HSBC Profit Rises 32% to $9.6 Billion but Revenue Miss Weighs on Shares

HSBC reported a 32% increase in third-quarter pretax profit to $9.6 billion on Tuesday, October 27, although its shares fell as investors focused on weaker-than-expected revenue and slowing growth in the bank's wealth business.

The London-headquartered banking group reported $18.6 billion in revenue for the July-to-September quarter, about 5% higher than a year earlier but below the roughly $19 billion analysts had expected, according to Reuters. The profit increase partly reflected the absence of significant legal provisions recorded in the comparable quarter of 2025, so it should not be read as an equivalent increase in underlying operating performance.

HSBC said pretax profit excluding notable items was $10.0 billion. It also approved a third interim dividend of $0.10 per share and said it intends to begin another share buyback of up to $1 billion. The company maintained its medium-term profitability targets rather than increasing them after the results.

The wealth business was a particular concern. Reuters reported that its quarterly revenue was unchanged at $2.7 billion after year-on-year growth of 15% and 23% in the first two quarters of 2026. The slower pace matters because HSBC has been investing in wealth management and other fee-generating services as part of its business strategy.

The bank said its common equity tier one capital ratio, a measure of its highest-quality regulatory capital relative to risk-weighted assets, stood at 13.9% at the end of September, down 0.2 percentage points from June. It also reported a third-quarter banking net interest income measure of $11.7 billion, reflecting the earnings from lending and deposits under its management reporting definition.

Reuters reported that HSBC shares dropped about 6% following the announcement. A share-price decline does not negate the higher reported profit, but it indicates that investors were weighing the revenue miss, competition for deposits and the bank's decision not to raise guidance. Management's targets remain forecasts rather than guaranteed outcomes.