Banco Santander S.a Stock Earnings Reports

Santander reported a record Q3 2025 with quarterly profit of EUR 3.5bn and the best 9-month result in the bank's history. Key takeaways: strong revenue growth (+4% constant euros) driven by fees (record quarter, +8%) and broad-based contributions from global businesses (Payments, Wealth, CIB, Consumer, Retail); continued customer growth (+7m y/y to 178m) and progress on ONE Transformation (simplification, automation, common platforms) delivering efficiency gains and positive operating leverage; improving profitability with post‑AT1 RoTE at 16.1% (up ~70bps) and upgraded RoTE target of ~16.5% for 2025; CET1 capital at an all‑time high of 13.1% with strong capital generation and disciplined capital allocation; an accelerated and upgraded share buyback plan committing to distribute at least EUR 10bn via buybacks for 2025–26 (subject to approvals); credit quality broadly stable to improving (group cost of risk ~1.13% in Q3, with some country-specific dynamics: Brazil elevated but normalizing; U.S. consumer and auto performing resiliently); continued investments in digital platforms (Gravity, Payments Hub, Openbank) with expected further cost savings as legacy systems are decommissioned. Management reiterated targets for revenue (~EUR 62bn for 2025), cost control (costs down 1% y/y in current euros), and cost of risk around ~1.15% by year-end, while flagging that 2026 will include transitional costs from platform rollouts and capital impacts from announced M&A (Poland sale, TSB acquisition).