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First Financial (FFIN) Moves 5.8% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

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First Financial Bankshares (FFIN - Free Report) shares soared 5.8% in the last trading session to close at $33.52. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 9.4% loss over the past four weeks.

First Financial Bankshares shares rallied sharply, benefiting from broad market strength following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 90-day suspension on tariffs for non-retaliating countries. The policy shift eased trade tensions and improved market sentiment, fueling a sharp uptick in FFIN shares.

This commercial banker operating mostly in Texas is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.43 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +16.2%. Revenues are expected to be $149.2 million, up 12.9% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For First Financial, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on FFIN going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

First Financial is a member of the Zacks Banks - Southwest industry. One other stock in the same industry, Southside Bancshares (SBSI - Free Report) , finished the last trading session 3.9% higher at $27.64. SBSI has returned -7.6% over the past month.

For Southside Bancshares, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.67. This represents a change of -5.6% from what the company reported a year ago. Southside Bancshares currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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