
Puerto Rican financial institution Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) reported Q2 CY2026 results exceeding the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 9.8% year on year to $874 million. Its GAAP profit of $4.35 per share was 16.5% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is now the time to buy Popular? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free.
Founded in 1893 as the first bank in Puerto Rico to serve the working class, Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) is a financial holding company that provides retail, mortgage, and commercial banking services primarily in Puerto Rico and the mainland United States.
Net interest income and fee-based revenue are the two pillars supporting bank earnings. The former captures profit from the gap between lending rates and deposit costs, while the latter encompasses charges for banking services, credit products, wealth management, and trading activities. Over the last five years, Popular grew its revenue at a mediocre 8% compounded annual growth rate. This wasn’t a great result compared to the rest of the banking sector, but there are still things to like about Popular.
Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. Popular’s annualized revenue growth of 8.6% over the last two years aligns with its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was consistently weak.
Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers because they were impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.
This quarter, Popular reported year-on-year revenue growth of 9.8%, and its $874 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 1%.
Net interest income made up 77.8% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning lending operations are Popular’s largest source of revenue.
Net interest income commands greater market attention due to its reliability and consistency, whereas non-interest income is often seen as lower-quality revenue that lacks the same dependable characteristics.
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The balance sheet drives banking profitability since earnings flow from the spread between borrowing and lending rates. As such, valuations for these companies concentrate on capital strength and sustainable equity accumulation potential.
This is why we consider tangible book value per share (TBVPS) the most important metric to track for banks. TBVPS represents the real, liquid net worth per share of a bank, excluding intangible assets that have debatable value upon liquidation. Traditional metrics like EPS are helpful but face distortion from M&A activity and loan loss accounting rules.
Popular’s TBVPS grew at a solid 6.8% annual clip over the last five years. TBVPS growth has also accelerated recently, growing by 19.9% annually over the last two years from $61.22 to $87.94 per share.
Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for Popular’s TBVPS to grow by 12.3% to $98.75, mediocre growth rate.
It was good to see Popular beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also happy its revenue narrowly outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its net interest income missed. Overall, this print had some key positives. Investors were likely hoping for more, and shares traded down 2.6% to $169.31 immediately following the results.
Should you buy the stock or not? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).