WPP vs NCMI vs QUAD Stock Comparison

Wpp, National CineMedia and Quad Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
WPP WPP plc
$26.01 0.0% 1M +7.4% 1Y
Market cap
$5.61B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
3.84%
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
1 win
NCMI National CineMedia, Inc.
$1.84 -18.6% 1M -56.8% 1Y
Market cap
$172.95M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$249.00M
Div. yield
4.89%
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
4 wins
QUAD Quad/Graphics, Inc.
$9.53 +1.0% 1M +60.4% 1Y
Market cap
$536.54M
P/E
14.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.38B
Div. yield
3.93%
Advertising Agencies Communication Services
5 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Quad leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Quad 5, National CineMedia 4, Wpp 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionWPPNCMIQUADLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.61B $172.95M $536.54M WPP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only — -22.7x 14.7x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 7.7x — 7.5x QUAD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +5.8% -8.0% NCMI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — -3.1% 1.3% QUAD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 14.0% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -1.7x 2.3x NCMI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 3.84% 4.89% 3.93% NCMI
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +7.4% -56.8% +60.4% QUAD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -18.5%/yr -43.7%/yr +19.3%/yr QUAD
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 55.7% 74.1% 42.9% QUAD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 76/100 60/100 NCMI

Percentile Scorecard

WPPNCMIQUAD

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

AxisWPPNCMIQUAD
Valuation – 85 #9 of 53 90 #6 of 53
Growth – 77 #11 of 44 65 #16 of 44
Profitability – 42 #25 of 42 71 #13 of 42
Financial Health 25 #46 of 61 85 #10 of 61 35 #40 of 61
Shareholder Returns 56 #12 of 26 92 #3 of 26 40 #16 of 26
Overall – 76 60
  • WPP ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • NCMI ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • QUAD ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodWPPNCMIQUADSPY
1 month 0.0%-18.6%+1.0% -0.2%
3 months +22.1%-53.5%+13.7% +3.9%
6 months +47.6%-48.7%+22.2% +8.2%
Year to date +15.8%-52.7%+52.0% +12.9%
1 year +7.4%-56.8%+60.4% +12.3%
3 years -38.2%-48.2%+101.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year -14.8%-19.7%+26.3% +23.3%
5 years -64.1%-94.3%+141.9% +67.9%
5 years, per year -18.5%-43.7%+19.3% +10.9%
10 years -74.9%-98.7%-59.0% +261.1%
10 years, per year -12.9%-35.0%-8.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureWPPNCMIQUADSPY
Volatility, 1Y 55.7%74.1%42.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 54.4%91.4%46.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.120.790.43 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.13-0.771.41 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -81.8%-97.3%-69.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.6%-58.7%-12.2% -1.2%
52-week high $27.56$4.45$10.85 $779.14
52-week low $15.11$1.84$5.18 $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.

MultipleWPPNCMIQUAD
P/E now vs peer median —median 18.4x -22.7xmedian 18.4x 14.7xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median —median 0.6x 0.7xmedian 0.6x 0.2xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 10.5x 7.1xmedian 10.5x 5.4xmedian 10.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 9.0x 8.8xmedian 9.0x 10.6xmedian 9.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.5x 0.5xmedian 1.5x 4.3xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.44 0.87median 0.44 0.31median 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 monthsWPPNCMIQUAD
Revenue – $249.00M $2.38B
Gross profit – $234.50M $514.40M
Operating income – -$17.70M $96.30M
Net income – -$7.60M $31.20M
Free cash flow – $19.70M $50.40M
EPS (diluted) – $-0.08 $0.62
Cash & equivalents $3.13B $46.10M $7.40M
Total debt $26.45B $12.00M $400.00M
Shares (diluted) 215.20M 93.70M 50.00M
Enterprise value -$6.18B $4.75M $452.64M

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
MetricWPPNCMIQUAD
P/E – -22.7x 14.7x
P/FCF – 8.8x 10.6x
P/Operating cash flow – 7.2x 5.6x
P/S – 0.7x 0.2x
P/B 1.5x 0.5x 4.3x
P/Tangible book 2.1x 4.2x 4.7x
EV/EBITDA – 7.1x 5.4x
EV/EBIT – -7.8x 9.6x
EV/Revenue – 0.6x 0.4x
EV/FCF – 7.0x 18.4x
EV/Operating cash flow – 5.8x 9.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.87 0.31

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWPPNCMIQUAD
Revenue growth (1Y) – 5.8% -8.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 8.3% -9.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 5.3% -8.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 9.8% -5.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 24.7% 100.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -15.1% 31.4%
Net income growth (1Y) – 62.6% 318.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -26.3% 47.6%
EPS growth (1Y) – 62.4% 307.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -26.1% 47.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -19.3% -19.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 128.7% -18.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -18.6% -29.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 81.9% -22.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWPPNCMIQUAD
Gross margin – 94.2% 21.6%
EBITDA margin – 7.9% 7.2%
Operating margin – -7.1% 4.1%
Pretax margin – -3.1% 1.7%
Net margin – -3.1% 1.3%
FCF margin – 7.9% 2.1%
Operating cash flow margin – 9.6% 4.1%
Return on equity – -2.2% 24.8%
Return on assets – -1.7% 2.6%
Return on invested capital – – 14.0%
Return on capital employed – -4.5% 15.0%
Asset turnover – 0.5x 2.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – -3.1x 3.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 3.1% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWPPNCMIQUAD
Debt / assets 22.7% 2.7% 33.4%
Debt / equity 1.9x 0.0x 3.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – -1.7x 2.3x
Debt / FCF – 0.6x 7.9x
Liabilities / assets 88.2% 25.1% 89.6%
Equity / assets 11.8% 74.9% 10.4%
Interest coverage – -25.3x 2.2x
Current ratio 0.9x 1.8x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.7x 1.8x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.8x 0.0x
Altman Z-score – 2.09 1.75

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWPPNCMIQUAD
Dividend yield 3.8% 4.9% 3.9%
Net buyback yield – 2.6% 0.7%
Shareholder yield 3.8% 7.5% 4.6%
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.

ConsensusWPPNCMIQUAD
Forward P/E 7.7xFY2026 – 7.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.38FY2026 $-0.08FY2026 $1.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -20.8%FY2026 – +25.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.3% – +13.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.28BFY2026 $286.80MFY2026 $2.24BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -10.7%FY2026 +17.9%FY2026 -7.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.7% -3.9% -3.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWPPNCMIQUAD
Held by institutions 11.5% 89.6% 41.0%
Institutions holding 141 110 146
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.4% +2.2% +2.1%
Institutions buying 81 56 83
Institutions selling 35 34 40
Buyers to sellers 2.31 1.65 2.08

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.

WPPNCMIQUAD
WPP 1.00 0.13 0.06
NCMI 0.13 1.00 0.16
QUAD 0.06 0.16 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WPP, NCMI and QUAD?

Wpp (WPP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Wpp (WPP) $5.61B, National CineMedia (NCMI) $172.95M, Quad (QUAD) $536.54M.

Which company is growing faster?

National CineMedia (NCMI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: National CineMedia (NCMI) +5.8%, Quad (QUAD) -8.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Quad (QUAD) has the highest net margin (National CineMedia (NCMI) -3.1%, Quad (QUAD) 1.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Quad (QUAD) returned the most: Wpp (WPP) +7.4%, National CineMedia (NCMI) -56.8%, Quad (QUAD) +60.4%. Over five years, Quad (QUAD) compounded fastest (Wpp (WPP) -18.5%/yr, National CineMedia (NCMI) -43.7%/yr, Quad (QUAD) +19.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

National CineMedia (NCMI) has the highest dividend yield: Wpp (WPP) 3.84%, National CineMedia (NCMI) 4.89%, Quad (QUAD) 3.93%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Quad (QUAD) has been the steadiest (Wpp (WPP) 55.7%, National CineMedia (NCMI) 74.1%, Quad (QUAD) 42.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Quad (QUAD) leads on 5. 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.