Michael Eisner Just Bought $5 Million Worth of IAC

Investors may want to keep an eye on beaten-down shares of InterActiveCorp (IAC).

After getting clobbered over the last several months, the stock is showing signs of life.  All after former CEO Michael Eisner bought 106,241 shares for about $5 million in late November.  The last time he bought shares was in August 2020, when he bought 40,555 shares for $5 million.

Analysts seem to like the stock here, too.

Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju, for example, raised his price target on IAC to $108 from $101.  He has an outperform rating on the stock, and cited IAC’s exposure to multiple attractive end markets, including online advertising, online gambling, and ride sharing as his catalysts. 

Also, while the company still sees a weak advertising market, CEO Joey Levin says the IAC stock is undervalued.  In a CEO letter to shareholders found here, he noted, “Despite our faults, in the last 12 months, we delivered almost $1.8 billion of revenue, growing 15% year-over-year with $1.4 billion of gross profit in a category that’s not an easy beast to tame. I believe we now have an opportunity to invest our gross profit more productively with more responsible operating expenses and cash flow accountability by chasing fewer ideas and focusing on key segments and initiatives with steady progress.”

With a bullish CEO, a big insider buy, and encouraging words from Credit Suisse, there’s hope the IAC stock can turn the corner here.  IAC last traded at $52.92.  We’d like to see the stock test $67.