Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. or Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.

Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to individuals, small and medium enterprises, and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. It operates in two segments, Commercial Banking and Global Wholesale Banking. The company offers payment and loyalty products, including credit and debit cards; payroll and real estate loans; home equity financing solutions; microfinance programs; consortiums; agribusiness products, such as credit, securities and other products; call center and digital solutions; nonperforming assets; and insurance products comprising life, personal accident, vehicle, property, and credit insurance, as well as insurance for travel and banking transactions. It also provides emergency solutions for homes, cars, motorcycles, pets, and telemedicine; consumer finance; and corporate and investment banking services, which include cash management, structured trade and working capital solutions, trade and lending, mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, investment grade and emerging markets debt, and structured finance, as well as sales markets, market making, energy trading, equities, research, and private debt mobilization and securitization. In addition, the company offers cash management solutions, such as collections, payments, instant payments, and payroll and custody services; advance program, a non-financial platform to support entrepreneurs regarding educational content, certified courses, events focused on management, innovation, internationalization, and team development; customer funding through deposits and other bank funding instruments; and various investments. It offers its products and services through branches, mini-branches, and automated teller machines; call centers; banking correspondents and third-party vendors; and online and mobile banking platforms. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. provides various financial products and services to personal and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail Business, Wholesale Business and Activities with the Market + Corporation. The company offers current accounts; funds management; payments and collections; loans; credit and debit cards; investment and commercial banking services; real estate lending and financing services; economic, financial and brokerage advisory; and leasing and foreign exchange services. The company also provides non-life insurance products covering loss, damage, or liability for objects or people, as well as life insurance products covering death and personal accidents. It serves retail customers, account and non-account holders, individuals and legal entities, high income clients, microenterprises, and small companies, as well as middle-market companies and high net worth institutional clients. The company was formerly known as Itaú Unibanco Banco Múltiplo S.A. and changed its name to Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. in April 2009. The company was incorporated in 1924 and is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. is a subsidiary of IUPAR - Itaú Unibanco Participações S.A.

Latest Banks and Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A., Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. Stock News

As of June 2, 2026, Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. had a $20.3 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $728.1 million. Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A.’s stock is down 12.9% in 2026, down 3.1% in the previous five trading days and up 5.39% in the past year.

Currently, Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A.’s price-earnings ratio is 8.3. Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $8.8 billion with a 28.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 10.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $0.859 per share for the current fiscal year. Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. currently has a 1.9% dividend yield.

As of June 2, 2026, Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. had a $87.3 billion market cap, putting it in the 96th percentile of all stocks. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.’s stock is up 6.8% in 2026, down 4% in the previous five trading days and up 22.85% in the past year.

Currently, Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.’s price-earnings ratio is 10.0. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $26.5 billion with a 33.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $0.896 per share for the current fiscal year. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. currently has a 10.4% dividend yield.

How We Compare Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A.	BSBR	C
Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.	ITUB	C

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. has a Growth Score of 47, which is Average. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a Growth Score of 44, which is Average.

The Growth Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. or Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a high enough Growth Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. or Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. is the better investment when it comes to sustainable growth.

Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A.	BSBR	F
Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.	ITUB	F

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. has a Quality Score of 5, which is Very Weak. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a Quality Score of 4, which is Very Weak.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. or Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. or Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. is the better investment when it comes to quality.

Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A.	BSBR	D
Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.	ITUB	C

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 31, which is Negative. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 41, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. or Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. or Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. Grades

In addition to Growth, Quality and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. or Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. Stock?

Overall, Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. stock has a Growth Score of 47, Estimate Revisions Score of 31 and Quality Score of 5.

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. stock has a Growth Score of 44, Estimate Revisions Score of 41 and Quality Score of 4.

Comparing Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. and Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.