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WPWPP

WPP plc

$WPP·$5.6B·Advertising Agencies·Communication Services
$25.57-1.6%YTD+10.5%1Y+4.7%
Price updated 11h ago·X counts updated 1d ago
WPWPP
$WPPWPP plc
$25.57-1.62%7 posts
AI analysisFundamentalsVoices on X
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On X

The complete picture of $WPP on X — how loud the conversation is right now, how it has trended over the last two weeks, and which way the crowd is leaning.

7X posts · last 7 days
Sep 11Sep 27

AI verdictAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

TickerTalks' own read on what's driving $WPP — fundamentals, momentum, or an event — and whether it agrees with the X crowd.

Broken storyStalledAI verdict · as of 2026-09-29

The move has stalled — likely just drifts unless something new shows up.

WPP is the classic legacy ad-holdco: -85% EPS surprise Q2, CFO leaving for Diageo, AI hub launch is the pivot.

WPP is a $5.6B British ad-holdco at 83% of its 52-week range on cost-cut hopes — the operating numbers say the business is still contracting.

The core tension:

  • Operations are ugly: Q2 EPS $0.12 vs $0.81 estimate (-85% surprise, the worst of the four). Revenue -7.7% YoY in Q2 and -9.7% in Q4, gross margin at 12-15% (compressed from 19%). TTM PE is -19.8, ROIC -16%, ROE -7.5%. FCF yield 14.9% looks generous until you note last Q2 was -$1.08B FCF.
  • The tape has still rallied: +10.5% YTD, position +5% vs 50-day and +27% vs 200-day MA, currently at 83% of the 52-week range. The market is pricing in a Cindy Rose-led turnaround (she took CEO in July) and the Sept 22 London AI-hub launch as the strategic pivot.
  • Governance flags: CFO Joanne Wilson is leaving to become Diageo CFO (Sept 23) — a mid-turnaround CFO departure is a specific execution risk. Reuters and WSJ both covered.

The bull path is Feb 25 2027 earnings showing revenue stabilisation plus AI-hub commercial traction. The bear path is Q3-into-year-end sales continuing to contract while a CFO search drags.

What to watch: Feb 25 2027 full-year earnings (consensus $2.53 EPS) — the first full print under Rose. Also CFO-succession announcement (Wilson leaves for Diageo), and any Q3 or trading-update pre-announcement given the -85% Q2 surprise.

On the calendar: 2027-02-25 — Full-year earnings

cfo departureno sentiment sample

Read the AI verdict on $WPP

  • One-line verdict on what's driving the move — fundamentals, momentum, both, or an event
  • Next dated catalyst when there is one (earnings, deal closing, activist clock)
  • Whether TickerTalks' read agrees with or diverges from the X crowd
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What it does

Plain-English summary of the business — what they sell and how they make money.

World's largest advertising group offering creative, media, data, and digital commerce services to global brands through agency networks.

Industry overviewAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Where Advertising Agencies sits in its cycle right now — and what that implies for $WPP.

Advertising Agencies · Communication Services

No material change from last week — programmatic and AI-enabled ad platforms continue taking structural share from legacy agency fee models.

What this means for $WPP

Partial — World's largest advertising group offering creative, media, data, and digital commerce services to global brands through agency networks.

Industry benchmark

8-name peer basket
+125.2%YTD
+1.3%1Y

Fundamentals & catalyst

Profitability, valuation, and the next earnings event — at a glance, with rule-of-thumb signals.

Key ratios

P/E
-19.8How much investors are paying per dollar of profit the company actually earned in the last 12 months. Lower means the stock looks cheaper relative to earnings.~15–25 is typical for the S&P 500; high-growth names trade 30+; hyper-growth or speculative can be 100+ or negative.
ROIC
-16.2%What percentage return the business earns on every dollar of capital (equity + debt) deployed in operations. The cleanest measure of business quality.Above ~15% is high-quality; consistently above 25% suggests a real moat. Below the company's cost of capital is value-destroying.
Op margin
9.3%Operating profit (after sales, marketing, R&D, and overhead but before interest and taxes) as a percentage of revenue. The clearest view of how well the underlying business is run.Mature business above 20% is healthy; software businesses can run 30%+; commodity / retail businesses operate in single digits.
FCF yield
14.9%Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capex) divided by the company's market cap. The cash-on-cash return you'd get owning the whole business at today's price.Above ~5% is attractive; below ~2% means you're paying up for growth. Capital-light businesses (software) run higher than capital-heavy ones (utilities).
P/S
0.3Same idea as P/E but per dollar of revenue. Useful for companies that aren't profitable yet, where P/E is meaningless.Under ~2 is cheap; software / SaaS often runs 8–15; well above 20 implies the market is pricing in very high future growth.
ROE
-7.5%Net income as a percentage of shareholders' equity. Similar to ROIC but counts only the equity side.Above 20% is strong, but can be inflated by leverage — a heavily indebted company can show high ROE with weak underlying ROIC.
Gross margin
15.8%Revenue minus the direct cost of producing what was sold, as a percentage of revenue. The first read on whether the product is structurally profitable.Software / SaaS is typically 70%+; consumer goods 30–50%; commodity / hardware businesses can be under 20%.
D/E
2.7Total debt divided by shareholders' equity. Measures how much the business runs on borrowed money versus owner capital.Under 1 is conservative; 1–2 is typical for mature businesses; over 2 is leveraged and more sensitive to interest rates.

Past earnings

QuarterReportedActualEstimateSurprise
Q2 2026Aug 6, 2026$0.12$0.81-85.2%
Q4 2025Feb 26, 2026$2.90$2.72+6.6%
Q2 2025Aug 7, 2025$1.34$1.14+17.5%
Q4 2024Feb 27, 2025$3.66$3.59+1.9%
Next earningsThu, Feb 25·consensus EPS $2.53

Quarterly trend

QuarterRevenueYoYGrossOpEPSFCF
Q4 FY25$6.9B-9.7%19.0%2.3%$-1.20$1.7B
Q2 FY25$6.7B-7.7%12.6%5.7%$0.20$-1.1B
Q4 FY24$7.5B-2.1%18.8%12.0%$1.55$1.8B
Q2 FY24$7.2B+7.0%14.4%5.9%$0.95$-622.0M

Forward consensus

4-year forecast · up to 9 analysts
FYRevenueRangeEPSRangeAnalysts
FY26$13.1B$13.0B – $13.1B$3.54$3.11 – $4.477
FY27$13.1B$12.9B – $13.2B$3.75$3.13 – $5.077
FY28$13.3B$12.9B – $13.5B$4.04-$2.19 – $10.449
FY29$13.8B$13.5B – $14.0B$4.27$4.16 – $4.354

Setup & momentum

Volume, range, and moving-average position — the technical setup driving short-term moves.

Right now

Vol vs 30dToday's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.0.8×Today's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.
52w rangeWhere the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.83%Where the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.
vs 50d MALatest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.+5.2%Latest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.
vs 200d MALatest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.+27.4%Latest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.

Float & profile

FloatHigh float · 215.7M shFree-float shares — the slice of issued stock actually available to trade. Lower buckets squeeze harder on a catalyst.Traded today0.1% of floatToday's volume as a percent of the free float. Above 5% on a single day is unusually high turnover for the available share count.β0.735-year weekly beta vs the S&P 500. Above 1.5 means the stock typically moves more than the index; below 0.8 moves less.

Insider activity

Recent open-market buys and sells by officers and directors — flagged when multiple insiders cluster.

Recent transactions

BuyMay 21Agnefjall Hans Peter HenrikDirector75.0K sh—
+ 6 other (2 exempts · 2 inkinds · 2 awards) in window

See when $WPP insiders are putting their own money in

  • Real-time open-market buys and sells from Form 4 filings
  • Cluster-buy detection when multiple insiders pile in at once
  • 30 / 60 / 180-day windows so you can spot building conviction
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SEC filings

Material 8-K, 13D, S-3, and 424B5 events from the last 180 days — the filings that actually move the price.

Recent material filings

3New insider — initial holdingsMay 223
SC 13D/AActivist amendmentMay 6SC 13D/A
+ 26 other (23 6-Ks · 3 13Gs) in window

Recent news

Latest headlines from major outlets, sourced and timestamped — context for whatever just moved.

Can WPP production arm outperform a contracting market?proactiveinvestors.com·5d agoWPP (NYSE:WPP) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?defenseworld.net·5d agoDiageo appoints WPP's Joanne Wilson as new finance chiefproactiveinvestors.com·6d agoDiageo Names WPP Finance Chief Joanne Wilson as Next CFOwsj.com·6d agoWPP opens London hub in bid to produce faster, AI-assisted adsreuters.com·7d ago

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Voices on X · last 7 days

No standout posts about $WPP on X in the last 7 days.

TickerTalks is a research tool, not financial advice. We surface social-attention data; we do not make stock recommendations. Past attention is not predictive of future price movements.

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