IAC Inc. (IAC): BCG Matrix [Dec-2025 Updated]

Since IAC Inc. completed the Angi spin-off, you're looking at a portfolio that's definitely a mixed bag, and mapping it with the BCG Matrix shows precisely where the near-term risks and opportunities lie. We've got digital assets showing strong momentum, with off-platform revenue up 16%, clearly marking them as Stars, while the core business remains a reliable generator, expecting operating income between $180 million to $200 million from its Cash Cows. But to be fair, the legacy Search segment is struggling badly, dropping 41% in Q3 2025, putting it in the Dogs quadrant, and we need to decide on the future of those high-potential Question Marks requiring investment. Keep reading to see the full, unvarnished view of where every major asset sits today.

Background of IAC Inc. (IAC)

You're looking at IAC Inc. (IAC) as of late 2025, and honestly, the company's story right now is one of sharp focus following major structural changes. IAC/InteractiveCorp is a diversified media and internet company, but its portfolio has been significantly streamlined recently. A key move was the completion of the spin-off of Angi Inc., which marked the creation of its tenth fully independent company. This action, along with others, has sharpened management's attention on its core assets. It's definitely a company in transition, aiming to distill shareholder value from what remains.

The current operational structure heavily emphasizes People Inc., which was formerly Dotdash Meredith, and its significant equity stake in MGM Resorts International. People Inc. remains a powerhouse, holding the title of the largest digital and print publisher in the United States. For the third quarter of 2025, People Inc. showed resilience, reporting a 9% growth in digital revenue, its eighth consecutive quarter of such growth. Digital operating income for this segment increased 22% to $37.5 million in Q3 2025, driven by performance marketing and new deals, like an AI licensing agreement with Microsoft.

However, not all segments are firing on all cylinders, which is what makes this analysis interesting. The Search segment faced major headwinds, with revenue dropping 41% in Q3 2025, largely due to shifts in Google's algorithms. This has been part of a broader strategic push to reduce dependency on Google traffic, which the company successfully lowered from 52% to 28% of total traffic. Meanwhile, Care.com experienced a 5% revenue decline in the same quarter, reflecting ongoing challenges in the consumer services area.

Financially, the overall picture for Q3 2025 showed revenue at $589.8 million, down 8% year-over-year, resulting in an operating loss of $20.4 million. Still, the company is actively managing its capital. IAC repurchased $100 million of its own stock in that quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to $300 million, signaling management's confidence in the stock's valuation. Furthermore, IAC holds a 24% stake in MGM Resorts, and its cash reserves stood at over $1 billion at that time, which management plans to enhance by divesting noncore holdings.

IAC Inc. (IAC) - BCG Matrix: Stars

You're looking at the core growth engines for IAC Inc. (IAC) right now, the businesses that command high market share in markets still expanding. These are the units management is pouring capital into, hoping they mature into reliable Cash Cows when the current high-growth phase eventually cools down. Honestly, the cash burn to maintain this leadership position is significant, but that's the price of being the market's current best bet.

People Inc. Digital is definitely leading this charge. In the third quarter of 2025, this segment delivered digital revenue growth of 9%, hitting $269 million in revenue for the quarter. This marks the eighth consecutive quarter of digital revenue growth for People Inc.. The segment's Digital Adjusted EBITDA, when excluding certain one-time items, reached $72 million, reflecting 27% margins and 26% incremental margins.

The strategic move to secure AI licensing deals positions the digital content for future high-growth monetization. People Inc. signed a significant agreement to join Microsoft's Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM), a system designed to compensate publishers for content use by AI players. This follows a prior licensing deal signed with OpenAI.

Momentum away from traditional search is strong. Off-platform revenue, which is views of content on non-owned, third-party platforms like social media and syndication partners, grew 16% year-over-year in Q3 2025. This revenue stream now makes up over one third of the quarter's total revenue. To be fair, the off-platform audience growth is accelerating even faster, up 66% year-over-year. Off-platform views reached 19.4 billion in Q3 2025, up from 9.5 billion in Q3 2023.

The D/Cipher+ Platform is the proprietary technology underpinning some of this success. It's the contextual ad-targeting engine that helps drive that premium advertising performance. Management views its expansion as a key driver for future growth within the ad-tech segment.

Here's a quick look at the key numbers driving the Star categorization for these assets as of Q3 2025:

You can see the focus is clearly on People Inc. and its technology stack, like D/Cipher+, to sustain this high-growth trajectory. Finance: draft the 13-week cash view incorporating expected Q4 investment needs by Friday.

IAC Inc. (IAC) - BCG Matrix: Cash Cows

You're looking at the core engine of IAC Inc. (IAC) right now, the segment that generates the necessary cash to fund the Question Marks and cover corporate overhead. For IAC, that primary Cash Cow is People Inc., the rebranded digital and print publishing powerhouse formerly known as Dotdash Meredith. This unit is expected to generate a strong operating income of $180 million to $200 million for the full year 2025. That's the kind of stable, high-margin cash flow businesses strive for in a mature market. It's definitely the anchor holding the portfolio steady.

People Inc. is characterized by high-share, established financial and lifestyle brands that provide stable, high-margin subscription and premium ad revenue. Its digital segment, in particular, shows consistent performance, accelerating its growth rate in the second quarter of 2025. This business unit is a market leader, and its focus is clearly on efficiency and maximizing the yield from its existing content assets, even as it navigates shifts in the broader digital advertising landscape.

The strategy here involves maintaining productivity while aggressively diversifying traffic sources. For instance, the portion of sessions coming from Google Search has declined from 52% to just 28%, yet non-Google Search sessions are growing at a 29% CAGR. This proactive shift supports the stable revenue base, which is exactly what a Cash Cow should be doing-generating cash while the company manages the transition.

Beyond the operating businesses, the MGM Resorts International stake functions as a massive, highly liquid reserve asset, often treated as a Cash Cow component due to its non-operating nature and significant market value. IAC holds 64.7 million shares, representing a 24% stake as of late July 2025. This holding is a significant source of potential capital, even if it doesn't flow through the operating income statement directly.

• MGM Stake as of Q2 2025 Earnings Release: 64.7 million shares
• Ownership Percentage: 24%
• Reported Value as of August 1, 2025: $2.3 billion
• Reported Value as of July 2025: Around $2.4 billion

Overall corporate discipline is key to maximizing the benefit from these cash generators. We saw consolidated Adjusted EBITDA increase by 15% in Q2 2025, which is impressive given the top-line revenue challenges across the portfolio. This efficiency gain is supported by disciplined cost management, which is vital when growth prospects are low. To show confidence in the underlying value, IAC repurchased 2.8 million shares for an aggregate of $100 million between August 6 and October 31, 2025, effectively using Cash Cow proceeds to reduce the share count.

Finance: draft the Q3 2025 cash flow projection incorporating the People Inc. guidance and MGM unrealized gains/losses by next Tuesday.

IAC Inc. (IAC) - BCG Matrix: Dogs

You're looking at the parts of the IAC Inc. portfolio that are stuck in low-growth markets with minimal market traction, which is the classic definition of a Dog in the Boston Consulting Group Matrix. These units tie up capital without offering significant returns, making them candidates for divestiture or aggressive cost management. To be fair, the entire company felt the pressure in the third quarter of 2025; overall revenue was $589.8 million, an 8% year-over-year decline, missing analyst expectations.

Here's a quick look at the specific business units that fit this low-growth, low-share profile based on their Q3 2025 performance:

The Search Segment is definitely showing classic Dog characteristics, experiencing a revenue drop of 41% in Q3 2025. This steep decline is directly tied to external, low-growth market dynamics-specifically, ongoing changes in Google's algorithms that are reducing traffic to traditional organic search listings.

Next, consider the print side of People Inc. The People Inc. Print Operations represent a legacy business in a market that's clearly shrinking. Print revenue declined 15% in Q3 2025. While the digital side of People Inc. is a Star or Cash Cow, this print component is consuming resources in a low-growth environment.

Care.com also shows significant distress, fitting the profile of a Dog needing strategic review. Its Q3 2025 revenue declined 5% to $90.8 million. More critically, the unit's profitability evaporated, with operating income falling 67% to only $5 million. That sharp drop in operating income signals a unit that is quickly becoming a cash trap rather than a contributor.

The company's broader actions support the idea of minimizing these units. Management is deliberately shedding lower-margin revenue streams across the portfolio to improve unit economics. This strategic pruning temporarily lowers overall revenue but is a necessary step when dealing with assets that don't generate sufficient returns. You see this reflected in the Q4 outlook, which projects Care.com revenue to decline further by 7-9% and Print revenue to decline by 20-25%.

• Dogs are in low growth markets and have low market share.
• Dogs should be avoided and minimized.
• Expensive turn-around plans usually do not help.

Finance: draft a divestiture readiness assessment for the Print Operations by next Wednesday.

IAC Inc. (IAC) - BCG Matrix: Question Marks

You're looking at the Question Marks quadrant, where IAC Inc. (IAC) has several businesses that are burning cash today but operate in markets with serious upside potential. These units need a big infusion of capital to grab market share quickly, or they risk sliding into the Dog category. Honestly, it's a high-stakes balancing act for management.

The Emerging & Other Segment, which houses some of these early-stage bets, is definitely consuming cash. For the second quarter of 2025, this segment posted an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $6.3 million, an improvement from the $6.5 million loss in Q2 2024. Looking ahead, the guidance for Q3 2025 projects Adjusted EBITDA losses in this group to be between $5 million and $10 million. This segment's performance is tied to the success of its smaller ventures, which require that heavy investment to scale.

Here's a quick look at the key components currently classified as Question Marks:

• Emerging & Other Segment: Q2 2025 Adjusted EBITDA loss of $6.3 million.
• Vivian Health: Operating in the high-growth healthcare staffing sector.
• Care.com Turnaround: Undergoing a major product and pricing overhaul.
• The Daily Beast: Requiring continued investment to scale profitably in media.

Vivian Health operates in the healthcare job marketplace, a sector definitely seeing high growth, but it still requires significant investment to capture market share against established players. To be fair, the Q2 2025 results showed an improvement, with the segment reporting profits compared to losses in Q2 2024. Still, the overall segment classification suggests ongoing strategic spending is necessary to cement its position.

The Care.com Turnaround narrative is a classic high-risk, high-reward play. In Q2 2025, Care.com revenue was $82.0 million, a 6% year-over-year decline. The business is actively working through a product and pricing overhaul to reverse these revenue headwinds; for instance, Q1 2025 revenue had declined 3.9% year-over-year. The goal is to see the turnaround efforts pay off, as Q2 2025 Adjusted EBITDA did jump 117% year-over-year to $5.8 million, and the full-year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA is guided between $45 million and $50 million.

For The Daily Beast, the investment is aimed at achieving profitable scale in a competitive digital news market. The growth figures suggest some success in this investment strategy, as the property showed 14% growth in Q2 2025. This follows a period where Q1 2025 growth was reported at 72% year-over-year when excluding the Mosaic Group revenue from the prior year comparison. Continued investment is the path to solidify this growth into a sustainable, high-market-share position.

You need to watch the cash burn versus the market penetration rate for these units closely. If the investment doesn't translate to a significant market share gain by the end of 2026, IAC will face tough decisions on divestiture.