| Factor | Score | Distribution | Value | Avg | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valuation | 87 | — | 17.8x | Top tier | |
Growth | 9 | -8.1% | 7.1% | Bottom tier | |
Quality | 15 | — | 4.5% | Bottom tier | |
Safety | 10 | 8.1x | 2.6x | Bottom tier | |
Capital Return | 31 | 1.69% | 2.12% | Bottom tier | |
Momentum | 69 | -24.0% | 2.9% | Top tier | |
Sentiment | 64 | 3 | 3 | Around median |
Ten ratios that matter, each compared against its sector median and average — so you can see whether a number is rich or cheap relative to peers in the same sector.
WPP plc operates as a global marketing and advertising services group and has reorganized its business into four interconnected operating units: WPP Creative, WPP Media, WPP Production, and WPP Enterprise Solutions. The company generates revenue from media buying, creative and production, public relations, commerce, customer relationship management and customer experience, and marketing operations modernization; while the WPP Open platform connects these services with customer data and artificial intelligence technologies. As of quarter 2 of fiscal year 2026, WPP reports its results under a single financial segment, Global Integrated Agencies, with WPP Media representing 46% of net sales versus 41% previously after CMI and TMP were transferred to it as part of the reorganization.
In the first half of fiscal year 2026, revenue less pass-through costs was £4.7 billion, down 5.6% on a reported basis, while declining 4.7% on a like-for-like basis. The quarterly like-for-like decline improved from 6.7% in quarter 1 to 2.8% in quarter 2, or 3.8% after excluding non-recurring comparison factors. Adjusted operating profit was £398 million, and its margin rose 20 basis points to 8.4%, but adjusted diluted earnings per share fell 24.5% to 15.1 pence due to lower profits and a higher effective tax rate of 33.5%.
EDGAR filings show that fiscal year 2025 revenue was $13.6 billion, compared with $14.7 billion in fiscal year 2024, while gross profit declined from $2.5 billion to $2.1 billion. Net income shifted from a profit of $629 million and earnings per share of $0.494 in fiscal year 2024 to a loss of $172 million and a loss per share of $0.2 in fiscal year 2025. This indicates that the improving revenue trajectory during quarter 2 of fiscal year 2026 has not yet translated into a confirmed annual recovery in profitability.
Automated analysis for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
Analyst consensus on WPP is Neutral, and the available data do not provide a consensus price target or a high-low target range that could be used as an additional anchor. The 52-week range extends from $14.81 to $27.78, and no positive price-to-earnings multiple is available after recording a loss per share of $0.2 in fiscal year 2025, making the valuation more dependent on achieving the targeted return to growth in fiscal year 2027 and rebuilding margins.
Figures in the text are as of 2026-08-30; the live price is shown at the top of the page.
Revenue less pass-through costs declined 2.8% on a like-for-like basis in quarter 2 of fiscal year 2026, compared with a decline of 6.7% in quarter 1. The main driver of the improvement was WPP Media, whose decline narrowed from 8.3% to 2.8%, or approximately 5% after adjusting for comparison factors. The automotive and healthcare sectors also returned to growth, while the decline among the top 25 clients improved to 3.2%. Easier comparisons contributed approximately 2.9 percentage points to the reported quarter 2 figure, so the improvement does not entirely reflect underlying growth.
Elevate28 divides the transformation into a stabilization phase during fiscal year 2026, followed by building and a return to growth during fiscal year 2027, and then accelerating growth beginning in fiscal year 2028. The plan reorganized WPP into four units: Creative, Media, Production, and Enterprise Solutions, connected by the WPP Open platform. The plan targets total annual savings of £500 million over three years, including £100 million in fiscal year 2026. Management intends to reinvest the fiscal year 2026 savings in media, enterprise solutions, commerce, and data to support a return to growth.
WPP Open connects customer data with signals from more than 350 data partners, covering 5 billion consumers across more than 100 markets, without transferring the client's core data from its environment. During the first half of fiscal year 2026, WPP and Google DeepMind launched a cultural trend forecasting engine used by Duracell, Airbnb, and Lexus. It also integrated Adobe Firefly Foundry and a creative intelligence solution from Meta that was trialed with Unilever, and signed a multi-year collaboration with AWS to deploy agentic artificial intelligence. InfoSum, which WPP acquired in fiscal year 2025, provides the infrastructure that enables collaboration on data without sharing, transferring, or combining it.
The group did not return to growth at the overall net sales level in the first half of fiscal year 2026, recording a like-for-like decline of 4.7%. Quarter 2 improved to a decline of 2.8%, while Latin America recorded growth of 0.9% and Asia Pacific growth of 0.3% during the quarter. By contrast, North America declined 4.3% in quarter 2, while consumer packaged goods and technology remained in contraction at 6% and 8.9%, respectively. Management expects a low-to-mid-single-digit decline in the second half of fiscal year 2026, followed by a return to growth during fiscal year 2027.
Adjusted net debt was £2.9 billion as of 30 June 2026, down £326 million year over year, while average adjusted net debt was £3.3 billion. The ratio of average adjusted net debt to adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization was 2.18 times for the twelve months ended June 2026. The group had available liquidity of £4.1 billion, including an undrawn committed credit facility of $2.5 billion maturing in February 2031. Management expects adjusted operating cash flow before working capital of between £800 million and £900 million in fiscal year 2026, or between £1 billion and £1.1 billion before restructuring costs.
Management estimates the impact of total client losses at approximately 600 basis points in fiscal year 2026 and expects net new business to remain a drag in every quarter. It also expects the second-half margin to decline by as much as 200 basis points due to increased investment and the rebuilding of incentives. Fiscal year 2025 revenue declined to $13.6 billion, and the company recorded a net loss of $172 million after a profit of $629 million in fiscal year 2024. Operational risks also include declines of 8.9% in technology and 6% in consumer packaged goods in quarter 2 of fiscal year 2026, along with the potential deflationary impact of artificial intelligence on service pricing.
