Regional banking company First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) reported Q3 CY2025 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 16.3% year on year to $234 million. Its GAAP profit of $0.75 per share was 3% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Archie Brown, President and CEO, commented on third quarter results, "The third quarter of 2025 was another outstanding quarter for First Financial. Adjusted(1) net income was $72.6 million and adjusted(1) earnings per share were $0.76, which resulted in an adjusted(1) return on assets of 1.55% and an adjusted(1) return on tangible common equity of 19.3%."

Company Overview

Tracing its roots back to 1863 during the Civil War era, First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company that provides commercial banking, lending, deposit services, and wealth management to individuals and businesses.

Sales Growth

Two primary revenue streams drive bank earnings. While net interest income, which is earned by charging higher rates on loans than paid on deposits, forms the foundation, fee-based services across banking, credit, wealth management, and trading operations provide additional income. Thankfully, First Financial Bancorp’s 7.3% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was solid. Its growth beat the average banking company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a helpful starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. First Financial Bancorp’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed as its annualized revenue growth of 1.8% over the last two years was below its five-year trend. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, First Financial Bancorp reported year-on-year revenue growth of 16.3%, and its $234 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2.5%.

Net interest income made up 72.7% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning lending operations are First Financial Bancorp’s largest source of revenue.

While banks generate revenue from multiple sources, investors view net interest income as the cornerstone - its predictable, recurring characteristics stand in sharp contrast to the volatility of non-interest income.

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Tangible Book Value Per Share (TBVPS)

Banks profit by intermediating between depositors and borrowers, making them fundamentally balance sheet-driven enterprises. Market participants emphasize balance sheet quality and sustained book value growth when evaluating these institutions.

This is why we consider tangible book value per share (TBVPS) the most important metric to track for banks. TBVPS represents the real, liquid net worth per share of a bank, excluding intangible assets that have debatable value upon liquidation. Traditional metrics like EPS are helpful but face distortion from M&A activity and loan loss accounting rules.

First Financial Bancorp’s TBVPS grew at a decent 5% annual clip over the last five years. TBVPS growth has accelerated recently, growing by 20.9% annually over the last two years from $11.08 to $16.19 per share.

Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for First Financial Bancorp’s TBVPS to grow by 5.4% to $17.06, mediocre growth rate.

Key Takeaways from First Financial Bancorp’s Q3 Results

It was encouraging to see First Financial Bancorp beat analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also happy its tangible book value per share narrowly outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its net interest income slightly missed and its efficiency ratio was worse than expected. Zooming out, we think this was a mixed quarter. Investors were likely hoping for more, and shares traded down 4.2% to $23.28 immediately following the results.

So should you invest in First Financial Bancorp right now? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.