SFST SOUTHERN FIRST BANCSHARES INC

Nasdaq National Commercial Banks SC CIK: 0001090009
AI RATING
SELL
35% Confidence

Investment Thesis

Critical data quality issues undermine fundamental analysis. Interest coverage of 0.2x indicates the company cannot adequately service debt obligations despite reported profitability, suggesting severe operational stress or accounting anomalies. The -97% YoY revenue collapse for a $4.6B asset bank is unexplained and concerning.

Strengths

  • + Zero long-term debt provides strong balance sheet structure
  • + Positive operating and free cash flow generation ($10.5M FCF)
  • + Net income grew 95.5% YoY to $9.9M, showing earnings recovery

Risks

  • ! Interest coverage ratio of 0.2x is critically unsustainable and incompatible with reported profitability
  • ! Revenue collapsed 97% YoY to only $1.5M, inconsistent with $4.6B asset base and banking operations
  • ! Impossibly high operating margin (836%) and net margin (662%) indicate data corruption or extraordinary one-time items
  • ! Extremely low ROA (0.2%) and ROE (2.6%) suggest poor asset utilization despite asset scale

Key Metrics to Watch

Financial Metrics

Revenue
1.5M
Net Income
9.9M
EPS (Diluted)
$1.19
Free Cash Flow
10.5M
Total Assets
4.6B
Cash
342.8M

Profitability Ratios

Gross Margin N/A
Operating Margin 836.2%
Net Margin 662.2%
ROE 2.6%
ROA 0.2%
FCF Margin 702.8%

Balance Sheet & Liquidity

Current Ratio
N/A
Quick Ratio
N/A
Debt/Equity
0.00x
Debt/Assets
91.7%
Interest Coverage
0.21x
Long-term Debt
N/A
Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI based on publicly available SEC EDGAR filings. It does not include stock price data and should not be considered financial advice. All fundamental data is sourced from SEC public domain filings. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
Data Source: SEC EDGAR | Analysis Date: 2026-05-06T13:52:03.202091 | Data as of: 2026-03-31 | Powered by Claude AI