We recently published a list of 12 Best Stocks Under $25 To Invest In Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)) stands against other best stocks under $25 to invest in right now.
A View of the US Stock Market Post-Election
As reported by NPR, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to a record high, and so did the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, after Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election. Wall Street investors consider this victory beneficial for business interests. While businesses have been victims of excessive regulations under the Biden administration, Trump is expected to ease restrictions and lower taxes. Investors were also glad to see the timely results of the election. Commenting on the scenario, Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial, stated:
“The market’s not only welcoming a Trump victory, but [also] the decisiveness of the victory. The clouds of uncertainty have really parted”
With shareholders expecting lighter government oversight of the financial sector, the sector climbed 6.16% and emerged as the best-performing of the eleven major S&P 500 sectors. The S&P 500 bank index was up 10.68%, posting its largest daily jump in two years. Companies issuing credit cards performed especially well.
A particular sector that appeared bright after Trump’s win was crypto. The price of Bitcoin rose above $80,000 for the first time ever after the win. Other cryptocurrencies such as dogecoin which is the favorite coin of Elon Musk, a strong Trump supporter, are also posting gains, as reported by BBC. Regarding the future outlook for Bitcoin, Bitwise’s Matt Hougan told CNBC that there is a clear path right up to $100,000 by 2024’s end while $200,000 is completely reasonable for 2025 considering that the trend is up and is going to stay intact for a while.
Simultaneously, the conventional energy sector surged keeping in mind the new President’s goal to boost fossil fuel production. However, the clean energy sector suffered with at least half a dozen developers putting projects on hold as many projects await more clarity from the new administration. The new President had stated that he would pull back the unspent funds from Biden’s climate law, calling it a ‘green new scam’. While Trump’s win has been deemed as a setback for climate protection, analysts and activists believe that the transition to cleaner sources of energy will continue regardless, considering the fact that customers and investors want companies to deal with climate change. The economic benefits from new factories and power plants that have received government support can be seen in both states led by Democrats and Republicans.
Since Trump has plans to increase tariffs on foreign goods entering the US, the retail stocks that have their products produced outside the country posted declines after the election. However, other retail sector stocks especially department stores and others that derive revenue from issuing branded credit cards joined in on the post-election rally, as reported by Barron’s.
Our Methodology
To compile a list of the 12 best stocks under $25 to invest in right now, we used the Yahoo stock screener to acquire a list of stocks with the highest market caps and share prices below $25. We then examined analysts’ average upside potential of the shortlisted stocks. Our list is in ascending order of average upside potentials, as of November 18.
At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A view of a large corporate office building, illuminated at night to show its power and reach.
Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)
Average Upside Potential: 27.70%
Share Price: $4.82
Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) is a leading Spanish multinational financial services company. Santander was founded in 1857 and it became Spain’s seventh-largest financial institution by its 100th anniversary in 1957. The company is structured under five global businesses including Retail & Commercial Banking, Digital Consumer Bank, Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance, and Payments.
The firm’s business model is based upon unique competitive advantages such as diversification, a global scale, and customer focus. While Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) focuses on achieving well-balanced diversification between businesses and markets, its in-market and global scale helps enhance local banks’ profitability. As of June 2024, SAN boasts 168 million customers and €1,786 total assets. In recent years, the company has expanded its customer base with balanced growth by business and region.
The first nine months of 2024 proved to be promising for Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) with a profit of €9,309 million, up 14% year-over-year, driven by solid revenue growth across all global businesses and regions as well as good cost control. The firm reaped the benefits of the higher customer activity, margin management, and its global scale in the form of net interest income rising 9% and net fee income rising 6%, resulting in 8% total income growth.
The unique combination of in-market and global scale enables the firm to be one of the most profitable banks in its markets. With an evident strength across global businesses, Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) is an attractive stock under $25 to invest in.
Overall, SAN ranks 6th on our list of best stocks under $25 to invest in right now. While we acknowledge the potential of SAN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than SAN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.