WEALTH August 9, 2026 0 Comments

WPP’s Bold Move: How Slashing Jobs and Betting Big on AI Sparked a Stunning Rally to a One-Year High—What This Means for Investors Now

WPP’s ticker just did a little dance — hitting its highest peak in almost a year. Now, if you’d told me a year ago that massive job cuts combined with a hefty AI investment would revive a marketing leviathan that’s been limp and limping for years, I might’ve raised an eyebrow. Yet, here we are. Revenues took a smaller-than-expected hit in Q2, nudging investor confidence and sending shares soaring by nearly 29%. Cindy Rose, the new captain of this ship and an ex-Microsoft exec, has thrown down the gauntlet with a bold £500 million cost-saving promise by 2028. Sure, legacy account losses still cast a shadow, but the fresh wins from big names like Estee Lauder and Jaguar Land Rover hint at a comeback narrative that’s hard to ignore. So, is this the turnaround story we’ve been waiting for, or just a well-dressed glimmer in the fog? Let’s dive in and unpack the saga of a simpler, savvier WPP trying to rewrite its future. LEARN MORE

Shares in marketing giant WPP hit their highest level in nearly a year as thousands of job cuts and AI investment under its turnaround strategy bore fruit, writes Emily Hawkins.

The troubled FTSE 250 advertising giant hailed a less dramatic fall in sales over the second quarter of the year, with revenues down 2.8pc to £2.5bn compared to a 7pc drop in the first quarter.

The update sent the share price up 28.6pc, or 87.9p, to 395p, as the results provided a welcome boost for new boss Cindy Rose, who is battling to revive it following a string of profit warnings and concerns about WPP‘s ability to challenge overseas rivals.

The stock has fallen by almost 60pc in the past five years, and last year was booted out of the FTSE 100 after nearly 30 years.

But the slower-than-feared sales decline has revived hopes that better fortunes lie ahead, with new client wins including beauty giant Estee Lauder and car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover.

WPP said 1,267 workers – 1.3pc of its headcount – left over the first six months of the year. This helped trim staff costs by 5.9pc to £3.47bn for the first half of 2026.

Rose, a former Microsoft executive who took over last September, has pledged to save £500m in costs by 2028.

She said that the most recent quarter showed ‘a further sequential improvement’ and was an example of “the momentum we are building across the country”.

But “legacy account losses” continued to drag down the group’s performance.

She added: “While the turnaround of our financial performance will take time to fully flow through, our strong new business wins and improved client retention, as well as progress on cost savings and portfolio actions, demonstrate that we are building a simpler, more competitive and higher-performing WPP.”

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said WPP’s struggles meant it “doesn’t take much more than some glimmers of hope to shift the market narrative”, adding: “It’s early days but investors are welcoming signs of some progress on this front.”