Latest news with #BarclaysPLC
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Barclays vs. HSBC: Which Global Bank is the Smarter Buy Today?
Barclays PLC BCS and HSBC Holdings PLC HSBC are often the first names that come to mind when discussing prominent foreign banks. Both are based in London and have been streamlining their operations to enhance efficiency and focus on their core and Barclays have been reallocating their capital into higher-growth markets, with HSBC being particularly focused on the Asia-Pacific region. Can Barclays' streamlining initiatives outperform HSBC's strategic pivot to Asia to drive growth? To find out which stock presents a better investment opportunity, let's evaluate the underlying factors driving each bank's performance. Barclays has been striving to simplify operations and focus on its core businesses. In February 2024, the bank unveiled a three-year cost savings plan to enhance operating efficiency and focus on higher-growth markets. In sync with this, Barclays sold its consumer finance business in Germany in February 2025. Last year, the company transformed its operating divisions and divested its Italy mortgage portfolio and $1.1 billion in credit card receivables. Through these efforts, Barclays recorded gross savings of £1 billion in 2024 and £150 million in the first quarter of 2025. The company aims to achieve gross efficiency savings of £0.5 billion this year. By 2026, management expects total gross efficiency savings to be £2 billion and the cost-to-income ratio to be in the high 50s. Its first-quarter 2025 cost-to-income ratio was 57%.The company is reallocating these savings in high-growth businesses and markets. In April, Barclays entered into a collaboration with Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. to reshape its payment acceptance business with plans to inject roughly £400 million. In March, the bank announced a capital injection of more than INR 2,300 crore (£210 million) into its India operations. Last year, the company acquired Tesco's retail banking business, which complements its existing business. In 2023, Barclays acquired Kensington Mortgage, which bolstered its mortgage BCS' core operating performance remained unimpressive, net interest income (NII) and net fee, commission, and other income rose in 2024 and in the first quarter of 2025 on the back of structural hedges and Tesco Bank buyout, which indicates that Barclays' efforts to refocus on core operations have begun to bear fruits. The redeployment of capital into higher-growth businesses and markets through improving efficiency is a multifaceted approach to boosting profitability. Barclays remains committed to this approach, which is likely to help improve profitability over time. HSBC is taking steps to streamline and refocus its global operations. In early 2025, it announced a $1.5 billion cost-saving plan tied to organizational simplification, with estimated upfront charges of $1.8 billion by 2026. The bank is planning to redeploy another $1.5 billion from underperforming or non-core areas into strategic part of its global restructuring, HSBC has exited or divested operations in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Russia, Greece, New Zealand, Armenia and retail banking in France and Mauritius. It is also winding down certain investment banking activities in the U.K., Europe and the United States, and reviewing its operations in markets like Germany, South Africa, Bahrain and Malta to sharpen its focus and improve HSBC is doubling down on its Asia-focused strategy as the core of its long-term growth plan. It aims to become a leading wealth manager for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients in the region, which now accounts for more than half of its operations. In mainland China, HSBC is rapidly expanding its wealth business by launching integrated lifestyle-based wealth centers in key cities, acquiring Citigroup's retail wealth portfolio, investing in digital capabilities and hiring talent to strengthen its Premier Banking, Private Banking and Asset Management India, HSBC is aggressively scaling up its presence. The bank received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to open 20 new branches, significantly expanding beyond its current footprint of 26 branches in 14 cities. With India's ultra-high-net-worth population projected to surge 50% by 2028, HSBC is positioning itself to capture this growth through its Global Private Banking, the acquisition of L&T Investment Management (2022) and ongoing enhancements to its Premier Banking revenue generation at HSBC has been subdued over the past several quarters. While the interest rate environment across the world improved, the financial impact of the challenging macroeconomic backdrop continues to weigh on the company's top-line growth. Not-so-impressive loan demand and a tough macroeconomic environment in many of its markets are concerns. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCS' 2025 and 2026 earnings indicates 21.2% and 23.3% growth, respectively. Over the past week, earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been revised marginally downward. Earnings Trend Image Source: Zacks Investment Research On the contrary, the consensus mark for HSBC for 2025 suggests an increase of just 4.2% while the same for 2026 earnings indicates a decline of roughly 1%. Over the past seven days, earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 have remained unchanged. Earnings Trend Image Source: Zacks Investment Research This year, Barclays' shares have performed quite well on the bourses compared with HSBC. The BCS stock has risen 37.9% on the NYSE, while HSBC has gained 22.3%. The industry has rallied 23.8% in the same time frame. YTD Price Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Valuation-wise, HSBC is currently trading at a 12-month trailing price/tangible book (P/TB) of 1.09X, higher than its five-year median of 0.76X. BCS stock, on the other hand, is currently trading at a 12-month trailing P/TB of 0.77X, which is higher than its five-year median of 0.45X. Further, both are trading at a discount to the industry average of 1.70X. P/TB TTM Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Thus, Barclays is inexpensive compared to return on equity (ROE) of 12.55% is above Barclays' 8.04%. This reflects HSBC's efficient use of shareholder funds to generate profits. ROE Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Barclays appears to be the better investment opportunity, given its stronger near-term earnings outlook, attractive valuation and superior stock performance. The company's strategic capital redeployment to boost core businesses and restructuring efforts to improve efficiency paves the way for sustained profitability. Furthermore, its year-to-date stock rally demonstrates solid investor confidence relative to HSBC's modest HSBC's pivot to Asia and high-net-worth wealth management could yield significant long-term gains, especially as India and China's affluent classes expand. Its disciplined global exit strategy and cost-saving plan may improve returns. Yet, muted revenue growth and weak earnings performance expectations raise near-term concerns. While HSBC has a slightly better ROE, Barclays' higher growth momentum and aggressive capital return strategy make it the better bet present, BCS carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) while HSBC has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Barclays PLC (BCS) : Free Stock Analysis Report HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Globe and Mail
21 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Barclays vs. HSBC: Which Global Bank is the Smarter Buy Today?
Barclays PLC BCS and HSBC Holdings PLC HSBC are often the first names that come to mind when discussing prominent foreign banks. Both are based in London and have been streamlining their operations to enhance efficiency and focus on their core businesses. HSBC and Barclays have been reallocating their capital into higher-growth markets, with HSBC being particularly focused on the Asia-Pacific region. Can Barclays' streamlining initiatives outperform HSBC's strategic pivot to Asia to drive growth? To find out which stock presents a better investment opportunity, let's evaluate the underlying factors driving each bank's performance. The Case for Barclays Barclays has been striving to simplify operations and focus on its core businesses. In February 2024, the bank unveiled a three-year cost savings plan to enhance operating efficiency and focus on higher-growth markets. In sync with this, Barclays sold its consumer finance business in Germany in February 2025. Last year, the company transformed its operating divisions and divested its Italy mortgage portfolio and $1.1 billion in credit card receivables. Through these efforts, Barclays recorded gross savings of £1 billion in 2024 and £150 million in the first quarter of 2025. The company aims to achieve gross efficiency savings of £0.5 billion this year. By 2026, management expects total gross efficiency savings to be £2 billion and the cost-to-income ratio to be in the high 50s. Its first-quarter 2025 cost-to-income ratio was 57%. The company is reallocating these savings in high-growth businesses and markets. In April, Barclays entered into a collaboration with Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. to reshape its payment acceptance business with plans to inject roughly £400 million. In March, the bank announced a capital injection of more than INR 2,300 crore (£210 million) into its India operations. Last year, the company acquired Tesco's retail banking business, which complements its existing business. In 2023, Barclays acquired Kensington Mortgage, which bolstered its mortgage business. While BCS' core operating performance remained unimpressive, net interest income (NII) and net fee, commission, and other income rose in 2024 and in the first quarter of 2025 on the back of structural hedges and Tesco Bank buyout, which indicates that Barclays' efforts to refocus on core operations have begun to bear fruits. The redeployment of capital into higher-growth businesses and markets through improving efficiency is a multifaceted approach to boosting profitability. Barclays remains committed to this approach, which is likely to help improve profitability over time. The Case for HSBC HSBC is taking steps to streamline and refocus its global operations. In early 2025, it announced a $1.5 billion cost-saving plan tied to organizational simplification, with estimated upfront charges of $1.8 billion by 2026. The bank is planning to redeploy another $1.5 billion from underperforming or non-core areas into strategic priorities. As part of its global restructuring, HSBC has exited or divested operations in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Russia, Greece, New Zealand, Armenia and retail banking in France and Mauritius. It is also winding down certain investment banking activities in the U.K., Europe and the United States, and reviewing its operations in markets like Germany, South Africa, Bahrain and Malta to sharpen its focus and improve returns. Further, HSBC is doubling down on its Asia-focused strategy as the core of its long-term growth plan. It aims to become a leading wealth manager for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients in the region, which now accounts for more than half of its operations. In mainland China, HSBC is rapidly expanding its wealth business by launching integrated lifestyle-based wealth centers in key cities, acquiring Citigroup's retail wealth portfolio, investing in digital capabilities and hiring talent to strengthen its Premier Banking, Private Banking and Asset Management services. In India, HSBC is aggressively scaling up its presence. The bank received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to open 20 new branches, significantly expanding beyond its current footprint of 26 branches in 14 cities. With India's ultra-high-net-worth population projected to surge 50% by 2028, HSBC is positioning itself to capture this growth through its Global Private Banking, the acquisition of L&T Investment Management (2022) and ongoing enhancements to its Premier Banking offering. Nonetheless, revenue generation at HSBC has been subdued over the past several quarters. While the interest rate environment across the world improved, the financial impact of the challenging macroeconomic backdrop continues to weigh on the company's top-line growth. Not-so-impressive loan demand and a tough macroeconomic environment in many of its markets are concerns. How Do Estimates Compare for BCS & HSBC? The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCS' 2025 and 2026 earnings indicates 21.2% and 23.3% growth, respectively. Over the past week, earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been revised marginally downward. Earnings Trend Image Source: Zacks Investment Research On the contrary, the consensus mark for HSBC for 2025 suggests an increase of just 4.2% while the same for 2026 earnings indicates a decline of roughly 1%. Over the past seven days, earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 have remained unchanged. Earnings Trend Image Source: Zacks Investment Research BCS & HSBC: Price Performance, Valuation & Other Comparisons This year, Barclays' shares have performed quite well on the bourses compared with HSBC. The BCS stock has risen 37.9% on the NYSE, while HSBC has gained 22.3%. The industry has rallied 23.8% in the same time frame. YTD Price Performance Valuation-wise, HSBC is currently trading at a 12-month trailing price/tangible book (P/TB) of 1.09X, higher than its five-year median of 0.76X. BCS stock, on the other hand, is currently trading at a 12-month trailing P/TB of 0.77X, which is higher than its five-year median of 0.45X. Further, both are trading at a discount to the industry average of 1.70X. P/TB TTM Thus, Barclays is inexpensive compared to HSBC. HSBC's return on equity (ROE) of 12.55% is above Barclays' 8.04%. This reflects HSBC's efficient use of shareholder funds to generate profits. ROE Image Source: Zacks Investment Research HSBC or Barclays: Which Stock Offers Better Returns? Barclays appears to be the better investment opportunity, given its stronger near-term earnings outlook, attractive valuation and superior stock performance. The company's strategic capital redeployment to boost core businesses and restructuring efforts to improve efficiency paves the way for sustained profitability. Furthermore, its year-to-date stock rally demonstrates solid investor confidence relative to HSBC's modest gain. Meanwhile, HSBC's pivot to Asia and high-net-worth wealth management could yield significant long-term gains, especially as India and China's affluent classes expand. Its disciplined global exit strategy and cost-saving plan may improve returns. Yet, muted revenue growth and weak earnings performance expectations raise near-term concerns. While HSBC has a slightly better ROE, Barclays' higher growth momentum and aggressive capital return strategy make it the better bet now. At present, BCS carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) while HSBC has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks' Research Chief Picks Stock Most Likely to "At Least Double" Our experts have revealed their Top 5 recommendations with money-doubling potential – and Director of Research Sheraz Mian believes one is superior to the others. Of course, all our picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier recommendations like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%. See Our Top Stock to Double (Plus 4 Runners Up) >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Barclays PLC (BCS): Free Stock Analysis Report HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC): Free Stock Analysis Report
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Microsoft (MSFT) Deal with Barclays to Introduce 365 Copilot to 100,000 Employees
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the best wide moat stocks to buy now. On June 9, it was announced that London-based financial services giant Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) plans to introduce Microsoft 365 Copilot to 100,000 employees as AI takes center stage at enterprises. A Microsoft representative said: 'Microsoft 365 Copilot will be integrated into the bank's own colleague productivity tool, creating a single agent that enables employees to access the bank's broad ecosystem of collaboration tools, portals and online resources all from one place, making it simpler to find information, improve productivity, and enhance employee experience,' These AI-powered tools include an AI agent, which assists employees with different tasks, a content search feature that is personalized according to an individual's profile, and Colleague Front Door, an agentic dashboard powered by Microsoft Viva. Image by Tawanda Razika from Pixabay The massive deal was rolled out after a pilot deployment of Microsoft 365 Copilot across 15,000 Barclays employees. Microsoft offers a comprehensive portfolio of software, cloud infrastructure, and hardware devices. Its primary offerings include Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365, Windows, and Xbox, driving strong enterprise and consumer adoption worldwide. While we acknowledge the potential of MSFT as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Globe and Mail
10-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Barclays Plans to Trim IB Workforce by More Than 200 to Reduce Costs
Barclays PLC BCS intends to reduce 3% of its workforce in the investment banking (IB) division in the upcoming days. This is part of CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan's plan to boost the division's profitability. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. Details of Barclays' Job Cut Plan More than 200 employees in IB, global markets and research will likely be affected. These would also include managing directors, among the most senior roles. These job cuts aim to expand the bank's capability to invest in priority areas, one of the people familiar with the matter stated. Barclays has been focused on gaining market share in European rates, equity derivatives and securitized product trading. During its investor update last year, the company stated that these efforts are anticipated to boost revenues by £500 million by 2026. In IB, the company is aiming to grow its revenues from equity capital markets and mergers and acquisitions, with a specific focus on the health care, industrial, technology, and energy transition sectors. While it is prioritizing growth in other areas, Barclays remains committed to its transatlantic IB model, despite ongoing investor pressure over the years. A Barclays spokesperson stated, 'Like other banks, we regularly assess our talent pool as part of our routine operations to ensure ongoing investment in key focus areas.' Rationale Behind Barclays' Move This move aligns with Barclays' ongoing efforts to improve efficiency through streamlining business operations and focusing on core businesses. In April 2025, it announced a collaboration with Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. to transform its payment acceptance business. Further, in February 2025, it divested its Germany-based consumer finance business. In November 2024, the company acquired Tesco's retail banking business and changed its operating divisions effective in the first quarter of 2024. Over the past six months, Barclays shares have gained 36.3% compared with the industry 's growth of 23.1%. Currently, BCS carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Streamlining Efforts by Other Global Banks Last week, a source familiar with the matter said that Citigroup C will cut about 3,500 jobs at two of its technology centers in China by the start of the fourth quarter of 2025. The reduction will take place at the China Citi Solution Centres in Shanghai and Dalian. Most of the jobs that are being cut are full-time. Citigroup mentioned that some of the roles would be moved to its technology centers elsewhere without specifying the number of jobs or locations. The move is part of the bank's strategy to simplify and reduce its global technology operations to improve data management. Similarly, after shutting its retail banking business in the United States in 2021, HSBC Holdings PLC HSBC is now set to close its business banking division in the country. This announcement comes amid the company's ongoing business simplification efforts and accelerated shift toward the Asia and Middle East regions. This was first reported by Reuters. This move will likely affect nearly 4,500 HSBC clients. The bank will aid the impacted clients in transitioning to a suitable alternative provider and will continue to serve some clients in the Mid-Market and Global Network Banking Business. Only $1 to See All Zacks' Buys and Sells We're not kidding. Several years ago, we shocked our members by offering them 30-day access to all our picks for the total sum of only $1. No obligation to spend another cent. Thousands have taken advantage of this opportunity. Thousands did not - they thought there must be a catch. Yes, we do have a reason. We want you to get acquainted with our portfolio services like Surprise Trader, Stocks Under $10, Technology Innovators, and more, that closed 256 positions with double- and triple-digit gains in 2024 alone. See Stocks Now >> Click to get this free report Citigroup Inc. (C): Free Stock Analysis Report Barclays PLC (BCS): Free Stock Analysis Report HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC): Free Stock Analysis Report
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Barclays PLC (BCS): Among Cheap Rising Stocks to Buy Right Now
We recently published a list of the 10 Cheap Rising Stocks to Buy Right Now. In this article, we will look at where Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) stands against other cheap rising stocks in which to invest. On May 2, US stocks notched their longest winning streak since 2004 as the United States and China signaled a willingness to have trade talks. The broad market index rose 1.47%, which helped it erase the losses since the Trump administration announced reciprocal tariffs on April 2. READ ALSO: ChatGPT Stock Advice: Top 12 Stock Recommendations and 11 Worst Performing Stocks in S&P 500 So Far in 2025. Trump told Time magazine on April 22 that his administration was engaged with China on striking a tariff deal. The US president also said he expects announcements on many other trade deals to be made over the next three to four weeks. During an interview with NBC on May 2, the US President stated that tariffs on Chinese imports will eventually be lowered: At some point, I'm going to lower them because otherwise, you could never do business with them. They want to do business very much … their economy is collapsing.' Jay Hatfield, founder and chief investment officer of InfraCap, believes the worst of the uncertainty around tariffs is over. He shared the following remarks while talking to CNBC: 'The confusion about whether there's really talks going on with China or not took some steam out of the market. Our view is that we've reached peak tariff tantrum and so it's likely to be more positive than negative.' A spokesperson for China's Commerce Ministry has said the country is currently assessing proposals shared by Washington to begin trade negotiations. Analysts view the statement as a subtle shift in tone from Beijing that could potentially open the door for talks on tariffs. The stock market has also received a boost from the latest jobs data shared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The American economy added 177,000 new jobs in April. While this was slightly down from 185,000 jobs in March, the gain was still stronger than the average pace of monthly job growth in the last three months, which reflected the resilience of the US job market. An investor looking at a stock chart, representing the bank's securities dealing. For this article, we sifted through screeners to identify stocks with returns of 10% or more over the past 30 days, a forward P/E ratio of less than 15, a trailing P/E ratio of less than 15, and a P/B ratio of under 1. From there, we picked the 10 stocks with the lowest forward P/E ratio and ranked them in descending order. All data is as of the close of business on May 5, 2025. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here). 30-day returns: 24.37% Forward P/E ratio: 7.26 Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) is a diversified bank with five divisions: Barclays UK, Barclays UK Corporate Bank, Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Management, Barclays Investment Bank, and Barclays US Consumer Bank. In April this year, the company announced a strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. to transform and expand Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS)'s payment acceptance business. Under the agreement, the two firms will work together to create a standalone entity. Barclays plans on investing around £400 million in the business, mainly during the first three years of the partnership. Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) reported a beat on profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. It posted a pre-tax profit of £2.7 billion and income of £7.7 billion, both coming above analysts' expectations. The results were driven by strong investment bank performance, whose income increased by 16% year-over-year. The company generated a return on tangible equity of 14%. While talking to CNBC on April 30, CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said that he expects high market volatility moving forward due to ongoing trade tensions. However, he also sees this as an opportunity to profitably help clients manage their risks in uncertain times. 'It's calmer now but I imagine it will continue to go up and down. Beyond that, as you've seen in our results, that market volatility helps us help clients manage their risk, we can do so in a profitable way that helps them as well and helps markets income, as long as you manage your risk well.' With returns of over 24% over the past month and a low forward P/E ratio, Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) is among the cheap rising stocks to buy right now. Overall, BCS ranks 7th among the 10 Cheap Rising Stocks to Buy Right Now. While we acknowledge the potential of BCS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BCS but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
