BBVA vs IFS: How Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Intercorp Financial Services Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 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.

Reading it: IFS 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.

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. BBVA and IFS 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 BBVA and IFS 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.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) is a global financial group headquartered in Bilbao and Madrid, Spain, and one of the largest banks in the euro zone by market value. It operates retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and asset management across several geographies, but unlike most European peers the bulk of its earnings comes from emerging markets. Its main reporting areas are Spain, Mexico, Turkey (through its Garanti BBVA subsidiary), and South America, with a smaller Rest of Business unit. Mexico is the single largest profit contributor, typically generating a larger share of group net profit than the home market, which is why BBVA is often described as a Spanish bank with a Mexican engine. Like any bank it makes money mainly from net interest income (the spread between what it earns on loans and pays on deposits) plus fees and commissions from cards, payments, asset management, and investment banking.

Full BBVA guide

Intercorp Financial Services is one of Peru's largest financial groups and reports in three segments. Interbank is the banking business and the bulk of earnings, running retail and commercial lending, deposits, cards and payments through a national branch and digital network. Interseguro is the insurance arm, weighted toward annuities and life products, which makes it sensitive to interest rates and to the reserves it holds against long-dated liabilities. Inteligo is the wealth management business, managing assets for high net worth Peruvian clients and earning fee income that is steadier than lending spreads. The parent is part of the wider Intercorp group, a Peruvian conglomerate with interests spanning retail, education and real estate, and the shares list on both the NYSE and the Lima exchange.

Full IFS guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• BBVA drivers: Mexico as the profit engine; Record profitability and high return on equity.
• IFS drivers: Peruvian credit cycle normalisation; Interseguro and the annuity book.

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: BBVA's biggest distinguishing risk is geographic concentration in emerging markets: with Mexico, Turkey, and South America driving much of group profit, reported euro earnings are highly sensitive to the Mexican peso and Turkish lira, which can weaken sharply and erode results even when local-currency performance is strong. For IFS, country concentration is the dominant risk: essentially all of the group's earnings are Peruvian, and Peru has produced repeated political instability, presidential turnover and periodic pension withdrawal legislation that alters savings behaviour overnight.

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 BBVA if you believe its drivers more; IFS 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 BBVA and IFS guides.

BBVA. BBVA trades at a low-double-digit price-to-earnings multiple, cheaper than many US banks, reflecting the market discount applied to its emerging-market exposure. Its return on tangible equity near 19% is well above most western European peers, and it returns capital through a high dividend and buybacks. Because the ADR reports in euros while much of the profit is earned in pesos and lira, currency moves are a material driver of the figures above.

IFS. IFS reports in Peruvian soles while the NYSE line trades in US dollars, so every ratio above depends on which currency the denominator is in. First quarter 2026 profit of roughly S/ 602 million was a record and up about 35% year over year, with management guiding to full year return on equity above 17%. The double digit earnings multiple sits below US regional bank averages, which is the standard emerging market discount rather than a comment on the quality of this quarter's results.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): BBVA shows net attributable profit (fy2025) ~EUR 10.5 billion (record, up ~4.5%), net interest income (fy2025) ~EUR 25 billion, return on tangible equity (fy2025) ~19% (rising toward ~22% in Q1 2026), net profit (q1 2026) ~EUR 3.0 billion (up ~11% year over year); IFS shows total assets ~S/ 102 billion (~$29 billion), net income (trailing twelve months) ~$598 million (~S/ 2.1 billion), return on equity ~19% annualised in Q1 2026, market capitalisation ~$6.6 billion.

BBVA and IFS 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 BBVA and IFS exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.