What Happened?

Shares of regional banking company First Bancorp (NASDAQ: FBNC) jumped 2.9% in the afternoon session after analyst firm Piper Sandler upgraded the company's stock rating to Overweight from Neutral and increased its price target. The price target was lifted to $58.00 from $51.00. This action followed First Bancorp's stronger-than-expected third-quarter 2025 results. The bank's performance was marked by solid balance sheet growth and a notably higher net interest margin. Piper Sandler's analyst noted these strong trends as a basis for seeing more potential upside for the shares.

The shares closed the day at $49.58, up 2.3% from previous close.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

First Bancorp’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 18 days ago when the stock dropped 5.4% on the news that disclosures from two lenders raised concerns about deteriorating loan quality across the industry. The drop was triggered by specific incidents that have spooked investors. Zions Bancorp announced a $50 million charge-off—a debt the bank doesn't expect to collect—on a single loan. Separately, Western Alliance Bancorp revealed it was dealing with a borrower who had failed to provide proper collateral. These events are compounding existing anxieties about the regional banking sector, which is already under pressure from elevated interest rates and declining commercial real estate values. The news heightened investor concerns that more cracks could appear in borrowers' creditworthiness, potentially leading to increased loan losses and reduced profitability for other banks in the sector.

First Bancorp is up 15.4% since the beginning of the year, but at $49.62 per share, it is still trading 10.7% below its 52-week high of $55.55 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of First Bancorp’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,960.

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