NCMI vs HFUS vs WPP Stock Comparison

National CineMedia, Hartford Creative and Wpp Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NCMI National CineMedia, Inc.
$1.89 -14.1% 1M -55.7% 1Y
Market cap
$173.34M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$249.00M
Div. yield
0.07%
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
2 wins
WPP WPP plc
$26.55 +5.6% 1M +11.0% 1Y
Market cap
$5.66B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
3 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.

QuestionNCMIHFUSWPPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $173.34M $50.05M $5.66B WPP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -22.8x 37.0x — –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 7.9x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.8% -0.4% — NCMI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.1% 56.1% — HFUS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 60.0% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -1.7x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.07% — 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -55.7% -27.3% +11.0% WPP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -43.5%/yr +25.6%/yr -16.6%/yr HFUS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 74.1% 111.8% 55.7% WPP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 76/100 42/100 — NCMI

Percentile Scorecard

NCMIHFUSWPP

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

AxisNCMIHFUSWPP
Valuation 85 #9 of 54 8 #50 of 54 –
Growth 77 #11 of 45 46 #25 of 45 –
Profitability 43 #25 of 43 81 #9 of 43 –
Financial Health 85 #10 of 62 34 #41 of 62 26 #46 of 62
Shareholder Returns 92 #3 of 26 – 56 #12 of 26
Overall 76 42 –
  • NCMI ranked among 63 companies in Advertising and Media
  • HFUS ranked among 63 companies in Advertising and Media
  • WPP ranked among 63 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNCMIHFUSWPPSPY
1 month -14.1%-26.2%+5.6% -1.0%
3 months -49.9%-50.0%+41.6% +2.9%
6 months -46.6%-44.3%+50.3% +6.4%
Year to date -51.4%-60.0%+18.2% +11.4%
1 year -55.7%-27.3%+11.0% +13.1%
3 years -47.8%-43.2%-37.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year -19.5%-17.2%-14.5% +21.5%
5 years -94.3%+212.5%-59.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year -43.5%+25.6%-16.6% +10.9%
10 years -98.7%-66.7%-75.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year -35.1%-10.4%-13.0% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureNCMIHFUSWPPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 74.1%111.8%55.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 91.7%234.2%54.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.80-0.131.13 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.75-0.240.20 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -97.3%-94.1%-81.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -57.5%-62.7%-3.7% -2.5%
52-week high $4.45$5.36$27.56 $779.14
52-week low $1.89$2.00$15.11 $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.

MultipleNCMIHFUSWPP
P/E now vs peer median -23.3xmedian 18.8x 37.0xmedian 18.8x —median 18.8x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.7x 20.8xmedian 0.7x —median 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.3xmedian 11.1x —median 11.1x —median 11.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9.0xmedian 9.4x -105.0xmedian 9.4x —median 9.4x
P/B now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 1.6x 53.6xmedian 1.6x 1.6xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.89median 0.44 0.25median 0.44 —median 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 monthsNCMIHFUSWPP
Revenue $249.00M $2.41M –
Gross profit $234.50M $2.43M –
Operating income -$17.70M $1.64M –
Net income -$7.60M $1.35M –
Free cash flow $19.70M -$476.73K –
EPS (diluted) $-0.08 $0.05 –
Cash & equivalents $46.10M $160.42K $3.13B
Total debt $36.00M $5.73M $26.45B
Shares (diluted) 93.70M 25.03M 215.20M
Enterprise value $5.14M $49.62M -$6.38B

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
MetricNCMIHFUSWPP
P/E -23.3x 37.0x –
P/FCF 9.0x -105.0x –
P/Operating cash flow 7.4x -105.0x –
P/S 0.7x 20.8x –
P/B 0.5x 53.6x 1.6x
P/Tangible book 4.3x 53.6x 2.1x
EV/EBITDA 7.3x – –
EV/EBIT -8.1x 31.4x –
EV/Revenue 0.6x 21.4x –
EV/FCF 7.3x -108.3x –
EV/Operating cash flow 6.0x -108.3x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.89 0.25 –

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNCMIHFUSWPP
Debt / assets 2.7% 41.3% 22.7%
Debt / equity 0.0x 1.8x 1.9x
Net debt / EBITDA -1.7x – –
Debt / FCF 0.6x -3.6x –
Liabilities / assets 25.1% 77.6% 88.2%
Equity / assets 74.9% 22.4% 11.8%
Interest coverage -25.3x – –
Current ratio 1.8x 1.2x 0.9x
Quick ratio 1.8x 0.1x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.8x 0.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.12 9.88 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNCMIHFUSWPP
Dividend yield 4.8% – 3.8%
Net buyback yield 2.5% – –
Shareholder yield 7.3% – 3.8%
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.

ConsensusNCMIHFUSWPP
Forward P/E – – 7.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.07FY2026 – $3.38FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – – -20.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +5.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $280.69MFY2026 – $12.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +15.4%FY2026 – -10.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -7.4% – +9.7%

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

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

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NCMI, HFUS and WPP?

Wpp (WPP) is the largest by market capitalisation: National CineMedia (NCMI) $173.34M, Hartford Creative (HFUS) $50.05M, Wpp (WPP) $5.66B.

Which company is growing faster?

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

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Wpp (WPP) returned the most: National CineMedia (NCMI) -55.7%, Hartford Creative (HFUS) -27.3%, Wpp (WPP) +11.0%. Over five years, Hartford Creative (HFUS) compounded fastest (National CineMedia (NCMI) -43.5%/yr, Hartford Creative (HFUS) +25.6%/yr, Wpp (WPP) -16.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: National CineMedia (NCMI) 0.07%, Wpp (WPP) 0.00%. 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 (National CineMedia (NCMI) 74.1%, Hartford Creative (HFUS) 111.8%, Wpp (WPP) 55.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.