The broker notes that even though the stock performed well last year (+36%), it still significantly lags behind other banking stocks over the past four years—a gap that could, in their view, close thanks to measures taken by management to boost profitability in underperforming divisions. These initiatives could also involve certain asset disposals aimed at reassuring the market about the group's capital position.

In its note, the broker points out that BNP has not yet reached a "CET1" capital ratio of 13%, but stresses that the institution has pledged to return any surplus capital above 13% to shareholders—a new approach for the group, which until now had favored external growth.

According to JPMorgan, the market has not yet factored in the fact that BNP's capital position is no longer an issue, as following these asset disposals, the group should have enough funds to cover litigation-related risks.

Given that the analyst sees profitability improving, with return on tangible equity (ROTE) expected to reach 12.7% in 2027 and 13% in 2028, they consider BNP to be "the cheapest bank in Europe" today.

As a result, they have upgraded their recommendation on the stock from "neutral" to "overweight," with a price target raised from 89 to 102 euros, implying a potential upside of 24%.

At 11:45 a.m., the stock was up 3.3%, posting the highest trading volumes on the CAC 40 index, which was itself up 0.6% at the same time.

Yesterday, UBS analysts had already upgraded their recommendation on the stock from "neutral" to "buy," raising their price target from 77.4 to 103 euros and adding the stock to their "top picks" portfolio, again citing the valuation discount displayed by the banking group.

The stock has already gained 5.4% since the start of the year and nearly 10% in a month.