BFST Stock Analysis: Business First Bancshares | NASDAQ
Banks - Regional | NASDAQ, USA | Market Cap: 1.067m USD | 12M Return: 31.4% | US12326C1053 | Charts, Fundamentals & Technical Analysis
Avg Turnover: 5.37M
EPS Trend: 86.9%
Qual. Beats: 1
Rev. Trend: 75.8%
Qual. Beats: 0
Warnings
Tailwinds
Seasonality 8.6 years of data, until 10/2026
How good or bad each month usually is (without trend). The score below shows how much you can trust it: 0 = pure chance, ≥40 worth a closer look and ≥60 is strong.
Business First Bancshares, Inc. (BFST) is a Louisiana-based bank holding company that operates b1BANK, providing a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services across Louisiana and Texas. Its offerings span deposit products (checking, savings, money market, and CDs), a diverse lending portfolio (commercial and industrial, construction, commercial and residential real estate, and consumer loans), and wealth management services including mutual funds, annuities, and IRAs. The company also delivers treasury management, merchant, and digital banking solutions, positioning it within the U.S. regional banking sector, where institutions typically generate revenue from net interest income on loans and fee-based services.
Incorporated in 2006 and headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Business First Bancshares went public in April 2018 and operates as a small-cap financial institution. Regional banks like BFST generally focus on relationship-driven lending in their local markets, with commercial real estate and business loans typically comprising a significant share of their loan portfolios.
- Net interest margin compression as Fed cuts rates pressure yields
- Texas market expansion drives accelerating loan and deposit growth
- Commercial real estate loan concentration raises credit loss provision risk
| Net Income: 94.7m TTM > 0 and > 6% of Revenue |
| FCF/TA: 0.01 > 0.02 and ΔFCF/TA 0.09 > 1.0 |
| NWC/Revenue: -1.30k% < 20% (prev -1.22k%; Δ -78.86% < -1%) |
| CFO/TA 0.01 > 3% & CFO 114.4m > Net Income 94.7m |
| Net Debt (-1.18b) to EBITDA (67.1m): -17.63 < 3 |
| Current Ratio: 0.22 > 1.5 & < 3 |
| Outstanding Shares: last quarter (32.7m) vs 12m ago 10.37% < -2% |
| Gross Margin: 58.10% > 18% (prev 58.75%; Δ -0.65% > 0.5%) |
| Asset Turnover: 5.50% > 50% (prev 6.41%; Δ -0.91% > 0%) |
| Interest Coverage Ratio: 0.33 > 6 (EBIT TTM 61.5m / Interest Expense TTM 188.9m) |
| A: -0.67 (Total Current Assets 1.71b - Total Current Liabilities 7.74b) / Total Assets 8.96b |
| B: 0.04 (Retained Earnings 380.2m / Total Assets 8.96b) |
| C: 0.01 (EBIT TTM 61.5m / Avg Total Assets 8.45b) |
| D: 0.13 (Book Value of Equity 1.00b / Total Liabilities 7.95b) |
| Altman-Z'' = -4.10 = D |
| DSRI: 1.16 (Receivables 39.3m/37.2m, Revenue 465.1m/509.7m) |
| GMI: 1.01 (GM 58.75% / 58.10%) |
| AQI: 0.86 (AQ_t 0.80 / AQ_t-1 0.93) |
| SGI: 0.91 (Revenue 465.1m / 509.7m) |
| TATA: -0.00 (NI 94.7m - CFO 114.4m) / TA 8.96b) |
| Beneish M = -3.03 (Cap -4..+1) = AA |
As of November 12, 2026, the stock is trading at USD 32.56 with a total of 136,262 shares traded. Over the past week, the price has changed by -1.27%, over one month by +5.65%, over three months by +2.29% and over the past year by +31.37%.
Current recommended Stop Loss: 30.30 (which is 6.9% or 2.8 ATR below the current price).
Business First Bancshares has received a consensus analysts rating of 4.80. Therefore, it is recommended to buy BFST.
- StrongBuy: 4
- Buy: 1
- Hold: 0
- Sell: 0
- StrongSell: 0
| Analysts Target Price | 37.1 | 13.8% |
P/E Trailing = 11.8208
P/E Forward = 9.6805
P/S = 3.07
P/B = 1.1373
Revenue TTM = 465.1m USD
EBIT TTM = 61.5m USD
EBITDA TTM = 67.1m USD
Long Term Debt = 272.5m USD (from longTermDebt, last fiscal year)
Short Term Debt = 359.1m USD (from shortTermDebt, last quarter)
Debt = 483.0m USD (from shortLongTermDebtTotal, last quarter)
Net Debt = -1.18b USD (calculated: Debt 483.0m - CCE 1.67b)
Enterprise Value = 1.07b USD (floored to Market Cap, CCE > MCap+Debt)
Interest Coverage Ratio = 0.33 (Ebit TTM 61.5m / Interest Expense TTM 188.9m)
EV/FCF = 9.66x (Enterprise Value 1.07b / FCF TTM 110.5m)
FCF Yield = 10.36% (FCF TTM 110.5m / Enterprise Value 1.07b)
FCF Margin = 23.76% (FCF TTM 110.5m / Revenue TTM 465.1m)
Net Margin = 20.35% (Net Income TTM 94.7m / Revenue TTM 465.1m)
Gross Margin = 58.10% ((Revenue TTM 465.1m - Cost of Revenue TTM 194.9m) / Revenue TTM)
Gross Margin QoQ = 65.16% (prev 19.05%)
Tobins Q-Ratio = 0.12 (Enterprise Value 1.07b / Total Assets 8.96b)
Interest Expense / Debt = 39.10% (Interest Expense 188.9m / Debt 483.0m)
Taxrate = 19.89% (23.5m / 118.1m)
NOPAT = 49.2m (EBIT 61.5m * (1 - 19.89%))
Current Ratio = 0.22 (Total Current Assets 1.71b / Total Current Liabilities 7.74b)
Debt / Equity = 0.48 (Debt 483.0m / totalStockholderEquity, last quarter 1.00b)
Debt / EBITDA = -17.63 (Net Debt -1.18b / EBITDA 67.1m)
Debt / FCF = -10.71 (Net Debt -1.18b / FCF TTM 110.5m)
Total Stockholder Equity = 974.8m (last 4 quarters mean from totalStockholderEquity)
RoA = 1.12% (Net Income 94.7m / Total Assets 8.96b)
RoE = 9.71% (Net Income TTM 94.7m / Total Stockholder Equity 974.8m)
RoCE = 4.93% (EBIT 61.5m / Capital Employed (Equity 974.8m + L.T.Debt 272.5m))
RoIC = 3.17% (NOPAT 49.2m / Invested Capital 1.55b)
WACC = 15.03% (E(1.07b)/V(1.55b) * Re(7.65%) + D(483.0m)/V(1.55b) * Rd(39.10%) * (1-Tc(0.20)))
Discount Rate = 7.65% (= CAPM, Blume Beta Adj.)
Shares (quarterly) Correlation: 91.64 | Cagr: 11.94%
[DCF] Terminal Value 59.42% ; FCFF base≈102.7m ; Y1≈117.7m ; Y5≈173.2m
[DCF] Fair Price = 73.21 (EV 1.18b - Net Debt -1.18b = Equity 2.37b / Shares 32.3m; r=15.03% [WACC]; 5y FCF grow 15.0% → 2.50% )
EPS Correlation: 86.93 | EPS CAGR: 6.81% | SUE: 0.91 | # QB: 1
Revenue Correlation: 75.78 | Revenue CAGR: 8.52% | SUE: 0.60 | # QB: 0
EPS current Quarter (2027-03-31): EPS=0.76 | Chg30d=-0.78% | Revisions=+40% | Analysts=5
EPS current Year (2026-12-31): EPS=3.03 | Chg30d=+0.90% | Revisions=+40% | GrowthEPS=+7.1% | GrowthRev=+14.3%
EPS next Year (2027-12-31): EPS=3.30 | Chg30d=-0.24% | Revisions=+40% | GrowthEPS=+9.0% | GrowthRev=+6.6%
[Analyst] Revisions Ratio: +67% (up=6, down=0)