What Makes Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) a Potential Investment?

Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Global Fund” second-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The second quarter marked a period of extremes. The stocks fell after the “Liberation Day” tariff announcement in early April and rebounded following the pause in tariff implementation. Enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) themed stocks and robust corporate earnings results lifted global and U.S. indices to new highs. Against this backdrop, the Ariel Global fund traded +7.38% higher in the quarter, compared to the +11.53% return of the MSCI ACWI Index and +5.84% return of the MSCI ACWI Value Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, Ariel Global Fund highlighted stocks such as Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA). Headquartered in Bilbao, Spain, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) offers retail banking, wholesale banking, and asset management services. The one-month return of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) was 1.54%, and its shares gained 81.97% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 16, 2025, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) stock closed at $19.18 per share, with a market capitalization of $110.412 billion.

Ariel Global Fund stated the following regarding Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:

“We bought Spain-based global commercial bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) which operates the largest bank in Mexico and has leading franchises across South America and Turkey. We expect loan growth in Mexico to be driven by market share gains, low levels of leverage and the potential near shoring of US production. We also favor BBVA’s exposure to Turkey and its attractive age demographics. Falling inflation and a reduction in the policy rate in the country should help revenues prosper. A potential merger between BBVA and Banco Sabadell would also unlock significant value via market share gains, cost synergies and scale in product offerings as well as technological investments. Even though BBVA offers a superior return-on equity relative to peers, at current levels shares are trading at a meaningful discount.”

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 10 hedge fund portfolios held Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) at the end of the second quarter, compared to 12 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) and shared the list of best very cheap stocks to buy according to hedge funds. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.