
Our analysis reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen (70). The risk-adjusted return profile shows modest positive risk-adjusted returns.
2026-07-02Markup$42.24Entry 1
Our analysis reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Ethical screening: PASS with passing ethical screen (70). The risk-adjusted return profile shows modest positive risk-adjusted returns.
Each entry above was written on its date, before the outcome. A journal you can prune is not a journal.