Insider buying last 90 days
No open-market insider purchases were filed for BFST in the last 90 days.
From Form 4 filings, dated to when each was filed.
Every BFST insider filing, plotted on the chart in Gekko.Open BFST in Gekko
NASDAQ: BFST
Business First Bancshares (BFST) Stock Analysis & Forecast
Oct 12 close
$30.82+0.33 (+1.1%)
Gekko Brief
AI summaryOct 12 closeA quantitative signal piece published on 10 October flags weak near-term sentiment alongside longer-term strength for BFST, describing a mix of position, momentum breakout and risk hedging strategies and citing a 17.7:1 risk-reward setup. No earnings, guidance, deal or regulatory headlines accompany this week's move; the commentary itself is the main item of note in the news flow.
Shares of BFST closed at $30.82, up 1.1% on the day, sitting between the 50-day average of $31.20 and the 200-day average of $29.00, a mixed trend picture. The GekkoIndex reads 59.6, placing the stock in the Neutral zone, with a five-day change of 0.6. Price sits 5.8% below Gekko Fair Value of $32.71.
Earnings are due on 26 October, 13 days out, falling inside the typical 20-trading-day hold window; the prior quarter beat estimates ($0.79 versus $0.72) yet the stock reacted -3.4%, and the company has beaten in 7 of the last 8 quarters with an average absolute reaction of 4.9%. No insider, Congress or unusual options activity appears in the respective 90-day and 30-day windows. Seasonality over the past 5 years shows the next 20 trading days averaging +11.9%, positive in 5 of 5 instances, a pattern worth noting alongside the approaching report.
Written by AI from the Oct 12, 2026 close and checked automatically against the figures on this page.
Business First Bancshares price vs fair value
Close $30.82200-day averageGekko Fair Value $32.71
Business First Bancshares quick facts
- Market cap
- $1.01B
- P/E ratio
- 10.8
- Forward P/E
- 9.7
- EPS, TTM
- $2.81
- Revenue, TTM
- $334.0M
- Profit margin
- 27.8%
- Dividend yield
- 1.95%
- Beta
- 0.78
- Volume
- 165,718 avg 215,089
- 1-year return
- +31.4%
- Typical daily move
- ±1.6%
- Typical 20-day move
- ±5.6%
- 50-day average
- $31.20
- 200-day average
- $29.00
- Next earnings
- Oct 26 after close
- Shares outstanding
- 32.55M
Business First Bancshares swing-trade checklist
Business First Bancshares scores 2 supportive, 2 mixed and 1 headwind across the 5 checklist items with data.
Six things swing traders check before a 20-day hold, read from the latest data.
2 supportive2 mixed1 headwind
- Trendmixed
Averages disagree
Close $30.82 sits between the 50-day ($31.20) and 200-day ($29.00) averages, or the averages disagree.
See the chart - GekkoIndexmixed
59.6, Neutral
Reading 59.6 is in the Neutral zone.
See the GekkoIndex - Fair valuesupportive
5.8% below
Price is 5.8% below Gekko Fair Value (more than 5% below).
See fair value - Smart moneyno data
No data
No insider, Congress or unusual options activity in the window.
See smart money - Earnings riskheadwind
Reports in 14 days
Reports on Oct 26, 2026, 14 days away — inside a typical 20-trading-day hold.
See earnings - Seasonalitysupportive
+11.9% on average
From this point in the calendar, the next 20 trading days averaged +11.9% over 5 years, rising in 5 of them.
See seasonality
A description of current data, not a recommendation. How this page works
Business First Bancshares stock chart and price history
Business First Bancshares closed at $30.82 on Oct 12, 2026, +31.4% over the past year, inside a 52-week range of $22.56 to $32.53.
Close50-day average200-day averageVolume
Use the left and right arrow keys to read daily values.
Performance Breakdown
- 1 month
- −1.9%
- 3 months
- +2.1%
- 6 months
- +7.6%
- 1 year
- +31.4%
The full BFST chart adds GekkoIndex, insider, options, Congress and hedge fund markers, plus TrendCandles™.Open BFST in Gekko
Follow Business First Bancshares through every session
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About Business First Bancshares
Business First Bancshares operates as the holding company behind b1BANK, offering a full range of banking and financial services to individuals and businesses. It is known for combining everyday deposit accounts, such as checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit, with a broad set of lending products covering commercial, real estate, construction, and consumer needs. The bank also provides wealth management offerings, including IRAs, annuities, mutual funds, and fiduciary services, alongside tools like treasury management, payroll solutions, and digital banking access.
The company serves customers through a network of banking centers and loan production offices located in Louisiana and in the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas. Its business spans both retail banking, through everyday accounts and consumer loans, and commercial banking, through lending, cash management, and correspondent banking services aimed at businesses and institutional clients.
Business First Bancshares was founded in 2006 and is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Its shares are listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker BFST.
- Listed
- NASDAQ
- Sector
- Finance
- Industry
- Regional banks
- Website
- b1bank.com
Business First Bancshares GekkoIndex: the smart money zone
Business First Bancshares’s GekkoIndex — Gekko’s 0 to 100 smart money score — reads 59.6, in the Neutral zone, up 0.6 points over five sessions.
59.6Neutral
Up 0.6 points over five sessions.
Reading for Oct 12, 2026
What followed past readings in each zone
| Zone | Readings | 5 days | 20 days | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buying | 31 | +2.4% | +6.1% | ||
| Accumulation | 215 | +0.6% | +4.1% | ||
| Neutral (current zone) | 382 | +0.2% | +0.1% | ||
| Distribution | 48 | −1.8% | −4.7% | ||
| Selling | 6 | Too few readings yet | |||
Average BFST share-price change over the trading days after each daily reading in its GekkoIndex history. Across every stock Gekko tracks, Neutral readings averaged +1.1% over 20 days. Past behaviour doesn’t guarantee future results.
Neutral zone: No clear directional signal. About the five zones →
See every daily GekkoIndex reading plotted over the BFST price, zone by zone.Track BFST in Gekko
Is Business First Bancshares stock overvalued? Gekko Fair Value
Business First Bancshares trades 5.8% below Gekko Fair Value of $32.71, so the shares are undervalued on Gekko’s estimate.
Gekko’s own estimate of what Business First Bancshares shares are worth, recalculated every trading day.
$32.71
Gekko Fair Value, Oct 9, 2026
5.8% Undervalued
At the end of Aug 2026 the price was 6.6% below the estimate.
Gekko Fair ValueShare price, month end
Gekko Fair Value on every chart, with the gap to price updating daily.Open BFST in Gekko
Business First Bancshares insider and Congress trading
No open-market insider purchases were filed for Business First Bancshares, and no Congress trades were disclosed, in the last 90 days.
Plus buybacks, unusual options and fund positions, each dated to when it became public.
Congress trades last 90 days
No trades in BFST were disclosed by members of Congress in the last 90 days.
From congressional disclosures, which report amounts as ranges.
Congress disclosures for BFST, plotted on the chart in Gekko.Open BFST in Gekko
Buybacks
Business First Bancshares has been buying back its own shares.
- Bought back, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
- $4.81M
- As a share of market cap
- 0.48%
From company filings.
Business First Bancshares earnings: next date and track record
Business First Bancshares reports on Oct 26, 2026, after the close (14 days away), and beat the EPS estimate in 7 of its last 8 reports.
Next earnings report
Oct 26, 2026
Expected after the close, 14 days away
- EPS estimate
- $0.75
- Revenue estimate
- $93.25M
7 of 8reports beat the EPS estimate
±4.9%average move across the report
4 of 8reports followed by a gain
Share-price move across each report
Last earnings call, Jan 22, 2026 AI summary
- What they said
- The call covers 2025 Q4 results with a focus on organic loan growth, improved credit performance after a prior period of higher paydowns, and the integration of Progressive Bank and other acquisitions. Management emphasizes disciplined balance sheet management, diversification across Texas, North/South Louisiana, and Dallas, and a multi-year plan to improve operating leverage through scale, implemented technology platforms, and stronger governance. The bank highlights a solid Q4 core profitability, aided by correspondent banking, a growing loan book, and increased noninterest income through SSW and related activities. The Q&A delves into loan growth outlook, credit resolution and concentration risk, capital deployment through buybacks, hiring plans, and longer-term risk management strategies, including reserves and swap-based interest rate hedging. Overall tone mixes optimism about growth opportunities and operating leverage with prudence on credit risk and integration challenges.
- Guidance
- Guidance appears to be broadly positive with expectations for mid-single-digit loan growth in 2026, continued focus on cost control and operating leverage, and potential buyback activity contingent on capital efficiency. Management signals selective hiring and capital deployment with a preference for organic growth and strategic acquisitions when opportunities arise. Specific numeric guidance includes mid-single-digit loan growth for 2026, cost-efficiency targets (run-rate ROA targets and a long-term goal to move operating leverage toward the 50s basis points ROA range post-Progressive integration).
- Risks flagged
- Key risks discussed include credit concentration risk (one large CRE exposure), the potential for heightened credit losses as conditions normalize, reliance on deposits and fee income volatility (swap, SBA, brokerage), integration risk from Progressive and other acquisitions, and balance sheet funding risks tied to deposit competition and market rates.
| Reported | EPS | Revenue | Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 22, 2026 | $0.79 est $0.72 | $83.09M est $81.41M | −3.4% |
| Oct 23, 2025 | $0.72 est $0.69 | $80.81M est $81.40M | +6.9% |
| Jul 28, 2025 | $0.66 est $0.65 | $78.34M est $81.18M | −3.1% |
| Apr 24, 2025 | $0.65 est $0.61 | $77.83M est $77.54M | −2.1% |
| Jan 23, 2025 | $0.66 est $0.49 | $77.40M est $75.57M | +8.8% |
| Oct 24, 2024 | $0.68 est $0.57 | $66.55M est $65.32M | +2.5% |
| Jul 25, 2024 | $0.64 est $0.51 | $65.79M est $62.96M | +6.2% |
| Apr 25, 2024 | $0.50 est $0.57 | $60.62M est $62.22M | −6.3% |
“Move” is the close of the first session after the report compared with the close of the last session before it, so it reads the same whether the company reported before the open or after the close.
Business First Bancshares stock forecast and analyst price targets
Analysts’ average 12-month price target for Business First Bancshares is $34.90, +13.2% from the last close, from 2 firms rating the stock in the last 90 days.
$34.90consensus 12-month target, +13.2% from the last close
Each firm’s latest rating in the last 90 days: 2 firms.
Latest analyst actions
| Date | Firm | Target | vs price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24 | Stephens | $36 | +16.8% |
| Jul 24 | Hovde Group | $36 | +16.8% |
+0.1%average 20-day move after past Neutral readings
+11.9%average move over the next 20 trading days in the last 5 years
±1.6%typical daily move, from the 14-day average range
Gekko doesn’t publish price predictions. These are analyst targets and historical base rates, which don’t guarantee future results.
Business First Bancshares seasonality: the next 20 trading days
Over the next 20 trading days from Oct 10, Business First Bancshares averaged +11.9% across the last 5 years, rising in 5 of them.
Next 20 trading days, by year
Average move and hit rate
| Window | Average | Years higher |
|---|---|---|
| Next 5 trading days | +2.5% | 4 of 5 |
| Next 10 trading days | +4.2% | 4 of 5 |
| Next 15 trading days | +8.5% | 5 of 5 |
| Next 20 trading days | +11.9% | 5 of 5 |
| Next 30 trading days | +10.9% | 5 of 5 |
For scale, BFST’s typical 20-trading-day move in either direction is about 5.6%.
Business First Bancshares market cap and key statistics
Business First Bancshares’s market cap is $1.01B, with a P/E ratio of 10.8 and revenue of $334.0M over the last twelve months.
Valuation
- Market cap
- $1.01B
- P/E ratio
- 10.8
- Forward P/E
- 9.7
- EPS, TTM
- $2.81
- Gekko Fair Value
- $32.71
Trading
- Volume
- 165,718
- Avg volume, 20 days
- 215,089
- 52-week high
- $32.53
- 52-week low
- $22.56
- Shares outstanding
- 32.55M
Financials
- Revenue, TTM
- $334.0M
- Profit margin
- 27.8%
- Return on equity
- 10%
- Quarterly earnings growth, YoY
- 0.0%
Risk and income
- Beta
- 0.78
- Typical daily move
- ±1.6%
- Typical 20-day move
- ±5.6%
- Dividend yield
- 1.95%
Business First Bancshares stock news this week
1 headline about Business First Bancshares from the past week, newest first, each linking to the publisher.
- (BFST) Movement as an Input in Quant Signal SetsStock Traders Daily, Oct 10
Business First Bancshares peers
Business First Bancshares’s 6 largest industry peers by market value, with today’s move, GekkoIndex zone and gap to Gekko Fair Value.
| Stock | GekkoIndex zone | vs Fair Value |
|---|---|---|
| CMCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | Accumulation | 5.7% below |
| USBU.S. Bancorp | Accumulation | 11.0% below |
| NUNu | Neutral | 0.7% below |
| TFCTruist Financial | Accumulation | 9.6% below |
| FITBFifth Third Bancorp | Accumulation | 11.2% below |
| MTBM&T Bank | Accumulation | 9.1% below |
A peer links to its own page where one exists.
Business First Bancshares stock FAQ
What is Business First Bancshares’s market cap?
Business First Bancshares’s market cap is $1.01B at the Oct 12, 2026 close of $30.82, with 32.55M shares outstanding. The shares trade on a P/E ratio of 10.8.
What is the Business First Bancshares stock forecast?
The consensus analyst 12-month price target for Business First Bancshares is $34.90, +13.2% from the last close. Of the 2 firms that rated the stock in the last 90 days, 2 rate it a buy, 0 a hold and 0 a sell. Gekko doesn’t publish price predictions of its own.
Is Business First Bancshares stock overvalued or undervalued?
On Gekko’s estimate Business First Bancshares is undervalued: the Oct 12, 2026 close of $30.82 is 5.8% below Gekko Fair Value of $32.71. Gekko Fair Value is recalculated every trading day, and a gap inside 5% either way counts as about fair value.
When does Business First Bancshares report earnings next?
Business First Bancshares is expected to report on Oct 26, 2026, after the market closes (14 days away). Analysts expect earnings of $0.75 per share on revenue of $93.25M. Business First Bancshares beat the earnings estimate in 7 of its last 8 reports, moving 4.9% on average across the report.
What is Business First Bancshares’s 52-week high and low?
Business First Bancshares’s 52-week high is $32.53 and its 52-week low is $22.56; it closed at $30.82 on Oct 12, 2026, +31.4% over the past year.
Is Business First Bancshares stock a buy right now?
Gekko describes the data; it does not make buy or sell recommendations. On the swing-trade checklist, 2 of the 5 items with data read as supportive (fair value and seasonality), 2 as mixed (trend and gekkoindex) and 1 as a headwind (earnings risk). The checklist is a description of current data, not a recommendation.
How this page works
During US trading hours the price at the top of the page is a delayed quote, refreshed every 15 minutes; everything else is rebuilt after each US market close. The GekkoIndex, Gekko Fair Value and the checklist are Gekko’s own, and the Gekko Brief is written by AI from this page’s data and checked against it before it is published. How Gekko’s data works →
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