MPCALA partners with EEI and CM Pancho to complete Cavite-Laguna Expressway
SM Investments Corp. is well-positioned to benefit from improving consumer sentiment and easing inflation even though it remains undervalued, Maybank said as it kept a “buy” rating on the Sy family-led conglomerate.
“SM is one of the [Philippine Stock Exchange] index’s biggest laggards and is down 15 percent year-to-date. But we think easing inflation and improving consumer sentiment should bode well for SM Retail, as we see it as the best proxy for consumption in the Philippines,” Maybank said in a report on Wednesday.
Maybank said it was now also more upbeat on the property sector, citing lower interest rates and return-to-office activity.
“We also believe emerging tourism will benefit both [SM Prime Holdings Inc.] and SM [Investments], supporting our full year 2025/2026 [estimates] earnings growth projections of 8 percent/8.6 percent,” it added.
Maybank kept its discounted net asset value-based target price for SM Investments at P1,150, with earnings forecasts for SM Retail rolled over through 2026. It noted that SM Investments stock was currently trading at a 19-percent discount to its revised net asset value.
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SM Investments is set to report its nine-month 2025 earnings on Nov. 13.
SM Retail has opened 182 stores so far this year, bringing its total network to 4,652 as of the first half. It plans to add 130 to 140 more outlets in the second half, led by 90 new Alfamart minimarts, one department store and with the remainder said to be specialty shops.
