The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) stock analysis

In our weekly check, The Bank of Nova Scotia is graded C (A to F). Of 25 checks on debt, profit, cash flow and trend: 15 pass, warnings: 4, red flags: 6.

About The Bank of Nova Scotia

The Bank of Nova Scotia is a Financial Services company (Banks - Diversified) based in Canada, listed on TSX as BNS.TO.

What our checks show for BNS.TO

Red flags

• The net margin fell by 17 points over 5 years, to 14.1%: the company keeps less of each sale as profit.
• The gross margin fell by 51.6 points, to 48.4%: costs are rising faster than prices.
• Analysts expect revenue to shrink about 18.2% a year.
• Return on capital (ROCE) is only 1%.

Warning signs

• Operating cash flow is only 0.69x net profit: part of the reported profit does not arrive as cash.
• Earnings per share fell 1.4% a year over the last 3 years.
• The stock has fallen as much as 56% from a peak. Would you have held through that?
• Recovering from its deepest fall took about 1.6 years.

Strengths

• Analysts expect earnings per share to grow about 14.6% a year over the next years.
• Analysts expect the net margin to improve by 14.9 points from today's 14.1%.
• Revenue grew 31.6% a year over the last 3 years.
• A large company: market value $113 billion.
• The price moves calmly: 18% annual volatility.
• Actively traded: about 3.8 million shares a day.

Next earnings report: 2026-12-02

Similar companies

BMO · CM · BBVA · SMFG · ING · UBS

Questions

What grade does The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) have?

In our weekly check, The Bank of Nova Scotia is graded C (A to F). Of 25 checks on debt, profit, cash flow and trend: 15 pass, warnings: 4, red flags: 6. The grade is a risk check, not a buy or sell recommendation.

What are the main risks of BNS.TO stock?

This week's biggest flags for The Bank of Nova Scotia: Margins falling, Gross margin falling, Weak revenue forecast. In total 10 of 25 checks show a warning or a red flag.

What does The Bank of Nova Scotia do?

The Bank of Nova Scotia is a Financial Services company (Banks - Diversified) based in Canada, listed on TSX as BNS.TO.

When does The Bank of Nova Scotia report earnings next?

The next earnings report is expected on 2026-12-02. We re-run the checks every week, so the grade can change after it.

The grade is a risk check, not a price forecast, and not investment advice. In our 10-year test (S&P 500, 2016-2026), stocks we graded A or B fell more than 30% 2-3 times less often than D or F, without a lower average return.

Updated 2026-10-24

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