Business First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans, such as …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Diversified Revenue StreamsRevenue diversification is evident (growth stability 0.92).
Key risks
Capital Adequacy ConcernsCapital adequacy is concerning (score 0.35).
Credit Quality ConcernsCredit quality is concerning (asset quality score 0.39).
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Business First Bancshares, Inc. ranks #156 of 393
scored companies in Banks - Regional by moat score — the top 40%.
The widest moat in the group is 1st Source Corporation (SRCE)
at 86/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near BFST in Banks - Regional
A deposit franchise is the cheapest and most valuable thing a bank can own.
Lending Advantage
Not measurable
· 18% of the moat score
Lending advantage is the ability to originate loans at attractive spreads without buying that volume with looser credit standards.
Capital Strength
Score 45
· 20% of the moat score
Capital is the buffer between loan losses and insolvency, and it is what regulators judge a bank on first.
Cost Discipline
Not measurable
· 16% of the moat score
Banking carries high fixed costs in branches, compliance and technology, so what it costs to run the bank relative to what the bank earns is a genuine competitive variable.
Revenue Diversification
Score 58
· 14% of the moat score
A bank earning everything from net interest income is a leveraged bet on the rate cycle.
Risk Management
Score 39
· 10% of the moat score
Risk management is the defense that only reveals itself late.
What is Business First Bancshares, Inc.'s moat score?
Business First Bancshares, Inc. (BFST) scores 56 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #156 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional, the top 40%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 399 companies in Banks - Regional. Its strongest defense is Deposit Franchise (70/100) and its weakest is Risk Management (39/100).
How does Business First Bancshares, Inc. compare with other Banks - Regional companies?
Business First Bancshares, Inc. ranks #156 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional by moat score. The widest moat in Banks - Regional is 1st Source Corporation (SRCE) at 86/100. The companies ranked closest are Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (BWFG) at 56 just above it and BOK Financial Corporation (BOKF) at 56 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Bank Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 399 companies in Banks - Regional. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Business First Bancshares, Inc. scored with the Bank Specialized template?
A bank does not sell a product at a margin. It funds itself, lends at a spread, and books profits that remain an estimate until the loans are actually repaid. That makes the usual margin-and-return questions misleading, so the Bank template scores what really determines a bank's durability: where its funding comes from, what it lends against, how much capital stands behind it, and whether it has been pricing risk honestly.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Business First Bancshares, Inc.?
The Bank Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and BFST scores: Deposit Franchise (70), Lending Advantage (not measurable), Capital Strength (45), Cost Discipline (not measurable), Revenue Diversification (58), Risk Management (39). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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