Fact based stock research
HSBC (LSE:HSBA)

GB0005405286

How to read the free ranks

For every stock, we judge its performance against its peers and rank it on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the rank, the better the stock performs than its peers. And, we do this for six investment strategies:
Value - shows how good of a value the stock is. Green is "inexpensive"; red is "expensive".

Growth - shows a company's growth potential. Green is "high growth" expected; red is "tough times ahead".

Safety - relates to the amount of debt a company has. Green is low debt level; red is high debt level.

Combined Financial - this isn't an average of the first three ranks but rather a consolidated view across several financial indicators. Green = good; red = tread carefully.

(NEW) Sentiment - quantifies professional analyst ratings and holdings as well as market pulse. Green = positive sentiment; red = skepticism (Only available to Premium Subscribers).

(NEW) 360° View - the ultimate rating with all financial and non-financial indicators.

HSBC stock research in summary

hsbc.com

ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Combined Rank of 28 (worse than 72% compared with investment alternatives), HSBC (Diversified Banks, United Kingdom) shares have somewhat below-average financial characteristics compared with similar stocks. Shares of HSBC are low in value (priced high) with a consolidated Value Rank of 41 (worse than 59% of alternatives) and show below-average growth (Growth Rank of 25) but are safely financed (Safety Rank of 60), which means low debt burdens. ...read more

RECOMMENDATION: A Combined Rank of 28, is a hold recommendation based on HSBC's financial characteristics. As the company HSBC's critical financial metrics exhibit below-average performance, such as low value (Obermatt Value Rank of 41) and low growth (Obermatt Growth Rank of 25), it is a somewhat questionable stock investment, where the risk of paying too much for the shares is significant, unless the company has an exceptionally bright future. In this case, good financing practices (Obermatt Safety Rank of 60) are a positive sign, because it may allow the company to weather challenging times until the hoped-for cash flows materialize. This may be true for high-tech or biotechnology companies with enough cash to sustain prolonged business development. If they own properties that only provide cash flows in the future, the stock may look excessively expensive and unattractive today. In such cases, the Obermatt Method has limited value, as it is based on facts we can observe today. If the facts lie all in the future, stock investing becomes guesswork, and this should only be a driver in a limited number of investments that account for a small fraction of a safe portfolio. Obermatt Premium subscribers can further check the stock’s Sentiment Ranks, which also flow into the Obermatt 360° View for investors. ...read more

Latest Obermatt Ranks


360° View^new
Sentiment Rank^new
Value Rank	41
Growth Rank	25
Safety Rank	60
Combined Rank	28

Country	United Kingdom
Industry	Diversified Banks
Index	FTSE All Shares, FTSE 100, FTSE 350, Dividends Europe, Employee Focus EU, Human Rights, Recycling
Size class	XX-Large

26-Jun-2025. Stock data may be delayed. Log in or sign up to get the most recent research.

Further information

Multiple opinions. One number.

Analysts rarely agree on a stock’s future. So, who do you believe? Obermatt translates those collective views into a single Sentiment Rank. That plus the financial ranks give you the ultimate 360° View. Sign up to access them.

Why popular stocks have low ratings

It’s easier said than done. When your stock drops, it’s easy to want to sell it and find a better performer. Think twice, or even three times, before trading. Those fees (especially the hidden ones) can eat up your gains.

Review the performance ranks of the individual metrics that form each investment strategy.

Research History: HSBC

RESEARCH HISTORY	2022	2023	2024	2025
VALUE
VALUE	52	57	29	41
GROWTH
GROWTH	29	31	67	25
SAFETY
SAFETY	86	58	37	60
SENTIMENT
SENTIMENT	27	53	36	^new
360° VIEW
360° VIEW	35	54	29	^new

Most recent update of the stock research: 26-Jun-2025. Financial reporting date used for calculating ranks: 31-Mar-2025. Stock research history is based on the Obermatt Method. The higher the rank, the better HSBC is in the corresponding investment strategy.
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Combined financial peformance in Detail

RESEARCH HISTORY	2022	2023	2024	2025
VALUE
VALUE	52	57	29	41
GROWTH
GROWTH	29	31	67	25
SAFETY
SAFETY	86	58	37	60
COMBINED
COMBINED	58	46	30	28

Last update of combined financial performance: 26-Jun-2025. Stock analysis on combined financial performance: The higher the rank of HSBC the better the performance.

Value Metrics in Detail

ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Value Rank of 41 (worse than 59% compared with alternatives), HSBC shares are more expensive than the average comparable stock. The Value Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with half of the indicators below and half above average for HSBC. Price-to-Profit (also referred to as price-earnings, P/E) is 54 which means that the stock price compared with what market professionals expect for future profits is lower than for 54% of comparable companies, indicating a good value concerning HSBC's profit levels. The same is valid for Price-to-Book Capital (also referred to as market-to-book ratio) with a Price-to-Book Rank of 39, which means that the stock price is lower as regards to invested capital than for 39% of comparable investments. On the other hand, Price-to-Sales is less favorable than 55% of alternatives (only 45% of peers have an even less favorable ratio). The same is valid for dividend yield, which is lower than 46% of comparable companies, making the stock more expensive as regards to the company's expected dividend payouts. ...read more

RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Value Rank of 41, is a hold recommendation based on HSBC's stock price compared with the company's operational size and dividend yields. This is a puzzling picture, because it means that profits are high while dividends are low. Since the stock price is low compared with invested capital but high in respect to expected revenues, it means that the company has more invested capital than peers for generating the same amount of revenue. Since profits are higher, it could be a "cash cow" situation (using the classic Boston Consulting BCG matrix naming convention) where the company is on a downward trend, still living from the profits of past products. As the company pays low dividends, it may harbor the opinion that a turnaround is possible, and it rather invests the cash than pay it out to shareholders, thus sealing the company's fate early. Any investment optimism should only be a buy trigger once thorough research is completed. We recommend further analyzing the stock with Obermatt’s Value, Safety, and Sentiment Ranks, including the 360° View, before making an investment decision, which is especially important in this case, as the financial indicators are inconclusive. ...read more

VALUE METRICS	2022	2023	2024	2025
PRICE VS. REVENUES (P/S)
PRICE VS. REVENUES (P/S)	45	44	36	45
PRICE VS. PROFITS (P/E)
PRICE VS. PROFITS (P/E)	44	55	50	54
PRICE VS. CAPITAL (Market-to-Book)
PRICE VS. CAPITAL (Market-to-Book)	53	44	35	39
DIVIDEND YIELD
DIVIDEND YIELD	75	92	45	54
CONSOLIDATED RANK: VALUE
CONSOLIDATED RANK: VALUE	52	57	29	41

Last update of Value Rank: 26-Jun-2025. Stock analysis on value ratios: The higher the rank, the lower the value ratio of HSBC; except for dividend yield where the rank is higher, the higher the yield.

Growth Metrics in Detail

ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Growth Rank of 25 (better than 25% compared with alternatives), HSBC shows a below-average growth dynamic in its industry. There is limited momentum in this company. The Growth Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with half of the indicators below and half above average for HSBC. Capital Growth has a rank of 57, which means that currently professionals expect the company to grow its invested capital more than 47% of its competitors. Investors welcomed this, visible in the Stock Returns rank of 51 (above 51% of alternative investments). But Sales Growth has only a rank of 17, which means that, currently, professionals expect the company to grow less than 83% of its competitors, and Profit Growth is also low at a rank of 47. ...read more

RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Growth Rank of 25, is a hold recommendation for growth and momentum investors. This is an ambiguous picture. Revenue growth and capital growth are strong, but the growth in profit, which seems good, can also be an indication that growth momentum may be negative. The fact that stock returns have been above average doesn't help much, as stock returns are less reliable in showing a company’s future growth potential. Prices may perform well for the simple reason that investors were too pessimistic in the past and are now correcting their opinions and moving the stock price to a more reasonable level. As the growth picture is mixed for HSBC, investors may want to look at value and sentiment indicators for a well-rounded picture of this stock. While momentum is a popular investment factor, the value aspect might be the more important one, in the longer term. We recommend analyzing the stock with Obermatt’s Value, Safety, and Sentiment Ranks to arrive at a 360° View of the stock purchase case, especially since the growth performance is mixed here. ...read more

GROWTH METRICS	2022	2023	2024	2025
REVENUE GROWTH
REVENUE GROWTH	55	28	61	17
PROFIT GROWTH
PROFIT GROWTH	70	59	40	47
CAPITAL GROWTH
CAPITAL GROWTH	31	25	68	57
STOCK RETURNS
STOCK RETURNS	37	65	75	51
CONSOLIDATED RANK: GROWTH
CONSOLIDATED RANK: GROWTH	29	31	67	25

Last update of Growth Rank: 26-Jun-2025. Stock analysis on growth metrics: The higher the rank, the higher the growth and returns of HSBC.

Safety Metrics in Detail

ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Safety Rank of 60 (better than 60% compared with alternatives), the company HSBC has financing practices on the safer side, which mean that their overall debt burden is lower than average. This doesn't mean that the business of HSBC is safe, it only means that the company is on the safer side regarding possible bankruptcy, assuming that public reporting is correct. The Safety Rank is based on consolidating three financing indicators where two out of three are above average for HSBC.Leverage is at 62, meaning the company has a below-average debt-to-equity ratio. It has less debt than 62% of its competitors.Refinancing is at a rank of 70, meaning that the portion of the debt that is about to be refinanced is below average. It has less debt in the refinancing stage than 70% of its competitors. Liquidity is at 34, meaning that the company generates less profit to service its debt than 66% of its competitors. This indicates that the company is on the riskier side regarding debt service. ...read more

RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Safety Rank of 60 (better than 60% compared with alternatives), HSBC has a financing structure that is safer than that of its competitors. Low leverage and low refinancing risk mean a safer financing situation. However, low liquidity means that current company cash flows are low in relation to the level of debt. This is a sign of caution in case it is expected for profits to remain low. Investors should compare Obermatt’s Value, Growth, and Sentiment Ranks before deciding. They may also want to investigate why cash flows are expected to be low, making debt service for HSBC more challenging. ...read more

SAFETY METRICS	2022	2023	2024	2025
LEVERAGE
LEVERAGE	98	64	51	62
REFINANCING
REFINANCING	22	79	64	70
LIQUIDITY
LIQUIDITY	71	28	35	34
CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY
CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY	86	58	37	60

Last update of Safety Rank: 26-Jun-2025. Stock analysis on safety metrics: The higher the rank, the lower the leverage of HSBC and the more cash is available to service its debt.

Sentiment Metrics in Detail

SENTIMENT	2022	2023	2024	2025
ANALYST OPINIONS
ANALYST OPINIONS	n/a	44	41	^new
OPINIONS CHANGE
OPINIONS CHANGE	64	64	70	^new
PRO HOLDINGS
PRO HOLDINGS	38	57	51	^new
MARKET PULSE
MARKET PULSE	42	48	31	^new
CONSOLIDATED RANK: SENTIMENT
CONSOLIDATED RANK: SENTIMENT	27	53	36	^new

Last update of Sentiment Rank: 26-Jun-2025. Stock analysis on sentiment metrics: The higher the rank, the more positive the sentiment for HSBC.
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