UBS: HSBC HOLDINGS 2Q Results Slightly Beat but Buyback Size Misses; Neutral Rating Kept
Complete. Here is the key summaryUBS maintains a Neutral rating on HSBC Holdings after its Q2 results slightly beat expectations, driven by strong revenue and NII. However, the bank's $1 billion share buyback program fell short of UBS's $2 billion forecast, and CET1 capital was below consensus. Despite solid H1 trends, UBS believes these factors are unlikely to alter market outlooks, keeping the target price at GBX1,520.
HSBC HOLDINGS (00005.HK) -4.500 (-2.703%) Short selling $223.37M; Ratio 12.848% 's adjusted PBT for 2Q lifted 13% YoY to USD10.34 billion, 5% above market expectations, thanks to better-than-expected revenue, UBS said in a report. HSBC's NII in 2Q was 1% above market expectations, while fees and other income topped expectations by 4%.
UBS said HSBC's loans grew 2% QoQ and deposits hiked 2.6% QoQ in 2Q, both at CER. The CET1 stood at 14.1%, 10 bps below consensus due to risk-weighted assets being 1% higher than expected. The company announced an interim DPS of USD0.10 and restarted a share buyback program of up to USD1 billion, although the amount was way below UBS' previous expectation of around USD2 billion.
Although HSBC showed strong trends in 1H26, the size of the buyback and the increase in NII guidance both fell short of the broker's expectations, while the three-year targets were unchanged. It believed today's results are unlikely to prompt the market to reassess the bank's financial outlook.
UBS maintained its Neutral rating on HSBC with a TP of GBX1,520.
(HK stocks quote is delayed for at least 15 mins.Short Selling Data as at 2026-08-05 12:25.)