The Short Answer
Maximus stock (MMS) has a qualitative business verdict that is HALAL, but its current filing-based financial screen FAILS on debt. Maximus provides business-process-services and technology to government health-and-human-services programs.
Government-program administration and business-process-services are generally permissible at the activity level. The March 31, 2026 filing reports debt/assets of 36.23%, liquidity/assets of 3.71% and receivables-plus-cash/assets of 30.02%; the debt screen fails the examined limits.
Current quantitative Sharia screen
Based on 10-Q figures for the period ended 2026-03-31; calculated 2026-07-15.
1,535.746 / 4,239.174
157.452 / 4,239.174
1,272.412 / 4,239.174
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Debt/assets is 36.23%, above the examined 33.333% limit; liquidity/assets is 3.71% and receivables-plus-cash/assets is 30.02%.
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Debt/assets is 36.23%, above the examined 33.33% limit; this is not an index-membership claim.
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Debt/assets is 36.23%, above the examined 33% limit; this is a calculation against SAC ratios, not an official classification.
- Financial
- Not calculated
- Overall
- Fails
A licensed historical market-cap series is not stored; asset-based financial screens already fail on debt.
Business-activity disclosure
Maximus provides government health and human-services, employment and program-operations services. Government-program outsourcing is generally permissible at the activity level, but the filing does not provide a universal prohibited-revenue numerator for every contract or end use.
Limitation: No universal prohibited-activity revenue numerator or scholar-specific purification percentage is disclosed; contract-level allocation remains qualitative.
Purification
The filing does not separately disclose gross interest income; ZakatInvest does not infer a purification amount.
Inputs, assumptions and primary sources
- Amounts are USD millions from Maximus' March 31, 2026 Form 10-Q.
- Debt is reported current and non-current long-term debt totaling $1,535.746 million; operating lease liabilities are excluded.
- Cash is $157.452 million and net accounts receivable is $1,114.960 million.
- Second-quarter revenue is $1,305.967 million. The filing reports interest expense but does not separately disclose gross interest income.
- Government-services and program-operations activity is retained as qualitative analysis; no universal prohibited-revenue numerator is disclosed.
This is a reproducible financial screen, not a fatwa. A failed total-assets screen can coexist with a pass under a market-cap methodology. ZakatInvest keeps the qualitative assessment separate so numerical thresholds do not erase material context.
Sharia Screening Methodology
Islamic scholars use several criteria to screen stocks:
- Business activity screen: Is the company's primary business halal?
- Debt ratio: Total debt / market cap must be under 33%
- Interest income: Interest income / total revenue must be under 5%
- Haram revenue: Revenue from haram sources must be under 5%
- Receivables ratio: Total receivables / total assets must be under 49–70% (varies by board)
Maximus's Business Activity
Maximus operates through three segments:
- U.S. Federal Services: Program administration, contact-center, and digital services for federal agencies
- U.S. Services: Eligibility, enrollment, and case-management for state health-and-human-services programs
- Outside the U.S.: Employment, health, and welfare program services for international governments
These are general-purpose business-process-services activities — administering public programs and operating contact centers. This is permissible at the activity level.
Concerns to Be Aware Of
1. Leverage — The Primary Screen
The filing reports $1,535.746 million of current and non-current long-term debt, or 36.23% of total assets. This exceeds the examined asset-based debt limits; market-cap denominator methods are not calculated here.
2. Acquisition Activity
Maximus is a periodic acquirer of government-services businesses. Acquisition activity can affect leverage and goodwill, so the financial screen should be re-verified following material transactions.
3. Government-Contract Concentration
Revenue is concentrated in government contracts and sensitive to policy, budget, and procurement cycles. This is a business and political consideration rather than a Sharia screen concern.
Filing-Based Ratios (March 31, 2026)
Using Maximus's latest Form 10-Q (USD millions):
- Debt / total assets: 36.23% — above the examined one-third limits
- Cash + securities / total assets: 3.71%
- Receivables + cash / total assets: 30.02%
- Gross interest income: Not separately disclosed
Methodology Interpretation
These are ZakatInvest calculations from the cited filing, not claims of current index membership or an official scholar ruling:
- FTSE-style: Debt screen fails at 36.23%.
- MSCI-style: Debt screen fails at 36.23%; this is not an index-membership claim.
- Malaysia-style: Debt screen fails at 36.23%; this is not an official classification.
Bottom Line
Maximus (MMS) has a generally permissible government-services business, but its current filing-based debt screen fails. The qualitative business verdict remains HALAL while the quantitative result is not compliant under the examined financial limits; consult the methodology you follow.
For Muslim investors seeking government-services exposure, MMS sits alongside other halal-screened names like Leidos (LDOS) and CACI International (CACI).
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