Stephens has revised its price target for Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) upward to $35 from the previous $34, reaffirming an Overweight rating on the stock following the firm's analysis of the bank's fourth-quarter 2025 earnings results. The brokerage attributes this upgrade to Business First Bancshares’ notable performance, including robust fee generation, healthy loan portfolio expansion, and beneficial repricing trends across its balance sheet.
These favorable developments helped the company surpass consensus estimates by 10% in pre-provision net revenue (PPNR) for the reported quarter. Despite this success, Stephens noted some challenges in credit quality during the period, with an uptick in nonperforming loans and elevated net charge-offs. Nevertheless, the firm emphasized that credit conditions had been strong for the majority of 2025.
Reflecting these dynamics, Stephens has increased its earnings per share forecast for 2026 by 4% to manage expectations around the enhanced PPNR, which is somewhat offset by increased loan loss provisions. The new price target of $35 equates to approximately 11 times the operating EPS projected for 2027, set at $3.22 according to Stephens.
Business First Bancshares successfully completed its acquisition of Progressive on January 1, 2026. Stephens expects the bank’s primary focus throughout 2026 will be on integrating this acquisition, which likely means fewer announcements or activity related to additional mergers and acquisitions during the year.
In its recent quarterly report, Business First Bancshares delivered earnings per share of 79 cents, outperforming the consensus estimate of 71 cents. Revenues also exceeded forecasts, with the company reporting $83.09 million against the expected $81.41 million. These results demonstrate the institution’s ability to outperform analyst predictions consistently.
There have been no reports of further mergers or acquisitions in the company’s latest updates, and analyst opinions remain steady with no new rating changes reported. These performance updates underscore Business First Bancshares’ strong operational momentum amid a period of integration following its recent acquisition.