Overview

* Southern First Bancshares ( SFST ) Q2 revenue up 24% yr/yr, beating analyst expectations, per LSEG data

* Diluted EPS rises 119% to $0.81

* Net interest margin improves to 2.50% from 2.41% in Q1 2025 and 1.98% for Q2 2024

Outlook

* Southern First expects healthy growth supported by a solid balance sheet

* Company sees strong business pipelines driving future growth

* Southern First confident in delivering improved financial performance

Result Drivers

* REVENUE GROWTH - Total revenue grew 24% yr/yr, driven by increased interest income on loans and decreased interest expenses on deposits

* MARGIN EXPANSION - Net interest margin improved to 2.50% from 2.41% in Q1 2025, attributed to higher loan yields and lower deposit costs

* STRONG PIPELINE - Co cites strong business pipelines and solid balance sheet as drivers for continued growth

Key Details

Metric Beat/Mis Actual Consensu

s s

Estimate

Q2 Beat $28.63 $23.50

Revenue mln mln (2

Analysts

)

Q2 EPS $0.81

Q2 Net $6.58

Income mln

Q2 CET1 10.7%

Capital

Ratio

Analyst Coverage

* The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 1 "strong buy" or "buy", 1 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

* The average consensus recommendation for the banks peer group is "buy"

* Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Southern First Bancshares Inc ( SFST ) is $40.00, about 0.2% below its July 21 closing price of $40.09

* The stock recently traded at 13 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 12 three months ago

Press Release:

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)