Stocks · Financial Services · Banks - Regional
Southern First Bancshares, Inc. SFST
$60.85 +1.62% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $575.3M
Next earnings report: Oct 27, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $4.68, up 73.3% year over year.
- Operating margin widened to 24.1% from 13.0% a year earlier.
- The diluted share count rose 14.6% in a year.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Financial Services sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 22%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 16%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 28%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 29%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 29%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 40%
- Gross marginBottom 39%
- Operating marginTop 43%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 41%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 37%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 27%
- Interest coverBottom 26%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 41%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 43%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 50%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 37%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 40%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 11%
- 6-month returnTop 39%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 13%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 33%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 48%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 37%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 43%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 9%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 20%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 50%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 37%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 35%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 27%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -4.4% | -2.3% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 89.8% | 73.3% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 47.5% | 60.9% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 13.0% | 24.1% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 19.4% | 18.6% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | -2.3% | -4.4% | ↑ | Bottom 22% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 73.3% | 89.8% | ↓ | Top 16% |
| Gross margin | 60.9% | 47.5% | ↑ | Bottom 39% |
| Operating margin | 24.1% | 13.0% | ↑ | Top 43% |
| Net margin | 18.7% | 10.1% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 18.6% | 19.4% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 0.8% | — | Bottom 40% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 20.7% | — | Top 29% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.04×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -0.0%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 1.2%
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 4.62×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 0.5×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- -11.18%
- Shareholder yield
- -11.18%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +14.6%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +4.9%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 3, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 1
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 7 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +7.3%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +3.8%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 6 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $64.00
- Target vs current price
- +5.2%
- Analysts with a rating
- 7
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 14%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 2026 | +0.8% | +0.5% | +0.3% | +4.8% | — |
| Apr 21, 2026 | -0.8% | +0.6% | +0.4% | -0.4% | +13.5% |
| Jan 22, 2026 | +9.0% | +3.4% | -5.6% | +4.9% | +1.6% |
| Oct 28, 2025 | +20.2% | +6.1% | +4.5% | +17.7% | +27.9% |
| Jul 22, 2025 | +24.6% | +9.1% | +11.0% | +4.1% | +8.9% |
| Apr 22, 2025 | +6.6% | +4.1% | +4.2% | +15.9% | +22.9% |
| Jan 28, 2025 | +70.7% | +2.1% | -3.6% | -9.3% | -8.9% |
| Oct 22, 2024 | +42.1% | +4.9% | +4.5% | +20.0% | +2.7% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 2026 | $1.20 | $1.19 | +0.8% | $35.9M |
| Apr 21, 2026 | $1.19 | $1.20 | -0.8% | $33.8M |
| Jan 22, 2026 | $1.21 | $1.11 | +9.0% | $31.8M |
| Oct 28, 2025 | $1.07 | $0.89 | +20.2% | $31.1M |
| Jul 22, 2025 | $0.81 | $0.65 | +24.6% | $28.6M |
| Apr 22, 2025 | $0.65 | $0.61 | +6.6% | $26.5M |
| Jan 28, 2025 | $0.70 | $0.41 | +70.7% | $25.2M |
| Oct 22, 2024 | $0.54 | $0.38 | +42.1% | $23.8M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 13.0× | 13.6× | 43th | Top 41% |
| P/E (forward) | 12.2× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 15.3× | — | — | Bottom 50% |
| EV / Sales | 3.90× | — | — | Bottom 37% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 6.82% | — | — | Bottom 43% |
| Earnings yield | 7.69% | — | — | Top 41% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 8.1× – 21.9× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +39.3%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +73.3%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -9.6%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 323
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +0.1%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.8%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -2.3%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +4.7%
- RSI (14)
- 47.4
- Relative volume
- 0.51×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 20.7%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 0th percentile · Low for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.83
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.42
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -5.8%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -33.6%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7, 2022 | May 4, 2023 | -67.2% | 331 days | Not yet recovered |
| Mar 12, 2021 | Mar 24, 2021 | -15.2% | 8 days | 41 days (May 21, 2021) |
| Jun 8, 2021 | Jul 8, 2021 | -12.0% | 21 days | 83 days (Nov 3, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $575.3M
- P/E (TTM)
- 13.0
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $4.68
- Revenue (TTM)
- $211.6M
- 52-week range
- $40.90 – $65.09
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $110.3M | $127.6M | $187.5M | $213.3M | $224.6M |
| Gross profit | $117.2M | $101.4M | $86.3M | $93.3M | $115.1M |
| Operating income | $60.8M | $38.1M | $17.4M | $19.9M | $39.6M |
| Net income | $46.7M | $29.1M | $13.4M | $15.5M | $30.4M |
| EPS (diluted) | $5.85 | $3.61 | $1.66 | $1.91 | $3.75 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $54.3M | $53.9M | $52.8M | $55.7M | $58.6M | $57.6M | $33.8M | $61.6M |
| Net income | $4.4M | $5.6M | $5.3M | $6.6M | $8.7M | $9.9M | $9.9M | $11.2M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.54 | $0.70 | $0.65 | $0.81 | $1.07 | $1.21 | $1.20 | $1.20 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $78.1M | $50.3M | $17.7M | $25.6M | $30.5M |
| Capital expenditure | -$26.5M | -$13.9M | -$1.2M | -$785,000 | -$581,000 |
| Free cash flow | $51.6M | $36.4M | $16.4M | $24.8M | $29.9M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | $3.0M | $905,000 | $518,000 | $294,000 | $2.0M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $174.5M
- Total assets
- $4.70B
- Total liabilities
- $4.25B
- Total debt
- $280.2M
- Net debt
- $250.1M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $452.3M
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 3, 2026).
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 414,144
- Days to cover
- 5.08
- Change vs previous report
- +12.2%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Jan 30, 2013
- 11-for-10
- Feb 1, 2012
- 11-for-10
- Jan 26, 2011
- 11-for-10
- Jul 20, 2006
- 11-for-10
- Nov 18, 2003
- 3-for-2