WPP plc American Depositary Shares (WPP)

FairStock Score: 29/100 — RISKY

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I approach WPP as a Graham-style bargain hunter, and the figures here do not comfort me. The business sells advertising, public relations, and specialist marketing services through three segments. That can be a people business with client relationships, but the provided numbers show strained economics. At the 2026-10-13 close of $25.93, FairStock’s calculations give a negative P/E of -17.40 and a P/B of 8.03. Return on equity is -6.62%, return on capital employed is only 1.10%, and debt-to-equity is 2.58. Those are not the marks of a high-quality compounder. The Piotroski F-Score of 1/9 and Altman Z-Score of 0.13 point to very weak financial strength, and the FairStock Score of 29/100 is poor. The 3.97% dividend yield might attract income seekers, but with negative earnings and heavy leverage, I would want evidence that the payout is comfortably covered; the data provided does not show that. On the positive side, beta is 0.73, so the shares have historically moved less than the market, and the 52-week range of $14.81-$27.78 shows the price can swing. Still, at $25.93 the market is paying a high multiple of book for a business with negative profits and a 1.10% return on capital. Revenue and profit growth are not available, and the Lynch category is none because there are zero years of filed results against a three-year requirement. Without improving returns, lower leverage, and consistent filed profits, this looks like a speculative turnaround rather than a margin-of-safety investment.

In plain English: WPP is an advertising and marketing services company. Based on the numbers given, the business looks weak: it is losing money, carries a lot of debt, and earns little on the capital it uses. At $25.93, the price looks expensive compared with those results, even though the stock pays a 3.97% yearly dividend.

The full AI analysis, bull and bear case and key monitorables are in FairStock Pro.

Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer