One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$82.23 our estimate vs market $27.47
Wall Street consensus: $35.90 (-56.3% lower than our fair-value estimate)
67% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Publicis Groupe S.A.
PUBGY · OQX · Communication Services · Advertising Agencies
Current price
$27.47
52-week range
$19.72 - $30.57
Market cap
$27.44B
Balance sheet
Watch
12.87x Strong cushion
Net debt $3.71B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 8.5% last year.
- Reward Returns 16.2% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.5%).
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 14.5% to 14.1% over 3 years.
What this company does
Publicis Groupe S.A.
Publicis Groupe is a big advertising and marketing company that helps businesses with their communication and digital presence across the globe. Their main money comes from helping companies create advertisements, manage their brands, and transform their digital operations. This matters because as businesses increasingly rely on reaching customers online and through various media, companies like Publicis Groupe are essential for their success.
How the company got here
Publicis Groupe was founded in Paris in 1926 by Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, starting as a small advertising agency. Over the decades, it grew through strategic acquisitions and repositioning, becoming a major global communications group. Key milestones include the acquisitions of Saatchi & Saatchi in 2000 and Bcom3 in 2002, which significantly expanded its creative and media capabilities. The company has continuously evolved, embracing digital transformation and technology, which has been crucial in shaping its current structure and market position. Publicis has transformed from a traditional advertising holding company into a platform that integrates creative, media, data, and technology services to drive business transformation for its clients.
What it actually does
Publicis Groupe is a global leader in marketing, communications, and digital business transformation services. It helps companies connect with their customers by developing brand strategies, creating advertising campaigns, planning and buying media space, and leveraging data for personalized marketing. The company also assists businesses in transforming their digital operations, improving customer experiences, and driving growth in an increasingly digital world. Essentially, Publicis acts as a partner for businesses looking to navigate and succeed in the complex landscape of modern marketing and technology.
Publicis Communications
Publicis Communications is the creative arm of Publicis Groupe, focusing on developing brand strategies, advertising concepts, and content for various media platforms. This segment works on building brand awareness and engagement for clients through compelling creative work. It encompasses well-known agency brands that develop campaigns, design systems, and create social media content. This part of the business is crucial for shaping how consumers perceive and interact with brands.
Publicis Media
Publicis Media is responsible for planning, buying, and optimizing advertising space across all media channels, both traditional and digital. This segment ensures that clients' messages reach the right audiences at the right time and at the best possible cost. It involves performance analysis and data-driven strategies to maximize the impact of advertising investments. Publicis Media plays a key role in executing marketing strategies by managing media budgets and ensuring efficient campaign delivery.
Publicis Sapient
Publicis Sapient focuses on digital business transformation, helping companies adapt to the digital age. This segment offers services in strategy, product design, engineering, and data analytics to help clients build digital products, transform their operations, and create new business models. It's essentially about helping businesses become more digital-native and competitive. Publicis Sapient works with clients across various industries to create and sustain a competitive advantage in an increasingly digital world.
Epsilon
Epsilon is a data-driven marketing and technology company that is central to Publicis Groupe's operations. It specializes in identity solutions, first-party data management, customer relationship management (CRM), and personalization. Epsilon helps clients understand their customers better by leveraging data to create targeted marketing campaigns and loyalty programs. This capability is vital in today's privacy-conscious environment, enabling personalized customer experiences at scale.
Publicis Health
Publicis Health is a specialized division dedicated to providing marketing and communications services for the healthcare and life sciences industries. It addresses the unique needs of pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and other healthcare organizations. This segment focuses on developing strategies and campaigns that adhere to strict industry regulations while effectively communicating health-related information to professionals and consumers. It plays a critical role in connecting healthcare providers and patients with vital information and services.
What management is betting on now
Publicis Groupe's current strategy, often referred to as the "Power of One," focuses on integrating its diverse capabilities—creative, media, data, and technology—into a seamless offering for clients. Management is betting on this integrated platform to drive business transformation and provide clients with a single point of access to the group's expertise. They are also heavily investing in AI and data capabilities, seeing them as crucial for delivering personalized experiences and improving efficiency. The company aims to be an indispensable partner for clients undergoing digital transformation, leveraging its scale and technological advancements to drive growth and maintain a competitive edge.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $82.23 vs current price $27.47
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $35.90 (-56.3% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $82.23 a share — about 199.3% above today's price of $27.47, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $3.7B. Interest coverage 12.9x.
Net debt
$3.71B
Interest coverage
12.87x
Publicis Groupe S.A.'s profit covers its interest bill about 12.9 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
PUBGY
BASELINE
Publicis Groupe S.A.
Total debt $6.08B Interest coverage 12.87x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $11.36B Interest coverage 1.69x -87% vs PUBGY Carries about 7.6x less debt cushion than PUBGY.
Total debt $9.57B Interest coverage 1.09x -92% vs PUBGY Carries about 11.9x less debt cushion than PUBGY.
Total debt $1.71B Interest coverage 1.65x -87% vs PUBGY Carries about 7.8x less debt cushion than PUBGY.
Total debt $13.40B Interest coverage 37.59x +192% vs PUBGY Carries about 2.9x more debt cushion than PUBGY.
What you should know
The case for and against PUBGY
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 8.5% last year.
-
Returns 16.2% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
Risks
-
Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.5%).
-
Operating margin compressed from 14.5% to 14.1% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
14.69x
Forward P/E
11.17x
P/B
2.32x
P/S
1.55x
EV/EBITDA
10.60x
PEG ratio
1.64x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
46.7%
Operating margin
14.1%
Net margin
9.2%
ROE
16.2%
ROA
4.3%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.52x
Current ratio
0.94x
Quick ratio
0.90x
Total debt
$6.08B
Total cash
$2.37B
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$19.69B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
7.0%
EPS TTM
1.87
EPS 5Y CAGR
10.6%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$3.28B
Free CF TTM
$3.00B
FCF margin
15.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
3.9%
Payout ratio
57.1%
Last ex-div date
2026-06-30