HSBC

Never miss an important update on your stock portfolio and cut through the noise. Over 7 million investors trust Simply Wall St to stay informed where it matters for FREE. HSBC Holdings has delivered a 412.5% return over the past 5 years, yet the formal valuation checks show an unusual split, with the Excess Returns intrinsic value estimate pointing to meaningful upside while the market multiple view suggests the shares may be expensive. A 412.5% 5 year return places HSBC Holdings firmly in the outperformer camp, which raises the bar for any new buyers who focus on valuation discipline. Recent moves to tighten lending to higher risk private credit clients and adjust capital management can support the long term earnings profile, while legal proceedings and past project write offs may influence how much investors are willing to pay for the stock. HSBC Holdings scores 2 out of 6 on value checks, which suggests it is not a clear bargain when the full set of valuation measures is taken into account. The key question for investors is whether the current share price around US$14.90 still offers enough potential upside relative to HSBC Holdings' intrinsic value estimate to justify the risks that come with buying after a strong multi year run. HSBC Holdings delivered 69.8% returns over the last year. See how this stacks up to the rest of the Banks industry. The Excess Returns model estimates HSBC Holdings' worth by comparing the return it earns on equity to the return shareholders require, then capitalising that surplus. For HSBC Holdings, the inputs point to a company expected to earn more on its equity base than its investors are assumed to require. On the latest inputs, the model uses a Book Value of £10.17 per share and a Stable Book Value of £11.82 per share, alongside a Stable EPS estimate of £1.88 per share. With an Average Return on Equity of 15.92% and an implied Cost of Equity of £0.98 per share, the Excess Return comes out at £0.90 per share, which feeds into an intrinsic value estimate of about £22.36 per share. Compared with a current share price around £14.90, the model indicates the stock is 33.4% undervalued. HSBC’s decision to redeem senior notes and tighten capital management helps explain why the model still sees value, because it assumes continued discipline in how equity is used. Overall, the Excess Returns workup suggests HSBC Holdings screens a...

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) came under pressure in premarket trading on Tuesday, with shares falling 3.1% after HSBC downgraded the stock from Hold to Reduce and set a price target of $191, significantly below the previous closing price of $290.23. The downgrade is among the most bearish views currently held by analysts covering IBM and comes just days before the company is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 earnings on 22 July. HSBC’s latest recommendation adds a second sell-equivalent rating to IBM’s analyst coverage, which otherwise consists of 15 buy ratings and seven hold ratings. The sharply lower price target unsettled investors, particularly as the stock had recently retreated after a strong rally. The downgrade arrives against a backdrop of increased insider selling activity, with recent transactions showing more shares being sold than purchased by company insiders. At the same time, technical indicators had suggested IBM shares were trading in overbought territory, leaving the stock vulnerable to negative news. The combination of stretched technical conditions and a bearish analyst call amplified selling pressure in premarket trading. The broader technology and IT services sector continues to face questions over cautious enterprise spending and the pace at which companies can convert artificial intelligence investments into sustainable consulting revenue. HSBC’s downgrade reflects these concerns, highlighting the challenges that continue to influence investor sentiment across the sector. Despite the latest weakness in the share price, IBM’s upcoming second-quarter earnings release remains the next major catalyst for investors. The results are expected to provide fresh insight into demand trends, AI-related growth opportunities and the company’s ability to execute its long-term strategy. Until then, the combination of HSBC’s bearish outlook, elevated insider selling and previously overbought technical conditions is likely to keep sentiment towards IBM under pressure. IBM stock price

Projections for corporate earnings per share (EPS) are experiencing a pre-earnings upward revision, marking the strongest growth trajectory seen since the immediate post-pandemic boom, HSBC says. Majority of this record-breaking EPS momentum is isolated within a select group of mega-cap companies. Growth will primarily come from key sectors—including energy, technology and industrials. Corporate America is entering its second-quarter earnings season on a historically strong footing. Expectations for corporate earnings growth are expected to surge the most in the post-pandemic era, according to a recent report by HSBC Global Investment Research. Market analysts have historically revised their corporate earnings per share (EPS) projections ahead of the official quarterly reporting cycle. Typically, consensus estimates moderate in the weeks leading up to earnings rollouts, but high fundamental demand and an increase in overall investor revenue expectations, specifically in AI-focused tech stocks have skewed analyst expectations. See what 10M+ investors are talking about. Get the Stocktwits Daily Rip for what retail is watching right now, free to your inbox A report by HSBC, published by Seeking Alpha, highlighted that while these projections are historically lofty, the investment firm remains unconcerned. Nicole Inui, head of equity strategy for the Americas at HSBC Global Investment Research, said optimism is anchored by the fact that the explosive expansion is not a fragile, generalized bubble but is instead highly concentrated within fundamentally strong sectors and dominant market players. HSBC expects energy (XLE), (VDE), (XOP) and information technology (VGT), (XLK), (SOXX) to lead earnings growth with double and triple-digit gains. Mega-Cap Technology Anchors Momentum The technology sector will remain the premier driver of the market's record earnings expansion, taking support from strong cloud computing growth and massive capital commitments toward artificial intelligence infrastructure. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) reported a booming Q1 2026 revenue of $77.7 billion, representing an 18% increase year-over-year. The tech giant's diluted GAAP earnings per share landed at $3.72, heavily supported by a 40% revenue surge in its Azure and cloud services business Whereas, Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) announced a consolidated Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion, marking a 22...

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. HSBC identified 10 Buy-rated stocks it believes are well positioned ahead of the second-quarter earnings season, citing favorable trends across technology, financial, consumer and industrial sectors. HSBC named Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Alphabet (GOOGL), AbbVie (ABBV), Caterpillar (CAT), Marriott International (MAR), Vertiv (VRT), NextPower (NXT) and Wells Fargo (WFC) as its preferred earnings-season ideas. The firm said the selections reflect company-specific growth drivers rather than a single sector theme. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Sign with AMZN. Is AMZN fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. HSBC expects Amazon to benefit from continued cloud computing demand and AI infrastructure investments, while Microsoft could see further momentum from Azure AI services. The brokerage also pointed to Meta's AI-powered advertising tools, Alphabet's cloud and search businesses, and Vertiv's exposure to expanding data center spending. Outside technology, HSBC said AbbVie's immunology portfolio, Caterpillar's exposure to AI-related power demand, Marriott's asset-light business model and Wells Fargo's improving earnings outlook could support results. The brokerage also highlighted NextPower's project backlog and expansion efforts as potential growth catalysts heading into the reporting season.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) remained in focus after HSBC said the chipmaker's latest quarterly results reinforce that artificial intelligence spending continues to support demand across the semiconductor industry, despite recent concerns about the broader AI trade. HSBC said Micron's earnings provided fundamental evidence that AI-related investment remains resilient, countering market narratives that recent weakness in technology shares reflected a slowdown in AI demand. The bank noted that concerns surrounding Federal Reserve policy and leveraged exchange-traded products had weighed on sentiment, even as Micron delivered record financial results and a strong outlook. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with MU. Is MU fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. The firm added that market narratives can temporarily overshadow fundamentals, pointing to last year's semiconductor pullback before AI infrastructure demand regained momentum. HSBC said investor positioning currently appears neutral rather than excessively optimistic, reducing concerns about overheating in the sector. Looking ahead, HSBC said continued strength in the AI trade remains one of several potential market surprises for the second half of 2026, while more accommodative U.S. monetary policy expectations could provide additional support for equities.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is included among the 10 Safe Stocks to Buy for the Long Term in 2026. Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com On May 26, BofA raised the firm’s price target on Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) to $135 from $114. It reiterated a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst said Cisco’s recent fiscal Q3 results, along with management’s comments about continued strong demand for Acacia, support a positive view on the underlying demand environment for optical networking. On May 15, HSBC upgraded CSCO to Buy from Hold. It raised its price target on the stock to $137 from $77. As previously reported, the firm said the company delivered a “modest” beat in fiscal Q3, though new AI orders shifted the conversation around future growth. Management expects FY27 AI revenue to reach at least $6B, which implies roughly 50% year-over-year growth, the analyst told investors. HSBC said stronger momentum in AI infrastructure and improved earnings visibility were key reasons behind the rating upgrade and higher price target. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) designs and sells a range of technologies that power the internet. The company is integrating its product portfolios across networking, security, collaboration, applications, and cloud services. While we acknowledge the potential of CSCO 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: Dividend Stock Portfolio For Retirement: Top 12 Stock Picks and 10 Best June Dividend Stocks to Buy Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.

(Bloomberg) -- While software stocks rebound from the artificial intelligence-driven wipeout earlier this year, Salesforce Inc. hasn’t really benefited. But its earnings after the close Wednesday could pull the company’s shares out of their malaise. Most Read from Bloomberg Singapore Hands Byju's Founder His First Ever Jail Term Iran’s Khamenei Says No Going Back for Middle East Rocked by War Ex-President Biden Sues to Stop DOJ Sharing Interview Tapes Two More Oil Supertankers Exit Hormuz to Help Push Up Flows ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Studio Draws Tencent Music Investment Salesforce is up 8% since hitting a three-year low on April 10, but the stock still has lost 32% this year. It’s badly underperforming the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector exchange-traded fund, which has jumped 25% since hitting its own recent low on April 10 and is down 12% this year. And both are being trounced by the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index’s 19% rise in 2026, largely powered by high-flying chipmakers. Salesforce shares dipped 0.1% on Wednesday afternoon. “It has gone through a very painful period, but there’s a stickiness and staple-like nature to the business that people have underestimated, even though revenue is still growing at a decent pace,” said Brian Kersmanc, portfolio manager at GQG Partners, which owns Salesforce shares. “Now that we’ve had this big washout, I think we’re going to start seeing the merits shine through.” Software stocks are getting some life as encouraging corporate earnings reports indicate that AI may not end up devastating growth like investors had assumed, and in some cases it could be a potential tailwind. That, coupled with valuations that fell to rock-bottom levels, has Wall Street thinking that the industrywide weakness from earlier this year may have gone too far. Salesforce, however, has missed much of the bounce back as it continues to face questions about its prospects. Wall Street’s primary concern is competition from Anthropic and OpenAI weakening demand and pricing power for its customer relationship management software, which for years drove robust growth at high margins. For example, Bank of America last week reinstated coverage of the company with an underperform rating due to “structurally lower growth” and greater competitive risks from AI. “Salesforce remains a deeply entrenched platform, yet we expect a structural reset driven...

Investing.com -- Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) shares rose 7% Tuesday morning after HSBC upgraded the stock to Buy and set a Street-high price target of $300, up from $85, ahead of the company’s earnings report scheduled for Wednesday. HSBC analyst Frank Lee raised the firm’s price target and earnings estimates, citing undervalued revenue growth from optical interconnect and compute express link opportunities. The new target represents a 53% increase from current levels and exceeds the previous Street-high of $230 set by Susquehanna Financial earlier in the day. Lee revised his fiscal year 2027 optical interconnect revenue estimate to $5.2 billion, 10% above consensus, and fiscal year 2028 revenue to $8.8 billion, 37% higher than consensus. The analyst expects the market for optical transceivers to grow 70% in 2027 as AI clusters expand from single racks to multi-rack AI factories. "We believe the revenue growth from optical interconnect is still being underestimated by the market, which will lead to upside to consensus forecasts over the next two years," Lee wrote. The analyst noted Marvell holds a majority market share in Digital Signal Processors, which have a 1:1 attach rate to optical transceivers. HSBC raised its fiscal year 2027 and 2028 earnings per share estimates by 21% and 61% to $4.07 and $7.12, respectively, and applied a target price-to-earnings ratio of 42 times fiscal year 2028 estimates. Lee also cited potential upside from compute express link demand driven by memory shortages related to agentic AI CPU requirements. The firm’s fiscal year 2028 and 2029 ASIC revenue estimates are 16% and 24% higher than consensus. Susquehanna Financial raised its price target on Marvell to $230 from $100 Tuesday, maintaining a positive rating. Analyst Christopher Rolland noted Amazon capex was revised higher to $218 billion from $200 billion following AWS’s first quarter earnings report. Anthropic recently announced a new agreement with Amazon for up to 5 gigawatts of compute. For Inphi, Rolland said shipments of 800G transceiver modules are expected to double in 2026 after already doubling in 2025. Stifel analyst Tore Svanberg raised his price target on Marvell to $210 from $140 on Friday while maintaining a Buy rating. Related articles Marvell stock surges 7% as analysts raise price targets ahead of earnings Wolfe Research outlines eight risks that...

HSBC Holdings HSBC reported first-quarter 2026 pre-tax profit of $9.38 billion, which declined 1.1% from the prior-year quarter. Results were primarily hurt by an increase in expected credit losses and other credit impairment charges (ECL), along with an increase in operating expenses. However, a rise in revenues supported the results to some extent. Total revenues were $18.62 billion, up 5.5% year over year. The rise was primarily driven by higher net interest income, net fee income and other operating income. Total operating expenses (excluding amortization and impairment of intangible assets) increased 6.8% year over year to $8 billion. In the quarter under review, ECL was $1.3 billion, up 48.5% from the prior-year quarter. The charge in the reported quarter primarily reflected a $0.4-billion fraud-related, secondary, securitization exposure with a financial sponsor in the U.K. in the Corporate and Institutional Banking business, as well as a $0.3-billion increase in allowances to reflect heightened uncertainty and a deterioration in the forward economic outlook due to the Middle East conflict. The common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio, as of March 31, 2026, was 14%, down from 14.9% as of Dec. 31, 2025. The leverage ratio was 5%, down from 5.3% as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Hong Kong Business: The segment reported $2.59 billion in pre-tax profit, up 4.7% from the year-ago period. The rise was driven by higher revenues and lower ECL. The UK Business: The segment reported a pre-tax profit of $1.65 billion, up 12% from the year-ago quarter. A rise in revenues resulted in the increase. Corporate and Institutional Banking: Pre-tax profit was $3.34 billion, which declined 9.1% year over year. The fall was due to higher ECL and higher expenses. International Wealth and Premier Banking: Pre-tax profit was $1.23 billion, which increased 3.6% year over year. The rise was driven by higher revenues and lower ECL. Corporate Centre: The segment reported a pre-tax profit of $571 million, down 15.8% from the year-ago quarter. The company’s board of directors approved a first interim dividend of 10 cents per share for 2026. For 2026, management expects banking net interest income (NII) of at least $46 billion, changed from the prior guidance of $45 billion. The increase reflects an improved interest rate outlook. ECL charges as a percentage of average gross loans are expected to b...

(Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc reported profit that missed estimates, weighed down by an unexpected charge related to the collapse of UK mortgage lender Market Financial Solutions Ltd. and rising economic risks stemming from the conflict in the Middle East. Most Read from Bloomberg US Has Opened a Passage Through Hormuz, Central Command Says US and Iran Trade Fire in Gulf, Jolting Four-Week-Old Truce China’s Rare Sanctions Pushback Leaves Banks Caught in Crossfire Former NYC Mayor Giuliani in Critical Condition, Trump Says Beijing Tells China Firms to Ignore US Sanctions on Refiners Pretax profit for the first three months of the year fell to $9.4 billion, missing the $9.6 billion average estimate compiled by the bank. Those results were partially offset by a resilient performance within the lender’s wealth and Hong Kong units, as well as an upgrade to its net interest income outlook. The London-based bank booked $1.3 billion in expected credit losses for the period. This figure was driven largely by a $400 million charge linked to what the bank described as a “fraud-related, secondary, securitization exposure with a financial sponsor in the UK.” That’s tied to the failure of specialized lender Market Financial Solutions, also known as MFS, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Apollo Global Management Inc.’s unit Atlas SP Partners is the financial sponsor, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter that it didn’t identify. HSBC also recorded a $300 million increase in allowances tied to a deteriorating global economic outlook following the onset of hostilities in the Middle East. The “results contained a fair amount of noise across revenue and cost lines, but the underlying picture is one of a mildly stronger banking NII print and ongoing strength in wealth,” Joseph Dickerson and Priya Rathod, analysts at Jefferies, said in a note. They rate the shares a hold. HSBC’s shares were down 6.25% at 10:03 a.m. in London. The lender’s exposure to the MFS saga underlines how intertwined banking has become with private credit and nonbanks, with firms including Barclays Plc and Banco Santander SA also caught out. The broadening scope of the conflict in Iran is also threatening a region that HSBC had targeted for aggressive wealth and corporate banking expansion, th...

HSBC reported first-quarter pre-tax profit of $9.37 billion on Tuesday, falling short of estimates after the bank booked a surprise charge tied to an alleged U.K. fraud and set aside additional funds to cover risks from the Middle East conflict. Analysts had expected pre-tax profit of $9.59 billion, according to CNBC. Net profit for the quarter was $6.94 billion, a 0.1% increase from a year earlier. Analysts had projected $7.02 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Quarterly revenue of $18.62 billion topped the $18.49 billion analyst estimate, a 6% increase from the prior year period that HSBC attributed to gains in wealth fees and other income. Credit losses for the quarter totaled $1.3 billion. HSBC attributed $400 million of that figure to what it called a "fraud-related, secondary, securitization exposure with a financial sponsor in the U.K.," while a separate $300 million was set aside against the economic fallout from fighting in the Middle East. According to Bloomberg, the unexpected provision traces back to the implosion of Market Financial Solutions, a London-based firm that made short-term property loans. Atlas SP Partners, the structured-credit arm of Apollo Global Management, was identified as the financial sponsor. The Wall Street Journal reported that HSBC had lent directly to Atlas, which came to hold MFS assets after purchasing Credit Suisse's asset-backed lending unit, and that Atlas carried roughly £400 million in MFS-related exposure. According to The Wall Street Journal, a recent update from MFS administrators disclosed two lines of inquiry: funds that appear to have been routed to incorrect accounts, and collateral that may have been pledged repeatedly to secure multiple loans. Barclays, Castlelake, Jefferies Financial, and Banco Santander also had exposure to MFS, The Journal said. CFO Pam Kaur characterized the loss as a one-time event and said a portfolio-wide review had turned up no similar concerns. "We regard this charge as idiosyncratic," Kaur told The Wall Street Journal. "We have completed a review of the highest areas of risk in our portfolio and haven't identified any comparable fraud concerns." Kaur acknowledged that HSBC had depended on the private-equity firm's own due diligence processes and said the bank intends to tighten its oversight going forward. HSBC disclosed that private-credit exposure across its loan bo...

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.4% and the actively trad