What happened
Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE: SFBS) were up 18.7% as of 12:16 p.m. ET Friday, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, after the commercial bank announced better-than-expected second-quarter 2023 results yesterday.
So what
ServisFirst's net income technically declined 14% year over year to $53.4 million, or $0.98 per share, but that was well above the $0.89 per share most analysts were modeling.
A number of encouraging metrics underpinned those earnings. The company saw strong 23.2% annualized growth in deposits (to $672.9 million), new accounts opened jumped 20% year over year, and loans climbed 9.3% year over year (to $987.6 million). ServisFirst Bancshares' book value per share also grew 12.2% year over year, to $25.05.
Said ServisFirst chairman and CEO Tom Broughton, "Our best-in class banking team delivered strong growth in core banking relationships during the quarter, and the outlook for growth in new relationships is very good."
Now what
With echoes of recent bank failures in mind, ServisFirst CFO Bud Foshee added that the bank's "strong balance sheet serves us well in attracting new clients looking for a well-capitalized bank with excellent liquidity that has no brokered deposits or FHLB advances."
In the end, with shares still down around 16% year to date, even after today's pop in price, investors are obviously happy to snap up shares of a solid bank that appears to be moving in the right direction.
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