Regional banking company First Horizon (NYSE: FHN) reported Q4 CY2025 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 7.8% year on year to $888 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.52 per share was 12.1% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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First Horizon (FHN) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Net Interest Income: $676 million vs analyst estimates of $657.4 million (7.3% year-on-year growth, 2.8% beat)
- Net Interest Margin: 3.5% vs analyst estimates of 3.4% (11.1 basis point beat)
- Revenue: $888 million vs analyst estimates of $863.3 million (7.8% year-on-year growth, 2.9% beat)
- Efficiency Ratio: 61.3% vs analyst estimates of 60.1% (120.8 basis point miss)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.52 vs analyst estimates of $0.46 (12.1% beat)
- Tangible Book Value per Share: $14.20 vs analyst estimates of $14.05 (10.5% year-on-year growth, 1.1% beat)
- Market Capitalization: $11.84 billion
Company Overview
Tracing its roots back to 1864 during the Civil War era, First Horizon (NYSE: FHN) is a Tennessee-based bank holding company that provides commercial and consumer banking, wealth management, and specialty financial services across multiple states.
Sales Growth
Net interest income and and fee-based revenue are the two pillars supporting bank earnings. The former captures profit from the gap between lending rates and deposit costs, while the latter encompasses charges for banking services, credit products, wealth management, and trading activities. Regrettably, First Horizon’s revenue grew at a sluggish 5.4% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This was below our standard for the banking sector and is a poor baseline for our analysis.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. First Horizon’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed as its annualized revenue growth of 2.7% over the last two years was below its five-year trend. 
Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.
This quarter, First Horizon reported year-on-year revenue growth of 7.8%, and its $888 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2.9%.
Net interest income made up 74% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning lending operations are First Horizon’s largest source of revenue.
Markets consistently prioritize net interest income growth over fee-based revenue, recognizing its superior quality and recurring nature compared to the more unpredictable non-interest income streams.
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Tangible Book Value Per Share (TBVPS)
Banks operate as balance sheet businesses, with profits generated through borrowing and lending activities. Valuations reflect this reality, emphasizing balance sheet strength and long-term book value compounding ability.
Because of this, tangible book value per share (TBVPS) emerges as the critical performance benchmark. By excluding intangible assets with uncertain liquidation values, this metric captures real, liquid net worth per share. On the other hand, EPS is often distorted by mergers and flexible loan loss accounting. TBVPS provides clearer performance insights.
First Horizon’s TBVPS grew at a solid 6.8% annual clip over the last five years. TBVPS growth has also accelerated recently, growing by 8.2% annually over the last two years from $12.13 to $14.20 per share.
Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for First Horizon’s TBVPS to grow by 4.9% to $14.90, lousy growth rate.
Key Takeaways from First Horizon’s Q4 Results
We enjoyed seeing First Horizon beat analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also glad its net interest income outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. While efficiency ratio missed, EPS ended up beating. Overall, we think this was a decent quarter with some key metrics above expectations. The stock remained flat at $24.25 immediately after reporting.
First Horizon put up rock-solid earnings, but one quarter doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
