DA Davidson analyst Kevin Fitzsimmons initiated coverage of First Bancorp with a Buy rating and a price target of $39.50. The analyst is positive on the company's attractive NC footprint with "considerable scarcity value and a migration to faster-growth metro markets", along with its strong core profitability and a "very low" cost of funding, even though he is concerned with the risks of net interest margin pressure and the lack of a "more pronounced" earnings growth.

Reports Q1 provision for credit losses $1.2M vs. $12.5M last year. Tangible book value per share was $21.05 from $20.94 at previous quarter end. Total common equity tier 1 ratio was 13.50% and total risk-based capital ratio 15.85% as of March 31, 2024, both increasing from the linked quarter. CEO Richard Moore stated, "Your company continues to perform well with increases in our liquidity and capital. We believe that our balance sheet composition will continue to improve during the year as we work towards reducing borrowings and high-cost deposits while deploying funds to higher yielding assets. Our credit quality is strong with low levels of nonperforming assets and we have no significant exposure to office or hospitality commercial real estate."