WPP (GB:WPP)
LSE:WPP
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WPP
(LSE:WPP)
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Rating:49Neutral
Price Target:
271.00 p
▲(16.06% Upside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:03/03/26
Overall score reflects weakened financial performance in 2025 (losses and higher leverage) and a clearly bearish technical trend (price below all key moving averages). These are partially offset by resilient (though declining) cash generation, supportive income characteristics via a high dividend yield, and an earnings-call outlook that combines near-term revenue/margin headwinds with concrete cost-savings actions and improving new-business momentum.
Positive Factors
Resilient cash generation
Despite a 2025 net loss, WPP produced meaningful operating and free cash flow, supporting liquidity, dividend payments and reinvestment. Sustained cash conversion provides durable financial flexibility to fund restructuring, platform investments and absorb cyclical client volatility over the next 2–6 months.
Negative Factors
Declining organic revenue and client losses
Sustained like-for-like declines and elevated client assignment losses signal structural revenue pressure in key markets and categories. Persistent client churn reduces utilization and pricing leverage, making margin recovery and predictable revenue growth harder to achieve over the medium term.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Resilient cash generation
Despite a 2025 net loss, WPP produced meaningful operating and free cash flow, supporting liquidity, dividend payments and reinvestment. Sustained cash conversion provides durable financial flexibility to fund restructuring, platform investments and absorb cyclical client volatility over the next 2–6 months.
Read all positive factors
WPP (WPP) vs. iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF (EWC)
Market Cap
£2.52B
Dividend Yield9.68%
Average Volume (3M)4.30M
Price to Earnings (P/E)―
Beta (1Y)0.88
Revenue Growth-4.54%
EPS Growth86.79%
CountryUK
Employees108,044
SectorCommunication Services
Sector Strength97
IndustryAdvertising Agencies
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)0.43
Shares Outstanding1,078,802,400
10 Day Avg. Volume4,215,497
30 Day Avg. Volume4,298,428
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio0.12
Price to Book (P/B)1.43
Price to Sales (P/S)0.27
P/FCF Ratio5.73
Enterprise Value/Market CapN/A
Enterprise Value/RevenueN/A
Enterprise Value/Gross ProfitN/A
Enterprise Value/EbitdaN/A
Forecast
1Y Price Target
£295.00Price Target Upside26.34% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Sell
Number of Analyst Covering6
EPS Forecast (FY)0.5
Revenue Forecast (FY)£9.54B
WPP Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
WPP plc, a creative transformation company, provides communications, experience, commerce, and technology services in North America, the United Kingdom, Western Continental Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Cent...
How the Company Makes Money
WPP generates revenue primarily through its service fees for advertising and marketing services provided to clients across various industries. The company's revenue model includes project-based fees, retainers, and performance-based incentives. Ke...
WPP Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Feb 26, 2026
(Q4-2025)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Jul 31, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Neutral
The call presented a balanced picture: the company reported meaningful near-term financial weakness (organic revenue declines, margin compression, EPS decline, impairments and increased leverage) and cautioned that client assignment losses and volatility will weigh into H1 2026. Offsetting these negatives, management outlined a clear multi-year strategic plan (Elevate28) with significant structural changes, a strong emphasis on the WPP Open platform and data capabilities, notable new business momentum (including early 2026 wins surpassing 2025), a GBP 500m cost-savings target, and an investment-grade Fitch rating and strong liquidity. Taken together, the call combined candid acknowledgement of short-term headwinds with concrete actions and encouraging early signs of commercial momentum.Positive Updates
Strong New Business Momentum
WPP was #1 in JPMorgan's net new business rankings in Q4 2025 for the first time since 2020 and sustained momentum into 2026 with major wins including Jaguar Land Rover (Global Media & Integrated Services), JLR (pending contract), UK government lead media agency, Reckitt, Henkel, Kenvue, Haleon, TruGreen, Norwegian Cruise Line and Suncor. Management reported the impact of 2026 new business already exceeds the impact of all 2025 wins (by February 2026).
Negative Updates
Declining Organic Revenue
Like-for-like net revenue less pass-through costs fell 5.4% for full-year 2025; Q4 like-for-like decline was 6.9% (worse than Q3 decline of 5.9%). Management guided mid- to high-single-digit like-for-like revenue declines in H1 2026 with Q1 as the weakest quarter and gross client losses expected to drag 500–600 basis points in 2026 (up from 300–400 bps in 2025).
Read all updates
Q4-2025 Updates
Positive
Negative
Strong New Business Momentum
WPP was #1 in JPMorgan's net new business rankings in Q4 2025 for the first time since 2020 and sustained momentum into 2026 with major wins including Jaguar Land Rover (Global Media & Integrated Services), JLR (pending contract), UK government lead media agency, Reckitt, Henkel, Kenvue, Haleon, TruGreen, Norwegian Cruise Line and Suncor. Management reported the impact of 2026 new business already exceeds the impact of all 2025 wins (by February 2026).
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
WPP guided that 2026 will be a year of stabilization with like‑for‑like net revenue (less pass‑through) expected to be down mid‑ to high‑single digits in H1 with an improving trajectory in H2 (Q1 the weakest); gross client losses are expected to be a 500–600bps headwind in 2026 (up from 300–400bps in 2025) even as gross client wins to date already exceed full‑year 2025. On margin they expect headline operating profit margin of 12–13% in 2026; adjusted operating cash flow before working capital is guided to GBP 800–900m (this includes total anticipated cash restructuring charges of ~GBP 250m, c. GBP 190m of which relate to Elevate28) — excluding those charges the cash‑flow range would be GBP 1.0–1.1bn. Management reiterated plans to deliver GBP 500m of gross annual cost savings by 2028 (at least GBP 100m in‑year savings in 2026 and GBP 250m annualized), with total restructuring cash costs of roughly GBP 400m across 2026–27, and said all 2026 in‑year savings will be reinvested in growth priorities; they expect average net debt to remain broadly stable but average leverage metrics to rise in 2026. For context they closed 2025 with like‑for‑like revenue down 5.4%, headline margin 13%, adjusted operating cash flow before working capital of GBP 1.2bn, spot net debt GBP 2.2bn (average adjusted net debt GBP 3.4bn; net debt/EBITDA 2.2x), liquidity GBP 4.4bn, and a proposed 2025 dividend of 15p; Fitch has assigned BBB (stable).WPP Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
44
Neutral
Balance Sheet
46
Neutral
Cash Flow
62
Positive
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 13.55B | 14.74B | 14.84B | 14.43B | 12.80B |
| Gross Profit | 2.15B | 2.45B | 2.52B | 2.54B | 2.20B |
| EBITDA | 1.67B | 1.90B | 1.91B | 2.03B | 1.78B |
| Net Income | -215.00M | 542.00M | 110.40M | 682.70M | 637.70M |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 24.07B | 25.51B | 26.62B | 28.82B | 27.87B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 2.69B | 2.64B | 2.22B | 2.49B | 3.88B |
| Total Debt | 8.51B | 6.35B | 6.88B | 7.18B | 6.83B |
| Total Liabilities | 21.30B | 21.77B | 22.79B | 24.66B | 23.80B |
| Stockholders Equity | 2.54B | 3.48B | 3.38B | 3.68B | 3.62B |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | 633.00M | 1.17B | 1.02B | 477.60M | 1.74B |
| Operating Cash Flow | 724.00M | 1.41B | 1.24B | 700.90M | 2.03B |
| Investing Cash Flow | -355.00M | 278.00M | -380.40M | -408.90M | -638.40M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -311.00M | -989.00M | -904.70M | -1.91B | -2.06B |
WPP Technical Analysis
Negative
233.50
Price Trends
264.42
Negative
290.42
Negative
340.69
Negative
Market Momentum
-10.38
Negative
39.92
Neutral
69.98
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For GB:WPP, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 233.5 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 240.03, below the 50-day MA of 264.42, and below the 200-day MA of 340.69, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -10.38 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 39.92 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 69.98 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for GB:WPP.
WPP Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (60)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
78 Outperform | £946.39M | 12.53 | 78.01% | 9.72% | -2.60% | 3.10% | |
70 Outperform | £198.79M | 10.47 | 6.46% | 3.68% | 15.99% | ― | |
68 Neutral | £228.33M | -49.08 | 9.17% | 4.98% | -5.98% | -74.21% | |
65 Neutral | £136.88M | 18.54 | 24.52% | 1.09% | -21.19% | -29.54% | |
60 Neutral | $48.67B | 4.58 | -11.27% | 4.14% | 2.83% | -41.78% | |
57 Neutral | £184.32M | -5.55 | -4.92% | 6.33% | -14.27% | -15466.67% | |
49 Neutral | £2.52B | -16.88 | 11.44% | 9.68% | -4.54% | 86.79% |
* Communication Services Sector Average
GB:WPP
WPP
233.50
-292.24
-55.59%
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WPP Corporate Events
Regulatory Filings and Compliance
WPP Updates Market on Total Voting Rights and Share Capital
Neutral
Mar 2, 2026
WPP has reported that as of 27 February 2026 its issued share capital comprises 1,091,394,251 ordinary shares, of which 12,591,893 are held in treasury. This leaves a total of 1,078,802,358 voting rights in the company, a key reference figure for ...
Regulatory Filings and Compliance
WPP Updates Market on Total Voting Rights and Share Capital
Neutral
Feb 2, 2026
WPP has announced that, as of 30 January 2026, its issued share capital comprises 1,091,394,251 ordinary shares of 10 pence each, of which 12,591,893 are held in treasury. This leaves a total of 1,078,802,358 voting rights in the company, a key fi...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial Disclosures
WPP to Unveil 2025 Results and Strategic Overhaul in February
Positive
Jan 20, 2026
WPP has scheduled the release of its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2025 for 26 February 2026, alongside a strategy update that reflects an ongoing strategic review. The update will focus on simplifying and integrating its clie...
Regulatory Filings and Compliance
WPP Confirms Year-End Share Capital and Voting Rights
Neutral
Jan 2, 2026
WPP has reported that as of 31 December 2025 its issued share capital comprised 1,091,394,251 ordinary shares of 10 pence each, of which 12,591,893 are held in treasury, leaving 1,078,802,358 voting shares in circulation. The disclosure clarifies ...
Executive/Board Changes
WPP Non-Executive Director Simon Dingemans Joins Avantor Board
Neutral
Dec 18, 2025
WPP has announced that non-executive director Simon Dingemans has been appointed to the board of directors of Avantor, Inc., effective 2 January 2026. The additional board role underscores the cross-industry relevance of Dingemans’ governanc...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.