The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE: IPG) may not be at a 52-week low but its shares are now trading at a low for all of 2012. The advertising empire’s poor second quarter earnings report is the culprit, but unlike many warnings coming from currency and from international weakness this may be very tied to the United States business weakness. The ad agency’s organic revenue in the U.S. was down by a sharp 3.2%. Interpublic’s international sales appeared to be better than some were expecting.
The drop is much worse than expected and it sure looks like there may be some account losses to blame along with lower spending by accounts. Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) is trading higher on the day with a gain of nearly 2% to $49.48.
Interpublic shares are trading down 12.5% at $9.62 on more than 17 million shares so far today. The 52-week range is $6.73 to $12.17 and Thomson Reuters had a pre-news consensus price target of $13.18 for this stock.
One loose rival is the online ad agency of ValueClick, Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK), but its shares are flat at $15.55 so far in mind-day trading.
JON C. OGG
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