Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc ESQ

Competitive advantage analysis · financial-services

Bank Specialized
Overall moat score
75/100
Moderate

About Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, National Association that provides commercial banking products and services to legal and small businesses, and commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, money market, and time deposits, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial loans, such as short-term … Full ESQ analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Strong Capital Position Capital position is strong (score 0.96), exceeding regulatory minimums.
  • Strong Deposit Franchise Deposit franchise strength is evident (profitability score 0.93).

Key risks

  • Credit Quality Concerns Credit quality is concerning (asset quality score 0.00).

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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Deposit Franchise

Moderate
70

Where ESQ ranks in Banks - Regional

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc ranks #34 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional by moat score — the top 9%. The widest moat in the group is 1st Source Corporation (SRCE) at 86/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near ESQ in Banks - Regional
# Company Moat score Rating
30 Bank OZK OZK 75/100 Strong
31 Fulton Financial Corporation FULT 75/100 Strong
32 Fulton Financial Corporation - FULTP 75/100 Strong
33 Axos Financial, Inc. AX 75/100 Strong
34 Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc ESQ 75/100 Moderate
35 Ameris Bancorp ABCB 75/100 Moderate
36 Greene County Bancorp, Inc. GCBC 74/100 Moderate
37 Republic Bancorp, Inc. RBCAA 74/100 Moderate
38 SouthState Corporation SSB 74/100 Moderate

See every Banks & Lenders company ranked by moat score →

How ESQ scores on the Bank Specialized defenses

Deposit Franchise

Score 70 · 22% of the moat score

A deposit franchise is the cheapest and most valuable thing a bank can own.

Lending Advantage

Score 74 · 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 97 · 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

Score 89 · 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 44 · 14% of the moat score

A bank earning everything from net interest income is a leveraged bet on the rate cycle.

Risk Management

Score 51 · 10% of the moat score

Risk management is the defense that only reveals itself late.

How each Bank Specialized defense is measured, in full →

Understanding ESQ's moat

What is Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc's moat score?

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc (ESQ) scores 75 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #34 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional, the top 9%. 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 Capital Strength (97/100) and its weakest is Revenue Diversification (44/100).

How does Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc compare with other Banks - Regional companies?

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc ranks #34 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 Axos Financial, Inc. (AX) at 75 just above it and Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) at 75 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 Esquire Financial Holdings, 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 Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc?

The Bank Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and ESQ scores: Deposit Franchise (70), Lending Advantage (74), Capital Strength (97), Cost Discipline (89), Revenue Diversification (44), Risk Management (51). 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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