What Happened?
Shares of regional banking company Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION) jumped 3.5% in the pre-market session after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and received positive attention from Wall Street analysts.
The regional bank announced robust earnings for the second quarter, posting earnings per share of $1.63, which significantly beat the consensus estimate of $1.31. Revenue also surpassed expectations, coming in at $838 million against a forecast of $811.06 million. The strong performance was driven by an expanding net interest margin, which is the difference between the interest income a bank earns from its lending activities and the interest it pays to depositors.
Following the strong earnings report, Jefferies upgraded Zions' stock from "Underperform" to "Hold" and substantially raised its price target from $45 to $60. Analysts at DA Davidson also boosted their price target to $66 from $57, maintaining a "Buy" rating and noting that management is "incrementally more optimistic" about the second half of the year.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $57.18, up 1% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Zions Bancorporation’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 11 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
Zions Bancorporation is up 5.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $57.18 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $61.73 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Zions Bancorporation’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,718.
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