First Bancorp Faces Sell Call After 16% Six-Month Rally

First Bancorp (FBNC) drew a bearish stock view on May 13, 2026, after its shares rose 16.1% over six months to $59.19, outperforming the S&P 500 by 8.4 percentage points. The analysis cited three concerns: five-year annualized revenue growth of 8.2%, a two-year average net interest margin of 3.1%, and five-year annual earnings-per-share growth of 6.5%. The report said those figures were below its quality threshold for banks. FBNC trades at 1.5 times forward price-to-book, according to the report. The author said the recent rally may limit upside and argued investors could find better opportunities elsewhere, including in endpoint security stocks.