Greece's 2010 collapse was so severe it leased islands, gutted public jobs and pensions, while some abroad even joked about selling the Acropolis to appease creditors.
Fast forward 15 years, and the picture couldn't be more different.
The Athens Stock Exchange has soared nearly 34% year-to-date, making Greece the world's best-performing equity market thus far in 2025.
Meanwhile, the Global X MSCI Greece ETF (NYSE:GREK), the main U.S.-listed vehicle for investing in Greek stocks, has jumped a staggering 57% year-to-date, beating the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) by about a 50-percentage-point margin.
Once the poster child of Europe's debt crisis, Greece is now delivering the world's hottest stock market rally.
Why Is Greek Stock Market Rallying In 2025?
Fiscal discipline, tax overhauls, and improved public administration have laid the groundwork for this resurgence. Major structural reforms, supported by funding from the European Union's Next Generation EU plan, are also paying off.
The Greek economy is expected to grow 3.2% this year, according to the European Commission — more than double the eurozone average.
The real engine of the Greek stock market’s rally in 2025 has been the financial sector.
Greek banks, once considered radioactive by global investors, are now leading the charge. Alpha Bank S.A. is up 73% year-to-date, Piraeus Financial Holdings is up 72% and Optima Bank has soared 80%.
Is There Still Room To Run?
Despite the blistering rally in 2025, Greek stocks remain far from overheated. In fact, the Athens Stock Exchange is still trading 62% below its 2007 all-time high, leaving plenty of headroom for further gains.
That valuation gap hasn't gone unnoticed by major Wall Street firms, which continue to back the Greek rebound. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America both argue that, despite a surge of 50% or more in bank stocks, the sector remains fundamentally undervalued.
According to Goldman Sachs analyst Mikhail Butkov, Greek banks are expected to deliver return on tangible equity (RoTE) of around 14% from 2025 to 2029. He also expects dividend payout ratios to rise to at least 50%, bad loan ratios (non-performing exposures, or NPEs) to fall to 3% next year and 2% by 2029, and capital levels (CET1 ratios) to remain healthy at 16%-17%.
Even with the European Central Bank signaling lower interest rates, Goldman believes Greek banks can still beat expectations.
"We believe this will be offset by stronger-than-expected lending growth, higher contribution from securities income and better spreads," Butkov said.
Bank of America thinks the rally isn't over yet.
Bank of America equity analyst Ilija Novosselsky wrote last week that Greek banks "still look cheap despite the rally” and listed several reasons why the upside may continue: net interest income (NII) is turning higher, fee income is growing at an 8.5% compound annual rate, earnings are boosted by mergers and acquisitions, risk costs (CoR) are falling and dividend payouts could reach 70%.
Novosselsky reiterated Buy ratings on Eurobank, Alpha Bank and Piraeus, naming Eurobank his top pick with 42% upside potential.
Fifteen years after the debt meltdown, Greece has finally shifted from fiscal tragedy to market opportunity.
Read Next:
Photo: sasirin pamai/Shutterstock
