David Driscoll
Banco Santander SA
SAN-N
WEAK BUY
Mar 25, 2025
The large Spanish banks are up 40-50% this year due to more tourism spending there, plus the bank's diversification across Latin American. They may leave the UK and its high taxes and laws. But the Spanish banks are 3x riskier than European ones, because the Spanish one's non-performing assets are 3% vs. the 1% average. Take this with a grain of salt. SAN is having a great year, but is coming off previous lows.
(A Top Pick Oct 17/18, Down 1%) Tailwind went when Fed slowed on interest hikes. Dissatisfied holding it. Wouldn't panic sell it, but it depends if he finds a better place to park capital.
A unique franchise--a Spanish bank with a strong presence in Latin America as well as Europe and UK. It's a retail bank. Look at their growth in emerging markets, which is the key to the story. This can be volatile given the economies of those countries, especially during Covid. That said, they execute well. You buy this for the growth in Latin America.
European bank stocks have been hammered worse then North American ones because of the Russian war. Valuations now look cheap, like 6x PE with SAN. However, ING is better-run and trades at a similar PE, and pays a 6% dividend, so he prefers it.
If Ukraine gets settled soon, it's a great buy, as it's very cheap. Politics is getting in the way. A worldwide bank, but the bulk is in Europe. He'd prefer ING.
The large Spanish banks are up 40-50% this year due to more tourism spending there, plus the bank's diversification across Latin American. They may leave the UK and its high taxes and laws. But the Spanish banks are 3x riskier than European ones, because the Spanish one's non-performing assets are 3% vs. the 1% average. Take this with a grain of salt. SAN is having a great year, but is coming off previous lows.