Loading company financials…
NASDAQ NMS - GLOBAL MARKET · Banking · CIK 0001624322
$31.80
-0.44% · live
Updated
$938.4M market value
From Business First Bancshares, Inc.'s FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 26, 2026 · read the filing
Business First Bancshares takes deposits and lends money. It took in $10.7M last year, which makes it a small company. Of every dollar it sells, about 821 cents is left as profit.
The financial picture is led by profitability, with growth and debt worth watching.
A conclusion from the filings, not a recommendation. Detailed figures and supporting evidence appear in their dedicated sections below.
Recent open-market selling by 8 insiders, not under a pre-arranged plan.
$1.8M sold in the last 120 days · Read the filing
These are things the company filed or that a published model flagged — not predictions, and not a reason on their own to buy or sell anything.
Financial health
Generally healthy, with a few things to watch.
From Business First Bancshares, Inc.'s FY2025 annual filing · share price scored separately
Largest year-over-year changes in FY2025
Profit margin
615.6% → 820.8%
Free cash flow
$59.8M → $92.0M
Capital spending
$1.6M → $66.0K
Profit
$65.1M → $87.9M
Measured against FY2024, from the 10-K filed Feb 26, 2026
Improved: +205.3 pts
615.6% to 820.8%Critical
Why it matters: What survives to the very end of each sale. Worth reading beside revenue: growing sales on a shrinking margin means the company is buying its growth.
How the latest move compares (quote live), and what was published around it
BFST fell 0.44% on the latest quote. The average Financials company tracked here moved −1.33%, and the S&P 500 −0.47%. That is 0.9 points above its sector and in line with the market.
These coincide with the move in time. None is presented as its cause: a price can move on news that names no company, on the wider market, or on trading that no document records.
Expectations
Not from the filings — what other people are betting on, and what the price already assumes.
Opinions from 11 analysts covering this company, as of . Their views, not this site's.
Of 11 analysts publishing on this company, 3 say strong buy, 7 say buy and 1 say hold. Analysts are paid to publish a view and are wrong often; the split above says how much they agree with each other, which is the part a single headline rating hides.
Published by Finnhub. Analyst coverage skews towards larger companies and towards optimism — sell ratings are rare across the whole market, so a company with none is ordinary rather than endorsed.
The essentials
Each answered from the filings, with the numbers behind it.
Yes. It keeps about 821 cents of every dollar of sales as profit, earning $87.9M last year.
Barely. Sales were roughly flat, up 1.2%.
For every $1 it owes, it owns $1.12 in assets. Banks and insurers always carry high debt — that is how lending works — so this is normal for the industry and not comparable with other sectors.
Core operating and valuation reference metrics
Whether the dividend is covered by what the business actually earns
It pays out 19 cents of every dollar of profit and keeps the rest, which leaves the payment comfortably covered. It paid out 18% of the cash its operations generated. It has paid in each of the last 10 years.
GoodNext payment expected around , projected from how regularly it has paid before rather than from a date the company has announced.
Figures from the FY2025 annual filing
Last year it earned $87.9M and generated $92.1M of cash from operations.
As reported to the SEC, in USD. Hover or show sources to see where each figure came from.
| Income statement | FY202510-K · Feb 26, 2026Filing for FY2025 | FY202410-K · Feb 26, 2026Filing for FY2024 | FY202310-K · Feb 26, 2026Filing for FY2023 | FY202210-K · Mar 2, 2023Filing for FY2022 | FY202110-K · Mar 1, 2022Filing for FY2021 | ChangeFY2025 vs FY2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RevenueWhat is this? | $10.7M | $10.6M | $9.7M | $8.3M | $6.8M | +1.2% |
| Interest expense | $22.9M | $22.3M | $138.2M | $36.5M | $16.6M | +2.9% |
| Income before tax | $110.3M | $83.1M | $90.6M | $68.6M | $64.6M | +32.8% |
| Net income | $87.9M | $65.1M | $71.0M | $54.3M | $52.1M | +34.9% |
| Net marginNet income ÷ revenueWhat is this? | 820.8% | 615.6% | 732.1% | 655.9% | 765.2% | +205.3 pts |
| Earnings per shareNet income ÷ shares outstanding at the period end — close to, but not the same as, the reported EPSWhat is this? | $2.98 | $2.20 | $2.80 | $2.16 | $2.56 | +35.1% |
† calculated from other reported figures, such as total liabilities as assets minus equity.
Insider activity, ownership stakes and what's coming — straight from EDGAR, before any article is written about it
Officers, directors and major shareholders must report within two business days of a trade.
Sold on the open market — 4,200 shares at $31.27 ($131.3K)
Holds 193,745 shares after this filing.
Sold on the open market — 10,000 shares at $31.33 ($313.3K)
Holds 183,745 shares after this filing.
20 recent filings, newest first. Each is labelled from its form and item numbers, not from its wording.
Had a director or senior officer leave or join
Read the filingQuarterly report for Q2 FY2026
Revenue +21.4% · Profit margin −83.3 pts · Cash +16.1% — against Q2 FY2025
Read the filingWrite down why you are following Business First Bancshares, Inc., what has to go right and what would change your mind, then see each new annual report measured against it. Sign in to start one.
Go deeper
Every figure above traces back to a filing in the timeline, each linked to the document itself.
The 3 subsidiaries named in its 10-K, incorporated across 3 places. A filer lists the significant ones and may leave the rest out, so this is the floor rather than the full count.
Source: Exhibit 21 of the 10-K filed 2026-02-26. These are legal entities, not brands or acquisitions — a company that bought a business may hold it inside an entity named here, or inside one small enough that the rule does not require naming it at all.
Coverage from the last 30 days
Every company's figures are checked for internal consistency: the balance sheet adding up, figures sharing one currency, cash flow and share counts within plausible ranges, and how recent the latest annual report is. Nothing here changes a figure.
Financial figures are from BFST's 10-K for fiscal year 2025 (period ending 2025-12-31, filed Feb 26, 2026), reported under the US GAAP taxonomy. View the source filing.
3 of 4 scored areas had enough reported figures to judge
The score averages profitability, growth, debt and accounting. Accounting had too few reported figures and is left out of the average rather than counted as a weakness, so a company is never marked down for a figure it did not publish. Cash generation is shown for context and already feeds profitability. Valuation is scored separately, because a share price says nothing about whether the business is sound. 6 of the 9 Piotroski checks could be evaluated. How the score works
Each year scored only from its annual report as it was first filed
| Fiscal year | Health | F-Score | Scored from |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 7.3 | 5/6 | 10-K, filed Feb 26, 2026 |
| FY2024 | 7.3 | 2/6 | 10-K, filed Mar 7, 2025 |
| FY2023 | 8.7 | 6/6 | 10-K, filed Mar 1, 2024 |
| FY2022 | 8.7 | 4/6 | 10-K, filed Mar 2, 2023 |
| FY2021 | 8.7 | 6/6 | 10-K, filed Mar 1, 2022 |
| FY2020 | 8.7 | 3/6 | 10-K, filed Mar 5, 2021 |
A later restatement never reaches back into an earlier year, and every year is scored without a share price, so the latest point can differ a little from the headline score, which uses today's price.
Every check behind the three models, and what each one tests
5 of 6 checks passed
Nine yes-or-no tests of whether this year's finances improved on last year's. 3 could not be evaluated and are excluded from the total rather than counted as failures.
not reported — Not meaningful for banks, insurers and other financial companies. Their balance sheets have no working capital and are leveraged by design, which this model misreads as distress.
Not meaningful for banks, insurers and other financial companies. Their balance sheets have no working capital and are leveraged by design, which this model misreads as distress.
Distance from bankruptcy, from a model fitted on companies that did and did not go bust. It describes a balance sheet's shape today; it does not forecast a failure.
not reported — Not meaningful for banks, insurers and other financial companies. Their balance sheets have no working capital and are leveraged by design, which this model misreads as distress.
Not meaningful for banks, insurers and other financial companies. Their balance sheets have no working capital and are leveraged by design, which this model misreads as distress.
Screens eight accounting ratios for the pattern earnings manipulators tend to leave. A flag is a reason to read the filing closely, never evidence of wrongdoing.
Every figure above comes from the FY2025 filing as filed with the SEC.
Improved: +53.8%
$59.8M to $92.0MCritical
Why it matters: Cash left after paying for the plant that produced it — the money genuinely available for dividends, buybacks or paying down debt. Harder to flatter than profit.
Changed: -95.8%
$1.6M to $66.0KCritical
Why it matters: Neither good nor bad on its own. Heavy spending is a company building capacity or a company struggling to stand still, and the two look identical in this figure.
Improved: +34.9%
$65.1M to $87.9MSignificant
Why it matters: Profit swings far more than sales do, and one-off items — a legal settlement, a tax charge, an asset sale — move it without the underlying business changing.
Improved: +35.1%
$2.20 to $2.98Significant
Why it matters: Profit divided by the shares in issue at the period end, so it sits close to but not on the company's own reported figure. It can rise with no growth in profit when the company buys back stock — read it beside the share count.
Improved: +28.9%
$319.1M to $411.2MSignificant
Why it matters: A falling cash pile is only a warning if the company is consuming it. Paying down debt, buying back stock and paying a dividend all reduce cash by choice.
Changed: +13.3%
$14.9M to $16.8MNotable
Why it matters: Cash handed to shareholders. A rise can be a higher dividend or simply more shares, and a cut is a decision the company explains in its own filing — neither is rated here.
Q2 FY2026 against Q2 FY2025, from the 10-Q filed Jul 31, 2026 — read it.
Deteriorated: −83.3 pts
839.5% to 756.2%Critical
Why it matters: What survives to the very end of each sale. Worth reading beside revenue: growing sales on a shrinking margin means the company is buying its growth.
Improved: +21.4%
$2.6M to $3.2MSignificant
Why it matters: Sales are what everything else is built on. A fall can be lost customers, lower prices, or a business the company sold — the filing itself says which.
Improved: +16.1%
$495.8M to $575.6MSignificant
Why it matters: A falling cash pile is only a warning if the company is consuming it. Paying down debt, buying back stock and paying a dividend all reduce cash by choice.
Improved: +9.4%
$22.1M to $24.2MNotable
Why it matters: Profit swings far more than sales do, and one-off items — a legal settlement, a tax charge, an asset sale — move it without the underlying business changing.
Improved: +9.7%
$0.75 to $0.82Notable
Why it matters: Profit divided by the shares in issue at the period end, so it sits close to but not on the company's own reported figure. It can rise with no growth in profit when the company buys back stock — read it beside the share count.
Q2 FY2026 against Q1 FY2026, from the 10-Q filed Jul 31, 2026 — read it. Quarter-to-quarter moves include seasonal swings — a retailer's holiday quarter — which the year-earlier comparison removes.
Improved: +6.2 pts
750.0% to 756.2%Significant
Why it matters: What survives to the very end of each sale. Worth reading beside revenue: growing sales on a shrinking margin means the company is buying its growth.
2 other measures barely moved. Figures compare the two most recent annual filings — read the latest one. Moves are graded on fixed lines — 5%, 15% and 40% for amounts, and 1, 3 and 8 points for margins — as notable, significant or critical. Nothing here reads the management commentary, which is where a company explains its own numbers.
Filter by minute, hour, day or week — or compare against peers
Loading price history…
Measured on and published about a week later — this is a fortnightly snapshot, not a live position.
About 4.2% of this company's shares have been borrowed and sold by people expecting to buy them back cheaper. That is a bet the price falls. Those people can be wrong, and when a heavily shorted share rises they have to buy it back, which pushes it up further.
Collected by FINRA from broker-dealers twice a month. It counts positions, not intentions, and some of it is hedging rather than a directional bet against the company.
Nothing in this section is a figure this company reported about itself. These are expectations and positions — what the price implies, what analysts have published, what short sellers are betting, and what large funds held at the last count. WylthIQ reports them; it does not endorse them, does not forecast prices, and takes no view on whether any of them will turn out to be right.
The trailing P/E is 10.1x — investors pay $10.1 for each $1 of trailing profit.
Not meaningful for banks, insurers and other financial companies. Their balance sheets have no working capital and are leveraged by design, which this model misreads as distress.
Reported annual figures
Sold on the open market — 3,235 shares at $31.80 ($102.9K)
Holds 197,945 shares after this filing.
Sold on the open market — 10,000 shares at $31.78 ($317.8K)
Holds 201,180 shares after this filing.
Sold on the open market — 9,723 shares at $31.97 ($310.8K)
Holds 0 shares after this filing.
Sold on the open market — 1,666 shares at $31.97 ($53.3K)
Holds 3,550 shares after this filing.
Sold on the open market — 1,875 shares at $31.64 ($59.3K)
Holds 12,642 shares after this filing.
Sold on the open market — 1,000 shares at $31.98 ($32.0K)
Holds 4,878 shares after this filing.
Sold on the open market — 10,000 shares at $31.87 ($318.7K)
Holds 211,180 shares after this filing.
Sold on the open market — 4,200 shares at $32.08 ($134.7K)
Holds 77,139 shares after this filing.
Notice filed ahead of a planned sale — the sale itself has not necessarily happened yet.
Filed notice to sell 2,435 shares ($76.2K) on or after .
Shares originally obtained via Acquired from issuer in private transaction.
Filed notice to sell 25,000 shares ($799.3K) on or after .
Shares originally obtained via Acquired from issuer in private transaction.
Filed notice to sell 1,875 shares ($60.0K) on or after .
Shares originally obtained via PERFORMANCE GRANT.
Filed notice to sell 11,389 shares ($365.2K) on or after .
Shares originally obtained via Private Placement.
Filed notice to sell 4,200 shares ($134.7K) on or after .
Shares originally obtained via Restricted Stock.
Filed notice to sell 30,000 shares ($958.2K) on or after .
Shares originally obtained via Acquired from issuer in private transaction.
Estimated from how often this has happened before, not a confirmed date.
Not investment advice, and not a signal to act on by itself — a filing says what happened, not why, and insiders trade for ordinary reasons having nothing to do with where they think the company is headed.
Published results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Held a shareholder vote
Read the filingQuarterly report for Q1 FY2026
Revenue +9.9% · Profit margin +31.7 pts · Cash +88.5% — against Q1 FY2025
Read the filingPublished results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingProxy statement for a shareholder meeting
Read the filingSigned a material agreement · Took on a direct financial obligation · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingAnnual report for FY2025
Profit margin +205.3 pts · Free cash flow +53.8% · Capital spending -95.8% — against FY2024
Read the filingHad a director or senior officer leave or join
Read the filingPublished results
Read the filingPublished results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingCompleted an acquisition or disposal · Had a director or senior officer leave or join · Reported another event
Read the filingHad a director or senior officer leave or join
Read the filingQuarterly report for Q3 FY2025
Revenue -5.8% · Profit margin +235.8 pts · Cash +87.2% — against Q3 FY2024
Read the filingReported another event
Read the filingPublished results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingQuarterly report for Q2 FY2025
Profit margin +161.3 pts · Cash +138.3% · Shares in issue +16.1% — against Q2 FY2024
Read the filingPublished results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingSigned a material agreement · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingAvidia Bancorp, Inc. (AVBC) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
Yahoo ·
Bank OZK (OZK) Beats Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
Yahoo ·
Norwood Financial Corp. (NWFL) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
Yahoo ·
Business First (BFST) Earnings Expected to Grow: What to Know Ahead of Next Week's Release
Yahoo ·
Applied Digital Q1 Earnings Miss on Higher Costs, Revenues Beat
Yahoo ·
Business First Bancshares, Inc. Schedules Q3 2026 Earnings Release and Conference Call for Oct. 26
Yahoo ·
Primary sources and further research