First Merchants slides on earnings miss driven by loan-loss provision

First Merchants

23/07/2026 15:52

 
** Shares of lender First Merchants Corporation FRME.O down 6% at $41.1 
** FRME on late Wednesday posted Q2 adjusted net income of $46.4 million, below analysts' estimates of $65 million - data compiled by LSEG
** Provision for credit losses increased to $33 million vs $5.6 million a year earlier
** Analysts at Raymond James said credit metrics softened as two commercial loans placed on nonaccrual drove a higher loss provision
** Four of six analysts rate stock "buy" and two "hold"; their median PT is $48 - data compiled by LSEG
** Including session's move, stock up 9.3% YTD
     

(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru)
((Pragyan.Kalita@thomsonreuters.com;))