A Look at Marqeta’s (MQ) Valuation Following Leadership Change and New CEO Appointment

Marqeta (MQ) has named Mike Milotich, who previously served as both interim CEO and CFO, as its new permanent Chief Executive Officer. The board also appointed him to the company's Board of Directors, highlighting his impact on operations and financial performance.

See our latest analysis for Marqeta.

Marqeta’s leadership shakeup, with Mike Milotich now steering the ship as permanent CEO, has arrived following a turbulent year for the stock. While there has been a modest positive shift recently, with Marqeta’s year-to-date share price return at 0.37%, longer-term momentum has yet to pick up. This is indicated by a slim 0.05% total shareholder return over the past year. The combination of changing management, operational pivots, and ongoing industry scrutiny means investors are still weighing the company’s growth potential against execution risks.

If you’re watching how leadership changes influence a company’s outlook, you may want to broaden your search and discover fast growing stocks with high insider ownership

With the company’s prospects in flux and shares still trading below analyst targets, the big question is whether Marqeta is a bargain amid all the change or if the current price already reflects any upside ahead.

Most Popular Narrative: 27% Undervalued

With Marqeta’s last close at $5.10 and the most widely followed narrative assigning a fair value of $7.02, there is a notable disconnect between the market price and analyst sentiment. This sets the stage for a closer inspection of what is driving these expectations and where Marqeta’s growth story might lead next.

Ongoing product innovation, including real-time decisioning, advanced fraud management using AI/ML, flexible and credit-enabled card credentials, and value-added services, is increasing customer retention, expanding wallet share, and enabling premium pricing. This supports margin expansion and growing gross profit.

Read the complete narrative.

What is really fueling this bullish outlook? The narrative’s math hints at future profitability, margin expansion, and sharp growth in both earnings and top-line. But the full story behind these figures is more surprising than you might expect. Dive in to uncover which underlying assumptions are tipping the scales for Marqeta’s valuation.

Result: Fair Value of $7.02 (UNDERVALUED)

Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts.

However, risks remain. Marqeta’s heavy reliance on major clients and growing competition in card issuing both threaten the bullish outlook.

Find out about the key risks to this Marqeta narrative.

Another View: A Look Through Market Multiples

While analyst consensus points to Marqeta as undervalued, the market’s own lens tells a different story. The company trades at a price-to-sales ratio of 4.1x, which is much higher than both the industry average of 2.9x and its peer average of 1.1x. Even when compared to a fair ratio of 3x, Marqeta appears expensive. This raises questions about valuation risk and investor appetite for growth over profits. Will the market eventually close this gap, or does it signal caution ahead?

See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown.

Build Your Own Marqeta Narrative

If you want to challenge this perspective or would rather interpret the numbers on your own terms, building your unique analysis takes just a few minutes, so why not Do it your way

A great starting point for your Marqeta research is our analysis highlighting 2 key rewards and 1 important warning sign that could impact your investment decision.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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