While markets might shift and opinions might change, Jim Cramer’s opinion of European bank Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) stays the same. Throughout 2025, the CNBC TV host continued to assert that the bank was among his favorite European stocks. Back then, his comments came when investors were rushing to European markets after tariff driven uncertainty in the US sector. As 2026 kicked off, his opinion hadn’t changed. In February, he explained some reasons why he believed Banco Santander, S.A. was “on track to become one of the most profitable banks in the world.” In his morning appearance on September 18th, Cramer mentioned the bank as continuing to grow after discussing warnings from Bank of America and Goldman Sachs:
“Anna Boutine’s numbers are going up, from Santander. Her numbers consistently go up.”
Starting from the growth, Cramer thesis was intact as of the second quarter. During Q2, Banco Santander grew its revenue, net interest income, underlying profit and underlying EPS by 6%, 7%, 17% and 20%, respectively. Not to mention, the first half underlying profit of €7.3 billion marked a 14% growth and was the best figure in the bank’s history. Looking at the figure, it’s clear that Cramer’s opinion has merit. The growth came as Banco Santander added 12 million in the first half to create a 182 million strong customer base.
The growth figures are part of the broader thesis for Banco Santander which involves geographic diversification. While diversification provides more opportunities for growth, it also exposes the bank to volatility in some markets. For exanple, in the second quarter, Santander benefited from a 13% profit growth in Brazil and a stronger 19% growth in Mexico on the back of higher loan volumes compensating for lower net interest income. At the same time, loan loss provisions jumped by 9% in the second quarter, with management pointing towards trends in Argentina as a key factor behind the higher costs. The turmoil also led Santander to halt lending in Argentina.
To sum it up, while Banco Santander’s One Transformation strategy is driving growth, its play at diversification is generating mixed results. As a result, the bank is on its way to achieve its targeted efficiency ratio of 36% while contending with currency risk from Latin America.
Looking at hedge fund sentiment, 24 funds had disclosed a stake in Banco Santander in Q2 which was relatively unchanged over the 25 funds in Q1. Forward P/E and Price to Book ratios sit at 10.27 and 1.67 and are roughly similar to Bank of America’s ratios. Short interest as a percentage of float is negligible.
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