Zacks Industry Outlook WPP, Nexxen and Quad/Graphics

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 7, 2026 – Today, Zacks Equity WPP Plc WPP, Nexxen International Ltd. NXEN and Quad/Graphics, Inc. QUAD

Industry: Advertising & Marketing

Link: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/2970085/3-advertising-marketing-stocks-to-watch-amid-industry-woes

Rising costs and inflation strain the Zacks Advertising and Marketing industry but increased digital marketing services and adaption of artificial intelligence trend enable it to counter the prevailing revenue softness.

Customer-centric approaches, digital strategies, and technology investments are helping WPP Plc, Nexxen International Ltd. and Quad/Graphics, Inc. navigate the current testing times.

About the Industry

The Zacks Advertising and Marketing industry comprises companies that offer an extensive range of services, including advertising, branding, content marketing, digital/direct marketing, digital transformation, financial/corporate business-to-business advertising, graphic arts/digital imaging, healthcare marketing and communications, and in-store design services. Prominent industry players include Interpublic and Omnicom. 

The pandemic has significantly altered the way industry players conduct business and deliver services. Currently, the industry’s key focus is on channeling money and efforts toward media formats and devices. To position themselves well in the post-pandemic era, service providers are increasing their efforts to formulate strategic initiatives and identify sources of demand.

What's Shaping the Future of the Industry?

Economic Recovery: According to the advance estimate issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the economy stayed resilient, with GDP increasing 1.5% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to 2.1% growth in the first quarter of 2026. Non-manufacturing activity remained strong, as reflected by the Services PMI, which stayed above the 50% mark for the 25th consecutive month in July. Manufacturing also remained in expansion territory for the seventh straight month in July.

Reviving Demand: The industry is mature, with demand for services remaining stable over time. Revenues, income and cash flows are anticipated to gradually reach much higher levels, aiding most industry players in paying out stable dividends.

Digital Marketing Gathering Steam: Digital media consumption has increased, with consumers spending more time on various media platforms and video-streaming services. Thus, agencies offering digital marketing services stand to gain, as these firms are better positioned to address the rapid change in customer preferences.

Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Dull Near-Term Prospects

The Zacks Advertising and Marketing industry, housed within the broader Zacks Business Services sector, currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank #163. This rank places it in the bottom 33% of 245 Zacks industries.

The group’s Zacks Industry Rank, which is the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates underperformance in the near term. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than two to one.

Before we present a few stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, let’s take a look at the industry’s recent stock market performance and current valuation:

Industry's Price Performance

Over the past year, the Zacks Advertising and Marketing industry has outperformed the S&P 500 composite and the broader sector. The industry has gained 37% compared with the S&P 500 composite’s growth of 25.1% and against the broader sector’s decline of 12.4% during the said time frame.

Industry's Current Valuation

Based on the forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, which is commonly used for valuing advertising and marketing stocks, the industry is currently trading at 8.69X compared with the S&P 500’s 20.93X and the sector’s 18.38X.

Over the past five years, the industry has traded as high as 12.76 and as low as 7.16X, with the median being 10.15X.

3 Advertising Stocks to Watch

Here, we have presented three stocks that are well-positioned for near-term growth:

Nexxen: The company is a global advertising technology services provider for advertisers, agencies, publishers and media buyers.

Nexxen specializes in programmatic advertising, Connected TV (CTV), mobile in-app advertising, data solutions and artificial intelligence. The company recently reported that its programmatic advertising revenue grew 14% year over year during the first quarter of 2026, driven by increasing enterprise customer adoption.

The company consistently strengthens its position in the CTV market. Recently, it has expanded its partnerships with major television manufacturers and introduced programmatic home-screen advertising, allowing advertisers to reach viewers more efficiently. NEXN is also driving growth through its mobile advertising and AI investments. Its AI platform, NextAI, helps advertisers improve campaign planning, audience targeting, optimization and automation, consequently enabling customers to make faster and more informed advertising decisions. Management believes this combination of strategic investments in AI and disciplined capital allocation can support long-term profitability and earnings growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Nexxen’s 2026 bottom line has been revised 1% upward to $1 over the past 60 days. Shares of NEXN have gained 72.5% in the past six months. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Quad/Graphics: The company is a marketing solutions provider.

It reported second-quarter results that were largely in line with expectations and indicated that it remains on track to achieve its full-year 2026 guidance. Despite macroeconomic pressures, including higher postage rates and supply-chain cost challenges tied to geopolitical conflicts, the company continues to focus on long-term growth, margin expansion, and disciplined cost management. The company recently announced the opening of a new 100,000-square-foot packaging facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, expanding its national packaging network. It also expanded its partnership with Wakefern Food Corporation and with Vallarta Supermarkets, extending its retail media network.

Quad is also investing in innovative marketing solutions, AI-powered media capabilities, and strategic talent acquisition to deepen client relationships and enhance service offerings. Its audience strategy and omnichannel media services are gaining traction, while operational initiatives such as automation, AI-enabled tools, and advanced co-mailing solutions are helping improve efficiency, productivity and client cost savings. Management believes that recent investments and a more focused approach with AI will support its long-term growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for QUAD’s 2026 bottom line has been revised 5.8% upward to $1.27 over the past 60 days. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. Shares of QUAD have gained 61.3% in the past six months.

WPP: The company is a leading provider of advertising and marketing, communications and digital business transformation services.

WPP’s offerings span across advertising, media planning, public relations, branding, digital marketing, marketing research and technology services. The sheer breadth of its offerings helps the company generate stable revenues. WPP continues to implement its Elevate28 transformation plan, which aims to simplify the firm and improve efficiency. Recently, it reorganized its operations and strengthened its technology platform, WPP Open, using AI to support marketing, media planning and creative production.

The company continues to invest in AI as it remains a key driver of WPP’s overall growth. It utilizes AI, through its WPP Open and Open Intelligence platform, to automate workflows, improve media performance and deliver more personalized marketing solutions. The company also expanded partnerships with tech giants like Google, Meta and AWS to integrate their advanced tools into its own marketing platform. Management believes that these investments in AI and digital technology will boost long-term growth.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2026 bottom line has been revised 11.2% upward to $3.78 over the past 60 days. Shares of WPP have gained 10.5% in the past six months. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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