Standard Chartered share price has been in a strong bull run, and is now hovering at its all-time high. STAN has jumped in the last three consecutive months, and is up by over 330% from its lowest point during the pandemic, giving it a market capitalization of over £30 billion.
Standard Chartered earnings ahead
Standard Chartered is one of the biggest banks in Europe with over $850 billion in assets. While its headquarters are in London, the company makes most of its money in Asian countries, especially in Hong Kong.
Standard Chartered share price has been in a strong surge in the past few months, mirroring the performance of other European banks like HSBC, Lloyds, BNP Paribas, and Societe Generale.
The company will be in the spotlight next week as it publishes its financial results, which will shed more color on its performance. Specifically, investors will focus on its ongoing cost efficiencies and the growth of its wealth management.
Standard Chartered stock will also react to the impact of the ongoing trade war between the United States and other countries. The recent stock surge is a sign that market participants expect the company to be immune to the situation.
The most recent results showed that Standard Chartered’s net interest income (NII) rose by 7% to $2.79 billion in the first quarter, while the non-NII rose by $2.59 billion. This, in turn, brought its operating income t $5.39 billion.
Standard Chartered’s profit before tax jumped by 12% to $2.3 billion. Most notably, the company’s wealth management has been in a strong growth in the past few months, a trend that will continue as the middle class expands.
STAN’s wealth management business made over $2.1 billion in operating income, a 12% surge from a year earlier. This growth was driven by its wealth solutions, whose income jumped by 28% to over $777 million.
Standard Chartered share price has also done well because of its capital return strategy. It is now implementing a $1.5 billion share buyback, and the management expects to return £8 billion or about 25% of its market capitalization to shareholders by 2026.
The ongoing share buybacks have reduced the number of stocks in circulation. It now has over 2.38 billion shares, down from 3.15 billion in 2020.
The other catalyst for the STAN share price will be its cost cuts. As a result, they expect that its operating expenses will be less than $12.6 billion by 2026.
Standard Chartered share price technical analysis
STAN stock chart | Source: TradingView
The weekly chart shows that the STAN share price has been in a strong bull run in the past few years. It moved from a low of 324p in 2020 to 1,350p, a notable level as this is where it formed a double-top pattern in November 2010 and March 2013.
Standard Chartered stock price has remained above all moving averages. Also, it has formed a giant cup-and-handle (C&H) pattern, a popular bullish continuation pattern. This cup has a depth of about 80%. Measuring the same distance from the upper side brings the target price to 2,430p.
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