People Inc.
PPLI on Nasdaq. People sells ads, marketing commissions, and content licensing to advertisers and publishers. Market value $2.7bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Some use the latest annual report instead, as marked. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
Should I look at this?
Not a fit for our list right now
Why it could be worth it
See Technology stocks that passed both tests
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $1.34 of spare cash last year. A savings account pays about $4.
The filings do not give us enough to work this out.
Each dollar kept in the business earns -2 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 36 of 100. Price score: 40 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$41.73 a share, 41% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $29.56 to $48.32.
Pays no dividend
Prices from Monday’s close (5 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $3.7bn | $5.2bn | $4.4bn | $2.6bn | $2.4bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | -3.7% | -9.1% | -5.4% | -1.1% | -4.1% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.29 | 0.35 | 0.34 | 0.35 | 0.30 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.09bn | 0.09bn | 0.09bn | 0.08bn | 0.08bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive4 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)5 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.30× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsShrinking, 2.8% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 13% fewer since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $437 million last quarter, down 1% on a year ago.
- Profit: $507 million, up 140% on a year ago.
- It loses 7 cents on each $1 of sales, after keeping 3 cents a year earlier.
- 8% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $302 million more than cash, down from $373 million a year ago.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $642m |
| December 2024 | Not reported |
| March 2025 | $482m |
| June 2025 | $443m |
| September 2025 | $590m |
| December 2025 | $646m |
| March 2026 | $423m |
| June 2026 | $437m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | -$244m |
| December 2024 | -$199m |
| March 2025 | -$217m |
| June 2025 | $211m |
| September 2025 | -$22m |
| December 2025 | -$77m |
| March 2026 | -$72m |
| June 2026 | $507m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 20 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 2 November 2026
Who owns it
10 long-term investors we follow own it, unchanged from 10 last quarter. 340 funds in all.
- Davis Selected AdvisersChris Davis
- Value
- $111m
- Share of fund
- 0.5%
- GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli
- Value
- $689,677
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southeastern Asset Management (Longleaf)Mason Hawkins | $145m | 7.5% | Cut |
| Corvex ManagementKeith Meister | $129m | 4.0% | Cut |
| Patient Capital ManagementSamantha McLemore | $112m | 3.7% | Cut |
| Davis Selected AdvisersChris Davis | $111m | 0.5% | |
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $51m | <0.1% | Added |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $18m | <0.1% | Added |
| Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce | $18m | 0.1% | Added |
| Diamond Hill Capital ManagementRic Dillon (founder) | $16m | 0.1% | Cut |
| Boyar Asset ManagementMark Boyar | $813,062 | 0.5% | Cut |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $689,677 | <0.1% |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$356mCut
- Aristeia Capital, L.L.C.$282mAdded
- Helikon Investments$261mAdded
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$159mCut
- Southeastern Asset Management (Longleaf)$145mCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$130mCut
- Corvex Management$129mCut
- AQR Capital Management$125mAdded
- Patient Capital Management$112mCut
- Davis Selected Advisers$111m
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
6 investors own more than 5%.
- Barry DillerInsider or founder8.9%+0.8 ptsSince 22 June 2026
- Aristeia Capital, L.L.C.Passive investor8.0%Since 31 December 2025
- Jennifer Stierat least 7.9%+0.6 pts(filed with 1 related holder)Since 25 September 2026
What they said
The Reporting Persons initially acquired the shares of Common Stock reported herein for investment purposes. Consistent with their investment intent, the Reporting Persons regularly review their investment in the Issuer. In connection therewith, on September 25, 2026, after…
Read the filing - Helikon Investments LimitedPassive investorat least 7.6%(filed with 1 related holder)Since 30 June 2026
- THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC.Passive investorat least 5.2%(filed with 1 related holder)Since 30 June 2026
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor5.1%Since 31 March 2026
- JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.Passive investorSold down below 5%Since 30 September 2025
- Southeastern Asset Management (Longleaf)Passive investorSold down below 5%Since 30 June 2026
- Joseph M. LevinInsider or founderSold down below 5%Since 13 January 2025
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Barry Diller Insider or founder | 8.9%+0.8 pts | 22 June 2026 | |
Aristeia Capital, L.L.C. Passive investor | 8.0% | 31 December 2025 | |
Jennifer Stier | at least 7.9%+0.6 pts (filed with 1 related holder) | 25 September 2026 | What they saidThe Reporting Persons initially acquired the shares of Common Stock reported herein for investment purposes. Consistent with their investment intent, the Reporting Persons regularly review their investment in the Issuer. In connection therewith, on September 25, 2026, after… Read the filing |
Helikon Investments Limited Passive investor | at least 7.6% (filed with 1 related holder) | 30 June 2026 | |
THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC. Passive investor | at least 5.2% (filed with 1 related holder) | 30 June 2026 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 5.1% | 31 March 2026 | |
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 30 September 2025 | |
Southeastern Asset Management (Longleaf) Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 30 June 2026 | |
Joseph M. Levin Insider or founder | Sold down below 5% | 13 January 2025 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 1 sold $278,834.
- Schwerdtman Michael HSVP and CAOSold
- Date
- 12 May 2026
- Shares
- 6,878
- Price
- $40.54
- Value
- $278,834
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 May 2026 | Schwerdtman Michael H SVP and CAO | Sold | 6,878 | $40.54 | $278,834 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 20 Feb 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 3 Aug 2026 and 14 later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- Sales have shrunk: 2.8% a year.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.