HSBC Shares: Citi and BNP Paribas Cut Ratings After Results

HSBC (LON: HSBA) shares came under pressure after two brokers downgraded the stock following the bank’s second-quarter results, even as the underlying quarter was viewed as solid.

Citi lowered HSBC to Neutral from Buy, cutting its price target to 1,570 pence from 1,640 pence.

The analyst noted the shares are up 40% year to date and that the company guided to incremental cost spending over the near term.

Citi believes that spending could limit estimate upside in 2027, and said HSBC’s focus on volume growth may constrain near-term buybacks. Separately, BNP Paribas downgraded the stock two notches to Underperform from Neutral.

Meanwhile, Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman stated in an article that HSBC “delivered a solid quarter with growth from across the business,” with second-quarter underlying revenue up 7% to $19.0bn and underlying pre-tax profit up 13% to $10.3bn.

The bank announced a second interim dividend of $0.10 per share, and nudged up guidance to banking net interest income of “at least” $46bn in 2026.

However, Britzman cautioned that much of the strength “had already been telegraphed heading into results,” with the small guidance upgrade only matching consensus.

He also flagged a less helpful cost outlook and noted the buyback “was smaller than some expected,” warning that strong loan growth could see buyback expectations come down.

Britzman added that HSBC remains his preferred UK-listed name for Asian exposure, though UK-focused banks have a clearer medium-term growth path. Shares fell 0.8% on Tuesday to 1,584.6p.