What Happened?
Shares of regional banking company Northwest Bancshares (NASDAQ: NWBI) fell 5.2% in the morning session after the company reported mixed third-quarter 2025 results, where an earnings miss overshadowed a strong revenue beat.
The regional bank posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.29, which, while up from $0.26 in the same quarter last year, fell short of Wall Street's consensus estimate of $0.31. On a positive note, revenue grew 20.9% year-over-year to $168.2 million, surpassing analyst expectations. Key metrics like net interest income also came in ahead of projections. However, the market's negative reaction suggests investors focused on the slight earnings miss, indicating that the strong top-line performance and year-over-year profit growth were not enough to satisfy expectations.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Northwest Bancshares? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Northwest Bancshares’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 12 days ago when the stock dropped 5.6% on the news that disclosures from two lenders raised concerns about deteriorating loan quality across the industry.
The drop was triggered by specific incidents that have spooked investors. Zions Bancorp announced a $50 million charge-off—a debt the bank doesn't expect to collect—on a single loan. Separately, Western Alliance Bancorp revealed it was dealing with a borrower who had failed to provide proper collateral. These events are compounding existing anxieties about the regional banking sector, which is already under pressure from elevated interest rates and declining commercial real estate values. The news has heightened investor concerns that more cracks could appear in borrowers' creditworthiness, potentially leading to increased loan losses and reduced profitability for other banks in the sector.
Northwest Bancshares is down 9% since the beginning of the year, and at $11.80 per share, it is trading 22.8% below its 52-week high of $15.28 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Northwest Bancshares’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,132.
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