TNL Mediagene (NASDAQ: TNMG) Publishes Corporate & Valuation Update; Provides Summary Commentary

Rhea-AI Summary

TNL Mediagene (NASDAQ: TNMG), a Tokyo-based digital media company, has released a comprehensive corporate and valuation update highlighting significant undervaluation compared to industry peers. The company, with $48.5M in FY2024 revenue and operations spanning 26 years in Japan and 12 years in Taiwan, serves 45M+ monthly unique users through 25 media brands.

The company's current trading multiples (0.7x EV/Revenue, 0.4x P/B, and 0.2x P/S) are substantially below industry medians, with AdTech peers trading at 4.3x EV/Revenue and Digital & Social Media companies at 6.7x EV/Revenue. Management, led by Co-Founders Joey Chung and Motoko Imada, believes the company is significantly undervalued compared to both public trading comparables and M&A precedent transactions.

Positive

• Strong operational scale with 500 employees and 850+ advertising customers
• Extensive market presence with 45M+ monthly unique users across 25 media brands
• Experienced leadership team and board members from global media giants
• FY2024 performance shows $48.5M revenue with near-breakeven Adjusted EBITDA

Negative

• Significant valuation gap with trading multiples far below industry averages
• Current Price/Sales ratio of 0.2x indicates substantial market undervaluation
• Trading at only 0.7x Enterprise Value/Revenue compared to industry median of 4.3x-6.7x

Insights

Equity Research Analyst

TNMG highlights significant valuation gap against industry peers, trading at 0.7x EV/Revenue versus industry medians of 4.3-6.7x.

TNL Mediagene's corporate update reveals compelling valuation disparities that merit investor attention. The company currently trades at 0.7x Enterprise Value/Revenue, 0.4x Price/Book, and 0.2x Price/Sales – all substantially below industry benchmarks. For context, AdTech peers trade at median multiples of 4.3x EV/Revenue and 4.6x P/S, while Digital & Social Media companies command even higher valuations at 6.7x EV/Revenue and 7.1x P/S.

This valuation gap is particularly noteworthy given TNMG's established market presence with 26 years of operating history in Japan and 12 years in Taiwan. The company's financial metrics show reasonable scale with $48.5 million in FY2024 revenue, $17.7 million gross profit, and near-breakeven Adjusted EBITDA. Their digital media footprint encompasses 25 media brands reaching 45+ million monthly unique users across 5 content categories, serving 850+ advertising customers.

The referenced M&A transactions in digital media, including notable deals like Axios, Politico, and The Athletic, traded at a median 4.8x EV/Revenue – nearly 7 times higher than TNMG's current multiple. Management's explicit statement that they believe the company is undervalued signals potential corporate actions aimed at addressing this disparity, possibly through continued M&A activity or other strategic initiatives to unlock shareholder value.

This pronounced valuation disconnect relative to both public markets and M&A precedents suggests either market inefficiency in pricing TNMG or underlying factors not addressed in this update that explain the discount. Investors should examine operational metrics, growth trajectory, and market position in Asia versus primarily US-based comparables to better understand this valuation gap.

NEW YORK and TOKYO, Aug. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- TNL Mediagene (Nasdaq: TNMG) (the "Company"), a Tokyo-based next-generation digital media and data group in Asia, today published its Corporate & Valuation Update which includes a Company Snapshot outlining key aspects of the Company's business and a Valuation Update outlining its calculation of several industry valuation metrics applied to a set of both public trading reference comparables and M&A precedent transaction reference comparables in the AdTech and Digital & Social Media industries.

Company Snapshot: Led by Co-Founder & CEO Joey Chung and Co-Founder & President Motoko Imada and supported by a world-class Board of Directors with international experience from leading global Media, Technology, Consulting, Finance and Investment companies including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CoinDesk, BCG, NBC Universal, Reapra, Goldman Sachs and Yahoo, the Company has a track record of strong consolidate revenue growth and expanding margins with FY2024 results including consolidated revenue of $48.5m, $17.7m Gross Profit and near-breakeven Adjusted EBITDA. The Company has significant operating history and scale with 12 years of operating history in Taiwan and 26 years of operating history in Japan and approximately 500 employees. The Company operates 25 Media brands across 5 content categories that drive 45 million+ monthly unique users¹ and serves 850+ advertising customers which include leading multinational companies and strong regional players.

Valuation Update: As part of the Company's internal benchmarking, from time to time the Company benchmarks its public trading valuation against a group of public trading reference comparables and M&A precedent transaction reference comparables within the Adtech and Digital & Social Media industries. This exercise provides management rough guidance on how its current market valuation relates to the reference comparables and provides insight into whether the Company's current public trading valuation is in-line with, above, or below these reference comparables.

The public trading reference comparables group included in today's Valuation Update includes the following companies:

AdTech: AppLovin, The Trade Desk, Magnite, Appier Group, Zeta Global, DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science

Digital & Social Media: Reddit, Thomson Reuters, Meta Platforms, Kakaku.com, Pinterest, The New York Times and Snap

Today's Valuation Update benchmarks the Company's trading valuation against several key industry valuation metrics with the following insights²:

Enterprise Value / Revenue: the reference comparables group is currently trading at median Enterprise Value / Revenue multiples of 4.3x in AdTech and 6.7x in Digital & Social Media

Price / Book: the reference comparables group is currently trading at median Price / Book multiples of 4.6x in AdTech and 6.4x in Digital & Social Media

Price / Sales: the reference comparables group is currently trading at median Price / Sales multiples of 4.6x in AdTech and 7.1x in Digital & Social Media

The precedent M&A reference transactions included in today's Valuation Update includes the following Digital Media M&A transactions³:

• Cox Enterprises, Inc.'s acquisition of Axios Media, Inc.
• Informa, plc's acquisition of Industry Dive, Inc.
• Standard General's acquisition of TEGNA, Inc.
• The New York Times Company's acquisition of The Athletic Media Company
• Axel Springer's acquisition of Politico Media Group, LLC
• Red Ventures, LLC's acquisition of CNET Media Group
• Vice Media, LLC's acquisition of Refinery29

Enterprise Value / Revenue: the precedent M&A reference transactions have a median Enterprise Value / Revenue multiple of 4.8x

TNL Mediagene's Current Trading Valuation:

The Company is currently trading at the following valuation multiples⁴:

• Enterprise Value / Revenue: 0.7x
• Price / Book: 0.4x
• Price / Sales: 0.2x

The Company's current trading multiples are significantly below both the median public trading reference comparable multiples and the median precedent M&A reference transaction multiples. The Company's management believes the Company is currently undervalued.

"We are proud of our leading market positions in Asia, the strength of our Company management and Board of Directors and the operational and financial scale we've achieved over our 12-year and 26-year operating histories in Taiwan and Japan respectively. We continue to execute on our organic and M&A-driven expansion strategies and will continue to pursue accretive M&A and expand and enhance both our media property portfolio and our client base going forward. As a newly public company, we will continue to push to close what we believe is a significant valuation gap vs. our public markets reference group and Digital Media M&A precedent transaction comparables. We thank our shareholders for their continued support, and we remain committed to delivering sustainable value over the long-term," Joey Chung, Co-Founder and CEO commented.

*¹ Monthly unique users comprised the average monthly unique users of owned sites and social media platforms (YouTube + TikTok) based on the Company data for the twelve months ended March 31, 2025.

*² Yahoo Finance Valuation Measures Current Enterprise Value / Revenue, Current Price / Book, Current Price / Sales; accessed 8/10/2025

*³ S&P Capital IQ, Company Information

*⁴ Yahoo Finance Valuation Measures Current Enterprise Value / Revenue, Current Price / Book, Current Price / Sales; accessed 8/10/2025

About TNL Mediagene

Headquartered in Tokyo, TNL Mediagene was formed in May 2023 through the merger of Taiwan's The News Lens Co. and Japan's Mediagene Inc., two of the region's leading independent digital media groups. The company's operations span original and licensed media brands in Japanese, Chinese, and English, covering topics such as news, business, technology, science, food, sports, and lifestyle. It also offers AI-driven advertising services, marketing technology platforms, e-commerce, and innovative solutions tailored to the needs of advertising agencies. Known for its political neutrality, appeal to younger audiences, and high-quality content, TNL Mediagene has approximately 500 employees across Asia, with offices in Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

https://www.tnlmediagene.com/ 

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are based on beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to TNL Mediagene. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or TNL Mediagene's future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," "target," "seek" or the negative or plural of these words, or other similar expressions that are predictions or indicate future events or prospects, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements in this communication include, but are not limited to, statements about TNL Mediagene's future business plan and growth strategies and statements by TNL Mediagene's management. Any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including strategies or plans, are also forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication or elsewhere speak only as of the date made. New uncertainties and risks arise from time to time, and it is impossible for TNL Mediagene to predict these events or how they may affect TNL Mediagene. In addition, risks and uncertainties are described in TNL Mediagene's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings may identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. TNL Mediagene cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this communication will prove to be accurate. There may be additional risks that TNL Mediagene presently does not know or that TNL Mediagene currently does not believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by TNL Mediagene, its directors, officers or employees or any other person. Except as required by applicable law, TNL Mediagene does not have any duty to, and does not intend to, update or revise the forward-looking statements in this communication or elsewhere after the date of this communication. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing the views of TNL Mediagene as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication.

Financial Data

The condensed financial information presented in this press release should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes for the year ended December 31, 2024 included in TNL Mediagene's annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on April 30, 2025, which provides a more complete discussion of its accounting policies and certain other information.

Use and Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Financial Measures

In this press release, we have included Adjusted EBITDA, a non-IFRS financial measure, which is one of many key measures used by our management and board of directors in evaluating our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is our preferred metric for profitability because we believe it facilitates operating performance and profit performance comparisons on a period-to-period basis and excludes items that we do not consider to be indicative of our core operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under IFRS.

Our management does not consider Adjusted EBITDA in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with IFRS. The principal limitation of Adjusted EBITDA is that it excludes significant expenses that are required by IFRS to be recorded in TNL Mediagene's financial statements. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is subject to inherent limitations as it reflects the exercise of judgment by management about which expenses and income are excluded or included in determining such non-IFRS financial measure.

For more details on the definitions of Adjusted EBITDA and reconciliations of Adjusted EBITDA to IFRS financial measures, see the press release and the investor presentation TNL Mediagene released on May 13, 2025.

 

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SOURCE TNL Mediagene

FAQ

What are TNL Mediagene's (TNMG) current trading multiples compared to industry peers?

TNMG trades at 0.7x EV/Revenue, 0.4x P/B, and 0.2x P/S, significantly below industry medians of 4.3x EV/Revenue for AdTech and 6.7x EV/Revenue for Digital & Social Media companies.

What was TNL Mediagene's revenue for FY2024?

TNL Mediagene reported FY2024 consolidated revenue of $48.5M, with $17.7M in Gross Profit and near-breakeven Adjusted EBITDA.

How many users does TNL Mediagene reach through its media platforms?

TNL Mediagene reaches over 45 million monthly unique users through its 25 media brands across 5 content categories.

Who leads TNL Mediagene's management team?

TNL Mediagene is led by Co-Founder & CEO Joey Chung and Co-Founder & President Motoko Imada, supported by board members from global companies like The Wall Street Journal, BCG, and Goldman Sachs.

What is TNL Mediagene's operational presence in Asia?

The company has 26 years of operating history in Japan and 12 years in Taiwan, with approximately 500 employees and 850+ advertising customers.