Barclays‘ (LSE: BARC) shares have had an impressive run, but they’ve been easily outpaced by rival HSBC (LSE: HSBA). Both FTSE 100 banks are still performing strongly, but could Barclays make up lost ground?

HSBC shares are up an astonishing 316% over five years. That makes Barclays’ 175% gain look pretty modest. It isn’t. HSBC also continues to lead the charge. It’s up 61% over the last year, almost double the 31% growth on Barclays.

HSBC is also the much bigger operation, with a market value of about £263bn, versus £65bn for Barclays. That reflects the scale of its international business, particularly its exposure in Hong Kong, China and Asia.

A tale of two FTSE 100 banks

The financial numbers are impressive at both. HSBC reported $29.9bn of pre-tax profit in 2025. That was actually down 7.4% on a bumper 2024, due to $4.9bn of one-off items such as legal provisions and restructuring costs. The board returned $6bn through share buybacks and paid a total dividend of 75 US cents a share, up 14%.

Barclays made £9.1bn of pre-tax profit in 2025, up 13%. It returned £3.7bn to shareholders, including £2.5bn of buybacks and an 8.6p dividend. That was up 23% on the previous year.

Barclays is increasingly a buyback story. It intends to distribute more than £15bn to shareholders between 2026 and 2028, primarily through both buybacks than dividends.

HSBC temporarily paused its buybacks while it funded the £2.6bn acquisition of Hang Seng Bank. The board recently announcing a new $1bn programme. It’s also targeting a 50% dividend payout ratio through 2028.

HSBC’s big attraction is its exposure to Hong Kong and mainland China, where it sees long-term opportunities from trade, investment and wealth creation. The Hang Seng acquisition is intended to strengthen that. Although China does bring geopolitical, regulatory and economic risks.

Dividend yields and valuations

Barclays’ US corporate and investment banking operation gives it exposure to Wall Street. It’s also expanding in the Middle East and Asia, including a new Singapore booking centre.

Barclays looks better value today. It trades at 11.1 times earnings against 17.2 for HSBC. The price-to-book value echoes that. Barclays trades at around 1.2 times book value, while HSBC is 1.5 times. New investors pay a premium for HSBC’s stronger performance.

Barclays has the lower trailing yield at 1.76%, compared to 3.6% for HSBC. They’re not directly comparative given that Barclays favours buybacks. Investors who prefer dividends should take that into account.

Risks and rewards

Both face the same big risk with falling interest rates possibly squeezing net interest margins and profits. That said, rates seem more likely to rise right now. Another concern is that both banks are global operations and therefore exposed to geopolitic tensions or a stock market crash.

However, both are worth considering. HSBC has been the better investment, but that’s why I’d plump for Barclays today. It’s now cheaper. I’d buy it, but given that I hold already hold HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest in my Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP), I have enough exposure to FTSE 100 financials.

Happily, I can see other exciting growth and income stocks on the FTSE 100 today too.

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Harvey Jones owns shares in HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest.