Yahoo Finance What Are Analysts Saying About WPP plc’s (LON:WPP) Growth?
As WPP plc (LON:WPP) released its earnings announcement on 31 December 2018, analyst forecasts seem fairly subdued, as a 2.8% rise in profits is expected in the upcoming year, compared with the higher past 5-year average growth rate of 12%. With trailing-twelve-month net income at current levels of UK£1.1b, we should see this rise to UK£1.1b in 2020. Below is a brief commentary around WPP’s earnings outlook going forward, which may give you a sense of market sentiment for the company. For those interested in more of an analysis of the company, you can research its fundamentals here.
Check out our latest analysis for WPP
Exciting times ahead?
The 19 analysts covering WPP view its longer term outlook with a positive sentiment. Since forecasting becomes more difficult further into the future, broker analysts generally project out to around three years. I’ve plotted out each year’s earnings expectations and inserted a line of best fit to calculate an annual growth rate from the slope in order to understand the overall trajectory of WPP’s earnings growth over these next few years.
From the current net income level of UK£1.1b and the final forecast of UK£1.2b by 2022, the annual rate of growth for WPP’s earnings is 4.3%. EPS reaches £0.94 in the final year of forecast compared to the current £0.85 EPS today. With a current profit margin of 6.8%, this movement will result in a margin of 7.4% by 2022.
Next Steps:
Future outlook is only one aspect when you’re building an investment case for a stock. For WPP, I’ve compiled three key factors you should further examine:
Financial Health: Does it have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk.
Valuation: What is WPP worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether WPP is currently mispriced by the market.
Other High-Growth Alternatives : Are there other high-growth stocks you could be holding instead of WPP? Explore our interactive list of stocks with large growth potential to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!
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If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
