First BanCorp (NYSE:FBP) Exceeds Q4 CY2025 Expectations

Puerto Rican financial institution First BanCorp (NYSE:FBP) reported Q4 CY2025 results exceeding the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 6.5% year on year to $257.2 million. Its GAAP profit of $0.55 per share was 8.1% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

Tracing its roots back to 1948 in San Juan, First BanCorp (NYSE:FBP) is a bank holding company that provides commercial banking, consumer financing, mortgage services, and insurance products across Puerto Rico, the U.S. mainland, and the Caribbean.

Sales Growth

In general, banks make money from two primary sources. The first is net interest income, which is interest earned on loans, mortgages, and investments in securities minus interest paid out on deposits. The second source is non-interest income, which can come from bank account, credit card, wealth management, investing banking, and trading fees. Regrettably, First BanCorp’s revenue grew at a tepid 7.5% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This wasn’t a great result compared to the rest of the banking sector, but there are still things to like about First BanCorp.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. First 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.

This quarter, First BanCorp reported year-on-year revenue growth of 6.5%, and its $257.2 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 1.1%.

Net interest income made up 86.3% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning First BanCorp barely relies on non-interest income to drive its overall growth.

Our experience and research show the market cares primarily about a bank’s net interest income growth as non-interest income is considered a lower-quality and non-recurring revenue source.

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Tangible Book Value Per Share (TBVPS)

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.

When analyzing banks, tangible book value per share (TBVPS) takes precedence over many other metrics. This measure isolates genuine per-share value by removing intangible assets of debatable liquidation worth. On the other hand, EPS is often distorted by mergers and flexible loan loss accounting. TBVPS provides clearer performance insights.

First BanCorp’s TBVPS grew at a mediocre 4.3% annual clip over the last five years. However, TBVPS growth has accelerated recently, growing by 19.7% annually over the last two years from $8.58 to $12.29 per share.

Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for First BanCorp’s TBVPS to grow by 8.9% to $13.38, paltry growth rate.

Key Takeaways from First BanCorp’s Q4 Results

It was good to see First BanCorp narrowly top analysts’ tangible book value per share expectations this quarter. We were also happy its revenue narrowly outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its net interest income missed. Zooming out, we think this was a mixed quarter. The stock remained flat at $21.03 immediately after reporting.

So do we think First BanCorp is an attractive buy at the current price? What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).