HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HSBC) Stock Leaps 4% as CEO Noel Quinn Steps Down

HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HSBC) stock jumped about 5% in early trading hours Tuesday as CEO Noel Quinn announced his resignation.

Noel Quinn, the Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Holdings (HSBC), has announced his unexpected departure from the company. This move comes as Europe’s largest lender navigates the deterioration of ties between China and the US.

The HSBC board has initiated a formal process to find his successor, considering both internal and external candidates, according to a statement Tuesday. Quinn will remain in his role during this transition period to ensure a smooth handover, it said.

Quinn, over the Christmas holiday in December, started contemplating his exit from the bank more seriously, according to Bloomberg. He recently communicated his decision to resign to HSBC’s Chairman Mark Tucker, who will conclude the search for a new CEO by the latter half of the year.

Quinn said on the conference call with journalists,

“Doing this job, you have to give 100% — if not 120% — of your energy, your mindset, your time to the role. You can keep doing that, but that doesn’t necessarily achieve the balance in life that I wanted.”

HSBC Under Quinn’s Leadership

During his tenure, Quinn led significant strategic reviews aimed at bolstering the bank’s presence in Asia while scaling back operations in developed Western markets like the US and France. Despite ongoing tensions between Beijing and other developed economies, HSBC remains committed to this strategic direction.

Under Quinn’s leadership, HSBC saw a record surge in returns, with profits reaching an all-time high last year. Since his takeover in March 2020, during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, the company’s stock has seen a 35% rise, a significant achievement compared to the 53% surge of the FTSE All-Share Index.

Analyst Take on CEO Departure

Financial analyst Will Howlett of Quilter Cheviot remarked that Quinn’s departure comes as a surprise, considering his relatively short tenure marked by significant changes within the bank. He said,

“The departure of Quinn introduces an element of uncertainty about the bank’s future leadership at a time when HSBC is navigating a complex global financial landscape.”

In its latest financial report, HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HSBC) announced first-quarter pretax profits of $12.65 billion, slightly dipping from the previous year but beating analyst estimates. The bank also unveiled plans to repurchase $3 billion worth of shares in the upcoming months, outperforming some analysts’ forecasts by 50%.