HFUS vs WPP vs NCMI Stock Comparison

Hartford Creative, Wpp and National CineMedia Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
WPP WPP plc
$26.31 +1.2% 1M +10.0% 1Y
Market cap
$5.61B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
3 wins
NCMI National CineMedia, Inc.
$1.85 -18.1% 1M -56.4% 1Y
Market cap
$177.55M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$249.00M
Div. yield
0.06%
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
2 wins

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

Wpp leads on 3 of the 12 questions below (Wpp 3, National CineMedia 2, Hartford Creative 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHFUSWPPNCMILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $50.05M $5.61B $177.55M WPP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 37.0x — -23.4x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 7.8x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.4% — +5.8% NCMI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 56.1% — -3.1% HFUS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 60.0% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — -1.7x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.00% 0.06% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.5% +10.0% -56.4% WPP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.6%/yr -16.9%/yr -43.3%/yr HFUS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 107.6% 55.8% 74.3% WPP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 — 76/100 NCMI

Percentile Scorecard

HFUSWPPNCMI

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisHFUSWPPNCMI
Valuation 8 #50 of 54 – 85 #9 of 54
Growth 46 #25 of 45 – 77 #11 of 45
Profitability 81 #9 of 43 – 43 #25 of 43
Financial Health 34 #41 of 62 26 #46 of 62 85 #10 of 62
Shareholder Returns – 40 #16 of 26 92 #3 of 26
Overall 42 – 76
  • HFUS ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media
  • WPP ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media
  • NCMI ranked among 62 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodHFUSWPPNCMISPY
1 month -26.2%+1.2%-18.1% -0.8%
3 months -50.0%+34.5%-52.1% +3.5%
6 months -52.9%+51.6%-47.9% +7.0%
Year to date -60.0%+17.1%-52.4% +12.2%
1 year -1.5%+10.0%-56.4% +13.0%
3 years -43.2%-37.5%-47.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year -17.2%-14.5%-19.5% +23.1%
5 years +212.5%-60.3%-94.1% +68.6%
5 years, per year +25.6%-16.9%-43.3% +11.0%
10 years -66.7%-74.5%-98.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year -10.4%-12.8%-35.2% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureHFUSWPPNCMISPY
Volatility, 1Y 107.6%55.8%74.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 219.2%54.6%91.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.031.120.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.010.18-0.76 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -94.1%-81.8%-97.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -62.7%-4.5%-58.4% -1.8%
52-week high $5.36$27.56$4.45 $779.14
52-week low $2.00$15.11$1.85 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleHFUSWPPNCMI
P/E now vs peer median 37.0xmedian 18.4x —median 18.4x -22.8xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median 20.8xmedian 0.6x —median 0.6x 0.7xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 11.0x —median 11.0x 7.1xmedian 11.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -105.0xmedian 9.1x —median 9.1x 8.8xmedian 9.1x
P/B now vs peer median 53.6xmedian 1.6x 1.5xmedian 1.6x 0.5xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.25median 0.44 —median 0.44 0.88median 0.44

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsHFUSWPPNCMI
Revenue $2.41M – $249.00M
Gross profit $2.43M – $234.50M
Operating income $1.64M – -$17.70M
Net income $1.35M – -$7.60M
Free cash flow -$476.73K – $19.70M
EPS (diluted) $0.05 – $-0.08
Cash & equivalents $160.42K $3.13B $46.10M
Total debt $5.73M $26.45B $12.00M
Shares (diluted) 25.03M 215.20M 93.70M
Enterprise value $49.62M -$6.43B $9.35M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricHFUSWPPNCMI
P/E 37.0x – -22.8x
P/FCF -105.0x – 8.8x
P/Operating cash flow -105.0x – 7.3x
P/S 20.8x – 0.7x
P/B 53.6x 1.5x 0.5x
P/Tangible book 53.6x 2.1x 4.2x
EV/EBITDA – – 7.1x
EV/EBIT 31.4x – -7.9x
EV/Revenue 21.4x – 0.6x
EV/FCF -108.3x – 7.1x
EV/Operating cash flow -108.3x – 5.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.25 – 0.88

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHFUSWPPNCMI
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.4% – 5.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 314.8% – 8.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.1% – 5.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 9.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.7% – 24.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 143.6% – -15.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -6.6% – 62.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 59.9% – -26.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -6.6% – 62.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 149.9% – -26.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -149.4% – -19.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -90.5% – 128.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -149.4% – -18.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -79.4% – 81.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHFUSWPPNCMI
Gross margin 100.7% – 94.2%
EBITDA margin – – 7.9%
Operating margin 68.2% – -7.1%
Pretax margin 67.8% – -3.1%
Net margin 56.1% – -3.1%
FCF margin -19.8% – 7.9%
Operating cash flow margin -19.8% – 9.6%
Return on equity 209.1% – -2.2%
Return on assets 34.8% – -1.7%
Return on invested capital 60.0% – –
Return on capital employed 255.2% – -4.5%
Asset turnover 0.6x – 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.4x – -3.1x
Stock comp / revenue – – 3.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHFUSWPPNCMI
Debt / assets 41.3% 22.7% 2.7%
Debt / equity 1.8x 1.9x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – – -1.7x
Debt / FCF -3.6x – 0.6x
Liabilities / assets 77.6% 88.2% 25.1%
Equity / assets 22.4% 11.8% 74.9%
Interest coverage – – -25.3x
Current ratio 1.2x 0.9x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.1x 0.7x 1.8x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.2x 0.8x
Altman Z-score 9.88 – 2.10

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHFUSWPPNCMI
Dividend yield – 3.8% 4.9%
Net buyback yield – – 2.6%
Shareholder yield – 3.8% 7.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – -150.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 57.9%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 100.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 57.8%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusHFUSWPPNCMI
Forward P/E – 7.8xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year – $3.38FY2026 $-0.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -20.8%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +5.3% –
Revenue, next fiscal year – $12.26BFY2026 $280.69MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – -10.8%FY2026 +15.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +9.7% -7.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHFUSWPPNCMI
Held by institutions – 11.5% 89.6%
Institutions holding – 141 110
Change in shares held, QoQ – -0.4% +2.2%
Institutions buying – 81 56
Institutions selling – 35 34
Buyers to sellers – 2.31 1.65

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

HFUSWPPNCMI
HFUS 1.00 -0.03 -0.01
WPP -0.03 1.00 0.13
NCMI -0.01 0.13 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HFUS, WPP and NCMI?

Wpp (WPP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Hartford Creative (HFUS) $50.05M, Wpp (WPP) $5.61B, National CineMedia (NCMI) $177.55M.

Which company is growing faster?

National CineMedia (NCMI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Hartford Creative (HFUS) -0.4%, National CineMedia (NCMI) +5.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Hartford Creative (HFUS) has the highest net margin (Hartford Creative (HFUS) 56.1%, National CineMedia (NCMI) -3.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Wpp (WPP) returned the most: Hartford Creative (HFUS) -1.5%, Wpp (WPP) +10.0%, National CineMedia (NCMI) -56.4%. Over five years, Hartford Creative (HFUS) compounded fastest (Hartford Creative (HFUS) +25.6%/yr, Wpp (WPP) -16.9%/yr, National CineMedia (NCMI) -43.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Wpp (WPP) 0.00%, National CineMedia (NCMI) 0.06%. Hartford Creative (HFUS) and Wpp (WPP) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Wpp (WPP) has been the steadiest (Hartford Creative (HFUS) 107.6%, Wpp (WPP) 55.8%, National CineMedia (NCMI) 74.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HFUS, WPP and NCMI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Wpp (WPP) leads on 3. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.