New York-based The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) provides advertising and marketing services worldwide. With a market cap of $10.1 billion, Interpublic operates through Media, Data & Engagement Solutions, Integrated Advertising & Creativity Led Solutions, and Specialized Communications & Experiential Solutions segments.
Interpublic has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. IPG stock has plummeted 16.4% over the past 52 weeks and 4.4% on a YTD basis, lagging behind the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 20.5% gains over the past year and 2.9% returns in 2025.
Zooming in further, IPG has also underperformed the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF Fund’s (XLC) 30.3% surge over the past year and 6.9% gains in 2025.
Interpublic Group’s stock prices dipped over 1.4% in yesterday’s trading session after the release of its disappointing Q4 results. Due to the continued softness in its organic revenues, its overall topline declined 5.5% year-over-year to $2.9 billion which missed the Street’s expectations. Meanwhile, the company’s operating margins shrunk by 19 basis points compared to the year-ago quarter to 19.9%, leading to a notable 6.4% year-over-year drop in operating incomes to $567.9. Furthermore, its adjusted EPS for the quarter dropped 5.9% year-over-year to $1.11, missing the consensus estimates by 3.5%, which unsettled investor confidence.
For the current fiscal 2025, ending in December, analysts expect Interpublic’s non-GAAP earnings to drop to $2.70 per share. The company has a mixed earnings surprise history. While it has matched the Street’s bottom-line estimates thrice over the past four quarters, it has missed the estimates on one other occasion.
Among the eight analysts covering the IPG stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” That’s based on four “Strong Buy,” three “Hold,” and one “Strong Sell” rating.
This configuration is notably more bullish than three months ago when only two analysts gave “Strong Buy” recommendations and four analysts advocated “Strong Sell” ratings.
On Jan. 27, JP Morgan (JPM) analyst David Karnovsky upgraded IPG to “Overweight” while setting a price target of $39.
IPG’s mean price target of $34.25 represents a 27.9% premium to current price levels.
