Banco Bilbao Vizcaya ArgentariaBBVA

The bank reported earnings per share of $0.63, which was higher than the $0.59 analysts expected. Revenue reached about 12.1 billion dollars, also beating the 11.9 billion dollar target. This growth was led by the bank's business in Mexico, which remains its most profitable market and a core part of its strategy.

Management also raised its outlook for the year, now expecting a return on tangible equity, a measure of how much profit the bank generates from its shareholders' money, of around 21 percent. To share these gains, the bank plans to spend 2.3 billion dollars on a new share buyback, which reduces the total number of shares and makes each remaining share more valuable.

See the full quarter, and how our tracked metrics did

Key highlights

• Profit and shareholder returns: The bank earned 6.05 billion euros in the first half of the year, which is an 11.1% increase compared to last year. Management is using this strength to reward owners by launching a new 2 billion euro share buyback program, a process where the company buys its own stock to make the remaining shares more valuable.
• Loan growth momentum: Total loans grew by 17.7% over the last 12 months, driven by strong demand in the business and consumer sectors. This growth helped the bank gain more ground in its primary markets, bringing its market share to 14.15% in Spain and 26.17% in Mexico.
• Efficiency and cost management: The efficiency ratio, which measures how much it costs to generate revenue, improved to 37.8% from 38.8% last year. While total operating costs rose 17.9% to 8 billion euros, the bank is still growing its revenue faster than its expenses when excluding one time costs like severance payments.
• Credit risk and buffers: The bank set aside 3.50 billion euros for potential loan losses, a 24.2% increase from a year ago as it grows its lending business. Despite this larger safety net, the actual percentage of non performing loans, which are loans that customers are struggling to pay back, remained low at 2.6%.
• Capital strength and outlook: The bank reported a capital buffer of 12.90%, which is well above its target range of 11.5% to 12%. This strong financial position gives the company confidence it will meet all its long term financial goals through 2028, including its plan to use artificial intelligence to lower costs and personalize services.

Our take: A very strong quarter that shows the bank is firing on all cylinders across its major markets. The standout 17.7% loan growth is driving record profits and allowing for massive cash returns to shareholders. This performance reinforces our view that the bank can maintain its industry leading profitability for years to come.