WPP - Interpublic Group slides on results; ad giants lead market decliners

2023-07-21 12:54:29 ET

Advertising giant Interpublic Group's stock ( NYSE: IPG ) has slid 12.2% , by far the S&P 500's biggest decline Friday, following a sharp cut in half to growth expectations for 2023.

Earnings per share topped expectations for the company's second quarter , but revenue declined more than 2% and missed.

Notably, though, the company now sees organic growth landing at 1-2%, down from a previous forecast for 2-4%, citing broader macro uncertainty as well as a pullback in tech spending (itself fed by macro uncertainty).

“During the second quarter, we saw the same puts-and-takes on revenue that we have identified and discussed since the beginning of the year," CEO Philippe Krakowsky said. "Notably, among our client sectors, tech continued to weigh significantly on growth."

He did point to growth in key drivers for the company, including media offerings and the healthcare sector.

And he highlighted favorable margins despite the challenges: IPG is staying "fully committed" to a full-year margin expanding to 16.7%.

For the first half of 2023, total revenue is down to $5.19B from a year-ago $5.30B; organic decrease in net revenue from the same period in 2022 was 0.9%, vs. an organic gain of 9.6% during the first half of 2022.

The move down adds on to a drop in rival Omnicom ( OMC ), after that company posted its own earnings disappointment.

Omnicom was Friday's second-worst performer in the S&P 500, down 4.9% and only trailing IPG among decliners.

Other major rivals are also down in sympathy today: Publicis Groupe ( OTCQX:PUBGY ) -2.4% ; WPP ( WPP ) -4.7% .

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