Buffett Brain · Research note
Score updated 5 Oct 2026 · analysis from 18 May 2026
BCH· Financial Services
Banco de Chile
Banco de Chile pairs a 39.0% operating margin with single-digit interest coverage of 1.06x, raising leverage-cycle exposure.
Buffett fit
Weak fit
Owner
55
Durability
73
Management
65
Price
33
Score updated 5 Oct 2026 · analysis from 18 May 2026
Buffett's checklist
Each number against Buffett's bar, and where it ranks among Financial Services stocks in our database.
How much profit the business makes on each dollar invested in it. Higher is better.
What is left of each sale after the cost of making the product. A high number often means pricing power.
The cash the business earns for its owners, compared with the price of the whole company.
How fast sales grew each year over the last five years.
How many years of today's profit you pay for at today's price. Lower means cheaper.
How much the company owes compared with what it owns outright. Lower is safer.
The four pillars
How the business measures up on each of Buffett's four tests.
Owning BCH for a decade means accepting CLP exposure and Chilean political risk in exchange for a 6.9% earnings yield and a stable franchise.
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Chilean banking is consolidated and BCH has top-tier scale, providing real deposit-franchise durability.
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With share count growth of essentially 0% over five years and 10.7% EPS CAGR, management has avoided dilution.
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A 14.6x and 19.0x EV/ look reasonable for a quality emerging-market bank, but the 4.6% owner-earnings yield offers thin cushion given Chilean macro volatility.
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For and against
The strongest points on each side, with the numbers behind them.
In its favor
6- 170.5% and 39.0% reflect strong franchise economics
- 210.7% five-year EPS CAGR despite flat revenue shows operating
- 3Share count essentially unchanged means no dilution
- 4Top-three Chilean banking scale provides deposit-funding advantage
Concerns
5- 1Interest coverage of 1.06x reflects bank-accounting artifact but limits flexibility
- 2Net debt/EBITDA of 8.26x indicates heavy structural
- 3Recent ttm of 2.0% signals margin pressure
- 4Revenue CAGR essentially flat at -0.03% over five years
Price history
$38.49+122.9%· 5-year return
Weekly closing prices. Touch or hover the line for a date.
The business
How the business works
Banco de Chile is one of the country's largest commercial banks, running retail, wholesale, and treasury franchises with deep deposit relationships across Chile. The 70.5% and 39.0% reflect a well-run net-interest-margin business with low funding costs. Revenue has been essentially flat (-0.03% CAGR) over five years as Chilean GDP and rate cycles whipsawed the book, but EPS still compounded 10.7% annually thanks to operating . The 0.63x /Net Income is normal for a bank because of regulatory capital builds.
What other investors would say
The same company, judged by three other documented playbooks.
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