Standard Chartered PLC (LON: STAN) Stock Today: Share Price Near Record High as Buybacks and Digital Asset Push Shape 2026 Outlook

Standard Chartered’s share price is trading close to record territory on 10 December 2025, supported by an aggressive share buyback, upgraded earnings guidance and a fresh push into institutional digital assets. At the same time, the bank’s own research arm has just halved its famously bullish Bitcoin price forecast – a reminder that sentiment around risk assets is shifting even as the bank’s core franchise looks stronger.

Standard Chartered share price today: near the top of the 52‑week range

As of the market close on 10 December 2025, Standard Chartered PLC (STAN) closed around 1,695p, up roughly 1.6% on the day, with bid/offer quotes of 1,695.5p / 1,696.5p. ^[1]

Key trading metrics:

52‑week low: about 873p (9 April 2025) ^[2]
52‑week high:1,709.5p (2 December 2025), leaving the current price only a shade below the peak. ^[3]
Over the last 12 months, the share price has risen around 69%; one analysis notes that £20,000 invested a year ago would now be worth roughly £33,800. ^[4]

Standard Chartered’s market capitalisation now sits around £38–39 billion, with a price/earnings ratio near 13x and a dividend yield in the 1.6–2.5% range depending on which forward estimate you use. ^[5]

In other words: after a long stretch of underperformance in the 2010s, the bank is now priced as a fully respectable, slightly growth‑tilted emerging‑markets lender rather than a turnaround basket case.

Fresh fuel: accelerated share buybacks

The big incremental news on 10 December 2025 is that Standard Chartered has again updated the market on its share buyback programme.

On 9 December, the bank repurchased 575,340 shares at an average price of 1,659.11p, with the intention to cancel them. ^[6]
After cancellation, the total number of shares in issue falls to roughly 2.27 billion. ^[7]
The buyback is part of a US$1.3bn capital return programme announced earlier in the year; by late Q3 the bank had already used around $0.4bn of that pot. ^[8]

Multiple recent disclosures show the bank buying back hundreds of thousands of shares almost daily in early December, typically spending about £9–10 million per day. ^[9]

For shareholders, the mechanics are simple:

Fewer shares in issue means earnings per share (EPS) gets a mechanical boost.
It signals management confidence in capital strength, especially given a CET1 ratio of about 14.2%, slightly above the bank’s 13–14% target range. ^[10]

In valuation terms, brokers note that the stock still trades at under 1x forward book value (around 0.9–0.95x), above its ten‑year average of about 0.55x but not extravagant for a bank targeting mid‑teens returns on tangible equity. ^[11]

Digital assets: new custody partnership with GFO‑X

If you want a snapshot of what “modern” Standard Chartered looks like, today’s headline partnership with GFO‑X does the job nicely.

On 9 December, the bank announced a “world‑first” custody solution for using digital assets as collateral in a fully cleared model, in partnership with GFO‑X, a regulated digital‑asset derivatives venue. ^[12]

Core points:

Standard Chartered will act as an independent, regulated custodian, allowing institutional clients to post cryptocurrencies, tokenised money‑market funds and other digital assets as collateral. ^[13]
The service will support the development of GFO‑X Abu Dhabi CCP, a central counterparty for digital‑asset derivatives. ^[14]
Go‑live is expected in the second half of 2026, so today’s announcement is more about strategic direction than immediate revenue. ^[15]

This fits the bank’s broader strategy: lean into cross‑border institutional flows and wealth‑adjacent services, rather than compete head‑on in mass‑market retail. It also leverages the bank’s existing digital‑asset infrastructure, where its ventures arm has already been active in custody and tokenisation initiatives.

For the stock, the near‑term financial impact is modest, but:

It reinforces the “growth plus fee income” narrative.
It positions Standard Chartered as a “safe pair of hands” in digital assets – a potentially valuable niche if crypto markets continue to institutionalise.

Earnings and guidance: hitting profit targets early

The re‑rating of the shares through 2025 rests heavily on earnings momentum.

Q3 2025: solid beat and upgraded guidance

In its Q3 2025 update (30 October), Standard Chartered reported:

Pretax profit: about $1.77bn, up 3% year‑on‑year and comfortably ahead of analyst consensus near $1.52bn. ^[16]
Income growth: around 5% in the quarter at constant currency, driven largely by non‑interest income such as wealth management and capital‑markets fees. ^[17]
Wealth management income: up roughly 27% year‑on‑year in Q3, reflecting strong client inflows and demand for advice. ^[18]

Crucially, management upgraded guidance:

2025 income growth is now expected toward the top end of the 5–7% range, versus previous guidance at the bottom end. ^[19]
The bank now expects to deliver an underlying return on tangible equity (RoTE) of around 13% in 2025, one year earlier than originally planned. ^[20]
Management still aims for a 2023–26 income CAGR toward the top of that same 5–7% range. ^[21]

Broker commentary from Hargreaves Lansdown characterised the Q3 update as a “strong quarter” with guidance that may even prove conservative, noting that upgraded profit expectations imply a dip in Q4 that looks unlikely given current momentum. ^[22]

Franchise shape: less dependent on interest‑rate spreads

Hargreaves Lansdown and other analysts highlight that Standard Chartered’s earnings mix has shifted: ^[23]

Traditional deposits‑and‑loans banking is a smaller share of the pie.
A large chunk of income now comes from institutional banking (trade finance, cash management, markets, advisory) and affluent‑focused retail and wealth.
These businesses are less capital‑intensive and somewhat less sensitive to interest‑rate swings, though more exposed to market volumes and volatility.

This shift is a key reason investors are now willing to pay close to book value for the equity, after years when the stock languished at deep discounts.

Litigation overhang: small but symbolic settlement

On 5 December 2025, Standard Chartered announced that it had settled a UK securities litigation case brought under s.90A FSMA by Mercy Investment Services and others. ^[24]

The bank:

Continues to deny liability, but judged a settlement appropriate to bring the matter to a close.
Stated explicitly that the settlement is “not material” to the Group’s operating results or financial position. ^[25]

Financially this barely moves the needle. Reputationally, it helps clear one of several long‑running legal and conduct issues that have historically weighed on the investment case.

Standard Chartered’s macro views: more cautious on Bitcoin, softer on rates

Interestingly, some of the highest‑profile headlines with “Standard Chartered” in them this week are about the bank’s research, not its own balance sheet.

Bitcoin forecast slashed in half

The bank’s digital‑asset research team, which had previously become famous for extremely bullish Bitcoin forecasts, has halved its 2025 price target:

New end‑2025 Bitcoin target: $100,000, down from $200,000.
New end‑2026 target: $150,000, down from $300,000.
The “ultimate” $500,000 forecast has been pushed from 2028 to 2030. ^[26]

The research notes flag weaker demand from listed “Bitcoin treasury” companies and wobblier ETF inflows as reasons for tempering the bullishness, even though the long‑term thesis remains. ^[27]

For STAN shareholders, this matters only indirectly – it speaks to:

The bank’s strong brand in digital‑asset research, which complements its custody and infrastructure efforts.
A slightly more risk‑aware tone that may reassure regulators and mainstream investors.

Fed call turns dovish

Separately, a recent research note from Standard Chartered shifted the bank’s call on US monetary policy, now expecting a 25bp Federal Reserve rate cut in December after previously forecasting no change. ^[28]

That matters because:

Lower‑for‑longer rates are usually a headwind for net interest margins (NIM).
But for a bank like Standard Chartered, with sizeable emerging‑markets and trade‑finance exposure, easier global financial conditions can also boost volumes and credit quality.

The macro story is therefore mixed: less juice from rate spreads, but potentially better growth and fewer credit headaches.

What do analysts think about Standard Chartered stock now?

Across the major data providers, the picture is broadly constructive but no longer screamingly cheap.

Investing.com consensus:
- Rating: overall “Buy” based on 15 analysts (6 Buy, 7 Hold, 2 Sell).
- Average 12‑month price target: about 1,607p, with a high near 1,868p and a low around 1,397p. ^[29]
TipRanks:
- Considers the stock a “Moderate Buy” based on nine recent analyst targets.
- Average target around 1,709p, implying low‑single‑digit upside from current levels. ^[30]
MarketBeat:
- Lists only four analysts, with an average target near 1,364p, implying downside from today’s price – likely reflecting older or more conservative models. ^[31]
TipRanks AI “Spark” model rates the shares “Outperform”, citing strong earnings and buybacks but flagging some challenges around cash flow and efficiency. ^[32]

Broker research like Hargreaves Lansdown’s Q3 note emphasises that: ^[33]

Guidance and execution have improved.
The balance sheet is robust and supports further buybacks.
But a lot of optimism is now priced in, and the story is still heavily reliant on volatile non‑interest income.

Put simply: the easy money from the deep‑value phase has probably been made, but most analysts still see Standard Chartered as at least a hold, often a buy, rather than something to run away from.

Key risks: not all smooth sailing

Even with the stronger share price and upbeat guidance, Standard Chartered still carries a chunky list of risks that investors obsess over:

Geographic and geopolitical exposure
The bank’s footprint in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and especially in Hong Kong and mainland China, is both its superpower and its Achilles heel.
- A recent internal forecast upgrade for Hong Kong 2025 GDP to 2.8% on stronger exports is helpful. ^[34]
- But China’s property sector and trade tensions remain a structural worry.
Regulatory and conduct history
The Mercy Investment litigation settlement is small but reminds investors that Standard Chartered has a long history of fines and sanctions cases. ^[35]
Market‑driven revenue
The bank has intentionally pivoted toward markets and wealth, which are more sensitive to market volumes and sentiment than old‑school lending spreads. ^[36]
Valuation no longer “bombed out”
At close to 1x forward book and mid‑teens RoTE targets, the share price now assumes that execution continues to be good. If guidance slips, there’s room for disappointment. ^[37]
Concentrated ownership
Around two‑thirds of the shares (roughly 66%) are held by institutional investors, according to recent analysis, which can make the stock more sensitive to large fund flows. ^[38]

Investment takeaway: where Standard Chartered sits after its 2025 rally

On 10 December 2025, the Standard Chartered story looks something like this:

Bullish pillars

Share price close to a record high, but still at a modest valuation vs global peers given targeted returns. ^[39]
Strong Q3 results and upgraded guidance for income growth and RoTE, with momentum concentrated in scalable businesses like wealth and capital‑markets. ^[40]
An ongoing, sizeable buyback programme, shrinking the share count and underlining capital strength. ^[41]
Strategic moves in digital assets (like the GFO‑X partnership) that could open up new fee pools if institutional adoption accelerates. ^[42]

Bearish counter‑arguments

A lot of the re‑rating seems done after a near‑70% 12‑month gain; upside from here depends on continued outperformance. ^[43]
Earnings are increasingly tied to markets and wealth, which can be more volatile than traditional lending. ^[44]
Legal and regulatory overhangs are reduced but not entirely gone, and geopolitical risk in key markets remains elevated. ^[45]

For Google‑News‑level readers, the punchline is that Standard Chartered has successfully rewritten its narrative in 2025: from a perpetually discounted emerging‑markets bank to a capital‑returning, wealth‑driven, digital‑asset‑fluent franchise. Whether the current share price fully reflects that future or gets a bit ahead of itself will hinge on 2026 execution, especially around fee income resilience and further capital returns.