The King of Banks, RY, TD, BNS

The Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS) (TSE: BNS) reported record revenue today of $1.17 billion CAD or $1.07 CAD per share. Share prices fell slightly, as relative to other Canadian banks, the quarter was not as good. Last week TD Bank (NYSE: TD) (TSE: TD) reported $1.5 billion in profit also beating estimates like Scotiabank did. While TD earned 28% more profit than BNS, its market cap of $74B is only 19% higher than BNS's $62B. This may suggest to investors that TD should outperform BNS.

Finally, the king of Canadian banks, Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY) (TSE: RY) shot the lights out, earnings $1.8B CAD in the last quarter, beating estimates by 20%. While RY's earnings were 54% higher than BNS's, its market cap is only 39.5% higher, also suggesting that RY should continue to outperform BNS. RY also tends to trade at a premium to the other Canadian banks due to its iconic and historical brand name as well as its massive earnings power. While the top three Canadian banks all beat estimates and are well positioned in the market place, today's action suggests that RY and TD could have more room to run than BNS.