BBD vs HIW: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
Last updated October 2026
Short answer
BBD is the larger of the two ($44.26B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (7.50x forward earnings, beta 0.19). HIW is the smaller challenger ($3.30B), actually pricier on forward earnings (51.47x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.
BBD vs HIW: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.
| Metric | BBD | HIW | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $44.26B | $3.30B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 7.50 | 51.47 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Trailing P/E | 12.77 | 19.43 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Beta | 0.19 | 1.08 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 61% of range | 59% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
| Price / book | 1.16 | 1.37 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
Reading it: BBD is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.
Before you buy: how BBD and HIW affect your concentration
The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. BBD and HIW share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.
This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined BBD and HIW exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
What does Banco Bradesco (BBD) do?
Banco Bradesco S.A. is one of Brazil's largest financial institutions, founded in 1943 and headquartered in Osasco in the greater Sao Paulo area. It operates a full-service model spanning retail and wholesale banking, credit cards, asset management, and, through Bradesco Seguros, one of the largest insurance and pension operations in Latin America. The bank serves more than 100 million customers through an extensive physical branch network alongside its digital channels, and it earns money primarily from net interest income on its roughly 1.09 trillion reais expanded loan book, plus fee income and insurance underwriting and investment results. Its U.S.-listed security is an American Depositary Receipt that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BBD and represents preferred shares of the parent company.
What does Highwoods Properties (HIW) do?
Highwoods Properties (NYSE: HIW) is a fully integrated office REIT headquartered in Raleigh that owns, develops, leases and manages office properties concentrated in the best business districts (BBDs) of fast-growing Sun Belt markets including Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. The company focuses on newer, amenity-rich buildings meant to win the flight-to-quality trend as tenants consolidate into better space, and it recycles capital by selling older assets and funding development in supply-constrained submarkets. It also runs a modest development pipeline, recently placing over $200 million of projects into service and investing in properties in Dallas and Raleigh, and in September 2026 it closed about $73.5 million of non-core property sales.
BBD vs HIW: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- BBD drivers: Profitability turnaround under new leadership; Large insurance and pension franchise.
- HIW drivers: Sun Belt flight-to-quality; Rent growth and leasing momentum.
Which fits which kind of investor
A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The most significant risk is currency: because BBD is a real-denominated business reported in U.S. For HIW, office remains the most challenged commercial real estate sector, with hybrid work and corporate downsizing pressuring long-term demand and occupancy.
BBD or HIW: which should you pick?
Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick BBD if you believe its drivers more; HIW if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the BBD and HIW guides.
BBD vs HIW: the full fundamentals
BBD. BBD trades at about 12.9 times trailing and 7.6 times forward earnings, well below the average for large U.S. and European banks, a discount for Brazilian macro, currency, and competitive risk rather than a distressed balance sheet. Dividend yield figures vary widely across data providers because Brazilian banks pay frequent small dividends and interest-on-capital, so the roughly 5.8 percent trailing figure should be treated with caution. All reais-denominated figures are subject to translation into dollars at prevailing exchange rates, and the October 22 third-quarter report will reset several of these numbers.
HIW. At about $29.50, HIW trades near 8 to 8.5 times the midpoint of its 2026 FFO guidance, a low multiple that reflects the market's caution on office REITs, and its appeal is largely the high, FFO-covered dividend. Its trailing GAAP P/E near 20 is flattered by property-sale gains, which is why the forward GAAP P/E (about 42) looks so different. Q3 2026 results on October 27 come with consensus revenue near $217 million, and the nine covering analysts have a mean target of about $32, close to the current price.
Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): BBD shows revenue (ttm) ~R$93 billion (latest quarter up ~7% YoY), net income (ttm) ~R$24.3 billion (profit margin ~26%), net income (q2 2026) ~R$7.05 billion; EPS ~$0.13 per ADR, in line, p/e (trailing / forward) ~12.9x / ~7.6x; HIW shows revenue (ttm) ~$839M (+7.5% YoY in Q2 2026), q2 2026 revenue ~$216.4M (vs ~$212M expected), q2 2026 ffo / share ~$0.90 (vs ~$0.86 expected, $0.89 a year earlier), 2026 ffo guidance ~$3.46 to $3.70 per share (raised from $3.40 to $3.68).
The bottom line: BBD vs HIW
BBD and HIW are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined BBD and HIW exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how BBD or HIW fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Banco Bradesco with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how BBD fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between BBD and HIW?
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Banco Bradesco S.A. Highwoods Properties (NYSE: HIW) is a fully integrated office REIT headquartered in Raleigh that owns, develops, leases and manages office properties concentrated in the best business districts (BBDs) of fast-growing Sun Belt markets including Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is BBD or HIW the better stock?
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Neither is universally better. BBD is the larger incumbent; HIW is the smaller challenger and looks pricier on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, BBD or HIW?
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On forward P/E (as of October 2026), BBD trades at 7.50x and HIW at 51.47x, so BBD is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both BBD and HIW?
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Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of BBD vs HIW?
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BBD: The most significant risk is currency: because BBD is a real-denominated business reported in U.S. dollars through an ADR, a weaker Brazilian real can erode dollar returns and dividend value even when the underlying bank performs well. Brazilian macro conditions add further volatility, including a high and swinging Selic policy rate, inflation, unemployment, and credit-cycle risk that can push loan delinquencies higher (90-day past-due loans were about 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2026). Competitive disruption is structural: Nubank surpassed Bradesco in customer count in 2025 and acquires customers at a small fraction of Bradesco's cost, pressuring the incumbent's retail franchise and long-run monetization. Political and regulatory risk in Brazil, including tax changes and interventions in banking, can affect earnings, and the turnaround itself carries execution risk if profitability improvements stall. After a roughly 17 percent rise in the month to October 16, 2026, the October 22 third-quarter report also carries higher expectations than the stock faced earlier in the year. HIW: Office remains the most challenged commercial real estate sector, with hybrid work and corporate downsizing pressuring long-term demand and occupancy. HIW carries meaningful leverage (about $3.5 billion of debt against roughly $145 million of cash, debt-to-equity near 133%), so higher-for-longer interest rates raise refinancing costs and weigh on the stock. Occupancy sits in the upper-80s rather than the mid-90s, leaving vacancy risk, and elevated tenant improvement and leasing-commission costs can pressure free cash flow. Recent GAAP profit was lifted by property-sale gains (Q2 2026 net income of about $93 million versus about $31 million in Q1), and analysts expect lower GAAP EPS in 2027 than the trailing figure, so headline earnings can be lumpy. A weaker economy or a Sun Belt supply glut could stall the recovery, analyst sentiment has turned to Hold, and any dividend concern would hit the shares hard.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell BBD or HIW; figures are approximate and dated (as of October 2026). Verify current data before investing.