First Republic stock investors face 'wipe-out,' analyst says

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JPMorgan Chase (JPM) purchased First Republic Bank (FRC) in the latest fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. While JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that the "crisis is over," the same can't be said for First Republic investors.

JPMorgan did not assume First Republic’s corporate debt or preferred stock, meaning institutional investors will not be made whole.

Neither JPMorgan nor the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have explicitly said what the purchase means for First Republic common shareholders. Those shareholders are not expected to be made whole either, though, according to the banking equity analyst team at Wedbush Securities.

“We expect a wipe-out of common shareholders following FRC entering receivership and being sold to JPM,” Wedbush Securities equity analyst David J. Chiaverini wrote in a note to clients on Monday.

After entering the banking crisis at $115 per share, First Republic stock stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange at $3.51 on Monday.

Regulators seized First Republic early Monday morning and sold the majority of the bank’s operations to JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase acquired $173 billion of loans and $30 billion of securities in the deal. The largest banking failure since the 2008 financial crisis came less than a week after the company revealed deposit losses exceeding $100 billion in the first quarter.

Since FDIC seized the bank, investors would need to file their grievances with the agency, a former FDIC attorney John Popeo told Yahoo Finance.

Stockholders can file a claim with the FDIC to seek payment for their shares via an online portal or mail. But on a new FDIC web page answering questions for those impacted by First Republic's failure, stockholders are listed as the fourth and final group of creditors to be paid out. Depositors, general unsecured creditors and subordinated debt would be paid out first. All of those claims will be paid out after administrative expenses, according to the FDIC.

A security guard stands outside a First Republic Bank branch in San Francisco, California, U.S. April 28, 2023. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
A security guard stands outside a First Republic Bank branch in San Francisco, California, U.S. April 28, 2023. REUTERS/Loren Elliott (Loren Elliott / reuters)

The First Republic banks themselves are still open for clients and operating as normal, JPMorgan executives said on a call with the media on Monday.

The full balance of all customer deposits has been transferred to JPMorgan, according to the FDIC. JPMorgan doesn’t plan to keep the First Republic name, Dimon said on Monday.

“First Republic customers can bank as usual and feel confident that their deposits are backed by the strength and security of JPMorgan Chase,” JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum said on a call with the media on Monday.

Josh is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.

Yahoo Finance reporter David Hollerith contributed reporting to this story.

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