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what it is
Stagwell sells ads, media buying, research, and digital marketing services to more than 4,000 large brands.
how it gets paid
Last year Stagwell made $2.9B in revenue. Performance Media & Data was the main engine at $1.10B, or 38% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 2.4% last year. Revenue rose 183% vs. prior year based on the SEC data provided.
what just happened
Last quarter, Stagwell posted $2.1B in revenue and reported EPS of $0.09, a rare clean print for a business that earned just $0.02 for all of 2024.
At a glance
C++ balance sheet — some cracks in the foundation
20/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
62.9x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
2.9% return on capital — nothing to write home about
$0.02 fy2024 eps est
xvary composite: 40/100 — below average
What they do
Stagwell sells ads, media buying, research, and digital marketing services to more than 4,000 large brands.
Stagwell wins by bundling creative work, media buying, data, and digital builds under one roof for 4,000 blue-chip customers. That scale matters when your brand wants one vendor instead of four. The catch is simple: scale helps you sell, but it has not yet produced great economics, with return on capital at just 2.9% per.
How they make money
$2.9B
annual revenue · their business grew +2.4% last year
Performance Media & Data
$1.10B
+4.0%
Creativity & Communications
$0.85B
+1.0%
Digital Transformation
$0.60B
+3.0%
Consumer Insights & Strategy
$0.35B
flat
The products that matter
digital advertising and analytics
Performance Media & Data
$1.2B · 41% of revenue
This $1.2B segment is 41% of revenue and grew 21%. If you want the bull case in one line, this is it.
fastest growth
traditional and digital creative work
Creativity & Communications
$1.0B · 35% of revenue
This $1.0B segment was flat. That matters because you can't call the whole company a growth story if a third of revenue is standing still.
largest laggard
market research and consulting
Consumer Insights & Strategy
$0.7B · 24% of revenue
This $0.7B segment is 24% of revenue and grew 2.4%. It adds stability, but it is not the engine pulling the whole network forward.
steady, not explosive
Key numbers
62.9x
trailing p/e
Price-to-earnings → how much you pay for each dollar of profit → you are paying a rich multiple for a business with only $0.02 estimated 2024 EPS.
$1.8B
long-term debt
Debt → money the company owes → with debt equal to 53% of capital, lenders matter almost as much as shareholders.
10.1%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit left after running the business → Stagwell keeps about 10 cents from each revenue dollar before interest and taxes.
2.9%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit generated from the money tied up in the business → 2.9% is weak and says scale is not turning into strong returns yet.
Financial health
C++
strength
- balance sheet grade C++ — below average — limited financial resources
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 10 / 100
- long-term debt $1.8B (53% of capital)
C++ — balance sheet grade and long-term debt are flagged. this stock carries more risk than average.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for STGW right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
beat estimates
Last quarter, Stagwell posted $2.1B in revenue and reported EPS of $0.09, a rare clean print for a business that earned just $0.02 for all of 2024.
Revenue rose 183% vs. prior year based on the SEC data provided, while Yahoo Finance shows last reported EPS at $0.09. The quiet part out loud: one decent quarter looks huge when the full-year baseline is barely above break-even.
$2.1B
revenue
$0.09
eps
10.1%
operating margin
the number that mattered
$0.09 in quarterly EPS matters because it is more than four times the full-year 2024 EPS estimate of $0.02 from, which shows how low the earnings base was.
source: SEC filings, Yahoo Finance consensus, and
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is an ad-spending slowdown hitting a leveraged agency balance sheet.
med
ad budget cuts
All three reported segments depend on marketing spend somewhere upstream. If brand budgets tighten, the 8–12% growth target gets pressured fast.
This risk touches essentially the full $3B revenue base because the whole company sells some version of marketing services.
med
debt load
Long-term debt is $1.8B, or 53% of capital, and operating cash flow covers 15.9% of that debt. That leaves less room for a soft quarter, a bad acquisition, or a tougher rate backdrop.
Leverage limits flexibility. It can crowd out buybacks, acquisitions, or simply patience if growth disappoints.
med
segment imbalance
Performance Media & Data grew 21%, but Creativity & Communications was flat and Consumer Insights & Strategy grew just 2.4%. One segment is carrying the growth narrative.
If the fast-growing segment cools before the slower ones reaccelerate, the premium multiple stops making sense.
A slowdown in client spending would hit the entire revenue base while $1.8B of long-term debt makes the margin for error smaller than the headline growth guide suggests.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
Q1 2026 earnings report
Expected on or around May 14, 2026. The number that matters is whether management still sounds comfortable with 8–12% net revenue growth.
growth mix
Performance Media & Data vs. the rest
One segment grew 21% while Creativity & Communications was flat. You want to see that gap stay productive, not turn into dependence.
balance sheet
debt as a share of capital
The current figure is 53%. If that does not move down over time, the equity story remains tied to execution with very little cushion.
buybacks
repurchase pace
The authorization totals $725M with about $400M remaining. Watch whether cash keeps going to repurchases or starts leaning harder toward balance-sheet repair.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
20 / 100
in human-speak, analysts do not trust these earnings to arrive smoothly.
risk rank
3
That lands around the middle of the pack. Not a disaster, not a defensive hideout.
price stability
10 / 100
This stock has been jumpy. If you own it, you should expect sharper moves than the average slow-and-steady compounder.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for STGW is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$4
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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