First Bancorp (FBNC) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $2.44B
• Dividend Yield: 1.69%
• Average Volume (3M): 208.85K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 22.0
• Beta (1Y): 0.91
• Revenue Growth: -5.72%
• EPS Growth: -3.86%
• Country: US
• Employees: 1,345
• Sector: Financial
• Sector Strength: 70
• Industry: Banks - Regional
• EPS (TTM): 0.38
• Shares Outstanding: 41,465,330
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 282,282
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 208,855
• PEG Ratio: 0.42
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.27
• Price to Sales (P/S): 3.87
• P/FCF Ratio: 10.34
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 0.99
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 4.46
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 6.37
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 15.68
• 1Y Price Target: $63.67
• Price Target Upside: 5.75% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 3
• EPS Forecast (FY): 4.52
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $509.17M

• Rating: 75 Outperform
• Price Target: $68.00 ▲(12.94% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 02/26/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 02/26/26

Overall score is driven primarily by solid financial performance (improving 2025 profitability, conservative leverage, and good cash-flow quality). Technicals are supportive with an established uptrend and moderate momentum. Valuation is the main restraint due to a higher P/E and modest yield, while recent corporate events are broadly positive due to dividend actions despite a leadership transition.

Positive Factors

Conservative balance sheet / low leverage

Very low debt-to-equity and a growing equity base provide structural resilience through economic cycles. Conservative leverage reduces funding and default risk, preserves lending flexibility, and supports capital-return capacity — durable strengths for 2–6 months and beyond.

Solid cash generation and earnings quality

Operating cash flow growth and FCF roughly equaling net income indicate high earnings quality and real cash conversion. This underpins sustainable dividends, internal investment, and loss-absorption capacity, strengthening the bank's ability to execute strategy over coming quarters.

Consistent shareholder returns backed by capital strength

Incremental dividend increases combined with explicit statements on capital and liquidity signal disciplined capital allocation and confidence in core cash flows. This indicates management prioritizes shareholder returns while maintaining prudent capital buffers over the medium term.

Negative Factors

Profitability volatility versus 2022 peak

Earnings and margins have fluctuated since a 2022 peak, indicating sensitivity to the operating environment. Such volatility impairs predictability of dividends, capital planning, and lending growth, making medium-term earnings visibility and strategic execution more challenging.

Choppy free cash flow growth

Intermittent declines in free cash flow reduce flexibility for recurring investments and shareholder returns. Irregular cash conversion increases reliance on capital buffers and makes multi-quarter allocation decisions harder, posing a durable constraint on strategic initiatives.

Governance / leadership transition risk

Departure of a long-tenured chair and the end of a decades-long family association creates governance and succession uncertainty. That can affect strategic continuity, stakeholder relationships, and oversight cadence, potentially influencing decisions and stability for several quarters.

First Bancorp Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

First Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides banking products and services for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses primarily in North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina. It accepts deposit products, such as checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits, including certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts. The company also offers loans for a range of consumer and commercial purposes comprising loans for business, real estate, personal, home improvement, and automobiles, as well as residential mortgages and small business administration loans; and accounts receivable financing and factoring, inventory financing, and purchase order financing services. In addition, it provides credit and debit cards, letter of credits, and safe deposit box rental services, as well as electronic funds transfer services consisting of wire transfers; and internet and mobile banking, cash management, bank-by-phone services, and remote deposit capture services. Further, the company offers investment and insurance products, such as mutual funds, annuities, long-term care insurance, life insurance, and company retirement plans, as well as property and casualty insurance products; and financial planning services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 121 branches comprising 114 branch offices located in North Carolina and seven branches in South Carolina. First Bancorp was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Southern Pines, North Carolina.

How the Company Makes Money

First Bancorp generates revenue primarily through interest income from loans and investment securities, which forms the bulk of its earnings. The company earns interest on various types of loans, including commercial loans, consumer loans, and residential mortgages. Additionally, First Bancorp generates non-interest income through service fees, transaction fees, and wealth management services. Key revenue streams include net interest income, which is the difference between interest earned on loans and interest paid on deposits, and non-interest income from various fees associated with banking services. The company may also benefit from strategic partnerships with other financial institutions, community organizations, and businesses that enhance its service offerings and customer base.

First Bancorp Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Financials are generally healthy: profitability improved meaningfully in 2025, leverage is very low with a strengthening equity base, and operating/free cash flow aligns well with earnings (good quality). Key risks are cyclicality/volatility versus the 2022 profitability peak and uneven free cash flow growth.

Income Statement

Revenue has been largely stable with modest growth in 2025 (up ~2.6% YoY) after a small dip in 2024. Profitability improved meaningfully in 2025 versus 2024 (net margin ~20% vs ~14%; EBIT/EBITDA margins also stepped up), indicating stronger earnings power. The main weakness is volatility versus earlier years, with peak profitability in 2022 followed by a reset in 2023–2024, suggesting earnings can fluctuate with the operating environment.

Balance Sheet

Leverage appears conservative in the most recent years, with very low debt relative to equity in 2024–2025 (debt-to-equity ~0.01–0.05), supporting balance-sheet resilience. Equity has grown over time, providing a stronger capital base. Return on equity is positive but moderate in 2025 (~6.7%) and below the 2022 high, which signals profitability on shareholder capital has cooled even as the balance sheet strengthened.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is solid: operating cash flow increased from 2024 to 2025 (about $175M to $203M), and free cash flow closely tracks earnings with free cash flow to net income ~1.0 in 2025, suggesting good earnings quality. The key drawback is choppiness in free cash flow growth (down in 2023 and 2025 after stronger periods), indicating cash flow momentum is not consistently upward year to year.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	543.12M	530.81M	541.11M	407.66M	324.90M
Gross Profit	380.81M	327.40M	381.20M	379.16M	300.34M
EBITDA	154.64M	116.00M	151.17M	200.55M	134.25M
Net Income	111.05M	76.22M	104.13M	146.94M	95.64M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	12.67B	12.15B	12.11B	10.63B	10.51B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	2.20B	2.40B	2.43B	2.58B	3.09B
Total Debt	74.57M	14.55M	321.67M	237.82M	19.50M
Total Liabilities	11.01B	10.70B	10.74B	9.59B	9.28B
Stockholders Equity	1.65B	1.45B	1.37B	1.03B	1.23B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	203.13M	172.12M	126.97M	225.37M	132.93M
Operating Cash Flow	203.13M	174.78M	131.40M	230.65M	142.34M
Investing Cash Flow	-562.07M	169.67M	-191.37M	-713.36M	-1.27B
Financing Cash Flow	161.03M	-74.80M	27.51M	291.86M	1.23B

First Bancorp Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 60.21
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For FBNC, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 60.21 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 60.11, above the 50-day MA of 56.59, and above the 200-day MA of 50.52, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 1.00 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 54.99 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 22.08 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for FBNC.

First Bancorp Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
NBTB	77 Outperform	$2.30B	13.19	8.87%	3.33%	11.63%	5.58%
FRME	76 Outperform	$2.55B	10.41	9.47%	3.72%	-1.76%	32.44%
FBNC	75 Outperform	$2.44B	21.99	6.39%	1.69%	-5.72%	-3.86%
CUBI	75 Outperform	$2.39B	11.58	11.34%	―	-0.37%	-20.30%
BANR	69 Neutral	$2.05B	10.67	10.28%	2.97%	6.98%	15.08%
Sector *	68 Neutral	$18.00B	11.42	9.92%	3.81%	9.73%	1.22%
SYBT	66 Neutral	$1.94B	13.88	13.69%	1.88%	11.74%	26.27%

First Bancorp Corporate Events

First Bancorp boosts dividend and announces board transition

On January 27, 2026, First Bancorp announced that its board of directors approved a cash dividend of $0.24 per share on its common stock, payable on April 24, 2026 to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2026, representing an increase from the prior $0.23 dividend and signaling continued capital return to investors. On the same date, the company reported the immediate retirement of long-serving director and former board chair Mary Clara Capel, whose tenure since 2005 and the Capel family’s nearly 70-year association with the bank have played a significant role in First Bancorp’s governance, growth, and community banking franchise, marking a notable leadership transition for the institution and its stakeholders.

The most recent analyst rating on (FBNC) stock is a Buy with a $65.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on First Bancorp stock, see the FBNC Stock Forecast page.

First Bancorp Declares Cash Dividend for Shareholders

On December 12, 2025, First Bancorp announced a cash dividend of $0.23 per share on its common stock, payable on January 25, 2026, to shareholders of record as of December 31, 2025. CEO Richard Moore highlighted the company’s strong capital and liquidity, as well as increases in adjusted net income and EPS, emphasizing the commitment to delivering consistent shareholder value through dividends.

The most recent analyst rating on (FBNC) stock is a Buy with a $57.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on First Bancorp stock, see the FBNC Stock Forecast page.