First Financial Bancorp (FFBC)

Regional banking company First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC) missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025, but sales rose 6.5% year on year to $238.8 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.80 per share was 1.9% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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.

Regional banks, financial institutions operating within specific geographic areas, serve as intermediaries between local depositors and borrowers. They benefit from rising interest rates that improve net interest margins (the difference between loan yields and deposit costs), digital transformation reducing operational expenses, and local economic growth driving loan demand. However, these banks face headwinds from fintech competition, deposit outflows to higher-yielding alternatives, credit deterioration (increasing loan defaults) during economic slowdowns, and regulatory compliance costs. Recent concerns about regional bank stability following high-profile failures and significant commercial real estate exposure present additional challenges.

First Financial Bancorp competes with other regional banks operating in the Midwest such as Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN), KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY), and PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC), as well as with national banks and local community banks in its service areas.

Net interest income and and fee-based revenue are the two pillars supporting bank earnings. The former captures profit from the gap between lending rates and deposit costs, while the latter encompasses charges for banking services, credit products, wealth management, and trading activities. Regrettably, First Financial Bancorp’s revenue grew at a tepid 7.6% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This was below our standard for the banking sector and is a tough 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 4% 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’s revenue grew by 6.5% year on year to $238.8 million, missing Wall Street’s estimates.

Net interest income made up 72.5% 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.

Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.

First Financial Bancorp’s EPS grew at a solid 12% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 7.6% annualized revenue growth. However, we take this with a grain of salt because its efficiency ratio didn’t improve and it didn’t repurchase its shares, meaning the delta came from factors we consider non-core or less sustainable over the long term.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.

For First Financial Bancorp, its two-year annual EPS growth of 2.8% was lower than its five-year trend. We hope its growth can accelerate in the future.

In Q4, First Financial Bancorp reported adjusted EPS of $0.80, up from $0.71 in the same quarter last year. This print beat analysts’ estimates by 1.9%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects First Financial Bancorp’s full-year EPS of $2.93 to grow 5.8%.

Banks are balance sheet-driven businesses because they generate earnings primarily through borrowing and lending. They’re also valued based on their balance sheet strength and ability to compound book value (another name for shareholders’ equity) over time.

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 tepid 3.8% annual clip over the last five years. However, TBVPS growth has accelerated recently, growing by 11.9% annually over the last two years from $12.56 to $15.74 per share.

Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for First Financial Bancorp’s TBVPS to grow by 15.4% to $18.16, solid growth rate.

Leverage is core to a financial firm’s business model (loans funded by deposits). To ensure economic stability and avoid a repeat of the 2008 GFC, regulators require certain levels of capital and liquidity, focusing on the Tier 1 capital ratio.

Tier 1 capital is the highest-quality capital that a firm holds, consisting primarily of common stock and retained earnings, but also physical gold. It serves as the primary cushion against losses and is the first line of defense in times of financial distress.

This capital is divided by risk-weighted assets to derive the Tier 1 capital ratio. Risk-weighted means that cash and US treasury securities are assigned little risk while unsecured consumer loans and equity investments get much higher risk weights, for example.

New regulation after the 2008 financial crisis requires that all firms must maintain a Tier 1 capital ratio greater than 4.5%. On top of this, there are additional buffers based on scale, risk profile, and other regulatory classifications, so that at the end of the day, firms generally must maintain a 7-10% ratio at minimum.

Over the last two years, First Financial Bancorp has averaged a Tier 1 capital ratio of 12.1%, which is considered safe and well capitalized in the event that macro or market conditions suddenly deteriorate.

Return on equity, or ROE, quantifies bank profitability relative to shareholder equity - an essential capital source for these institutions. Over extended periods, superior ROE performance drives faster shareholder wealth compounding through reinvestment, share repurchases, and dividend growth.

Over the last five years, First Financial Bancorp has averaged an ROE of 10.2%, respectable for a company operating in a sector where the average shakes out around 7.5% and those putting up 15%+ are greatly admired.

It was encouraging to see First Financial Bancorp beat analysts’ net interest income expectations this quarter. We were also happy its tangible book value per share narrowly outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its revenue missed and its EPS slightly exceeded Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a weaker quarter. The stock remained flat at $27.20 immediately after reporting.

Updated: January 28, 2026 at 11:45 PM EST

Are you wondering whether to buy First Financial Bancorp or pass? We urge investors to not only consider the latest earnings results but also longer-term business quality and valuation as well.

First Financial Bancorp isn’t a terrible business, but it isn’t one of our picks. For starters, its revenue growth was uninspiring over the last five years. And while its estimated net interest income growth for the next 12 months is great, the downside is its net interest income growth was uninspiring over the last five years. On top of that, its TBVPS growth was uninspiring over the last five years.

First Financial Bancorp’s P/B ratio based on the next 12 months is 0.9x. While this valuation is reasonable, we don’t really see a big opportunity at the moment. We're fairly confident there are better stocks to buy right now.

Wall Street analysts have a consensus one-year price target of $30 on the company (compared to the current share price of $27.20).