Learn more about whether First Bancorp is a good stock to buy or sell based on recent news as well as its key financial metrics. Read on to find out how (FBNC) grades on certain investment factors and determine whether it meets your investment needs.

Latest First Bancorp Stock News

As of September 01, 2026, First Bancorp had a $2.6 billion market capitalization, putting it in the 57th percentile of companies in the Banks industry.

Currently, First Bancorp’s price-earnings ratio is 19.4. First Bancorp’s trailing 12-month revenue is $410.7 million with a 32.4% profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 16.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.722 per share for the current fiscal year. First Bancorp currently has a 1.5% dividend yield.

The outlook for the U.S. Regional Banks sub-industry is positive. Bank stocks are cyclical, and the U.S. economy is a significant indication of bank performance. Pandemic woes are finally beginning to dissipate, leaving behind a massive wake of inflation scares. Additionally, geopolitical instability could play a factor in the U.S. economy, however regional banks have limited exposure to foreign affairs. As the Federal Reserve Open Market Operations Committee (FOMC) continues to attempt to curb inflation back to a healthy sub 2% rate, banks are expected to increase profitability due to elevated net interest margins (NIM). Conversely, deposits are expected to slow as consumers spend at elevated levels and will incur larger higher loan balances. The S&P Regional Banks sub-industry was up 1.0%, vs. a 4.7% decline for the S&P 1500 Index. In 2021, this sub-industry rose 36.6%, compared to the S&P 1500 rising 26.7%.

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Grading First Bancorp Stock

Before you choose to buy, sell or hold First Bancorp stock, you’ll want to analyze how it has been graded. Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, making sense of financial ratios, reading income statements and analyzing recent stock movement. To help individual investors decide whether or not to buy (FBNC) stock, AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way that is suitable for investors of all knowledge levels.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at First Bancorp’s stock grades for value, growth and quality. Learn more about A+ Investor here!

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First Bancorp Stock Quality Grade

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Grade is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

First Bancorp has a Quality Score of 23, which is Weak.

First Bancorp Stock Momentum Grade

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

First Bancorp has a Momentum Score of 56, which is Average.

First Bancorp Stock Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Score considers the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. The Earnings Estimate Revisions Score is based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

First Bancorp has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Score of 67, which is Positive.

Other First Bancorp Stock Grades

In addition to Momentum, Estimate Revisions and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Growth.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower—growth companies. AAII measures several dimensions of growth in its Growth Grade, including year—over—year increases in sales and earnings, long(er)—term historical sales and earnings growth rates and analyst‐forecasted long—term earnings growth.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether First Bancorp’s stock passes any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

Should I Buy First Bancorp Stock?

Overall, First Bancorp stock has a Quality Grade of D, Momentum Grade of C, and Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade of B.

Whether or not you should buy First Bancorp stock will ultimately depend on your individual goals, risk tolerance and allocation. AAII can help you figure these out and identify which investments align with what works best for you.

Lastly, it’s important to evaluate a stock by comparing it against others in the same industry. Review the table below to see how First Bancorp stock stands up against its competitors. Click into any of the below tickers to see their stock grades for value, momentum, quality and EPS revisions.

First Bancorp (FBNC) Competitors

Companies similar to First Bancorp in the Banks industry.

Company name	Ticker	Market Cap
Beacon Financial Corporation	BBT	$2.62Bil
First Busey Corporation	BUSE	$2.52Bil
Customers Bancorp, Inc.	CUBI	$2.66Bil
First Merchants Corporation	FRME	$2.62Bil
Inter & Co, Inc.	INTR	$2.59Bil

First Bancorp Stock: Bottom Line

You can use the information about how First Bancorp is graded to determine if you should invest in this stock. However, you should decide whether First Bancorp’s stock is a buy, sell or hold based on a combination of grades, metrics, ratios and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets—without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

So, if you’re still on the fence about whether First Bancorp is a buy, sell or hold, you can utilize AAII’s expansive and robust screening tools like A+ Investor to help with your decision.

A+ Investor adds to its qualitative teaching by giving you a powerful data suite that helps you whittle down investment decisions, find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.