BFSTBusiness First Bancshares, Inc.

State Commercial Banks · $938M market cap · 842 employees

1.2×

More likely than average to be taken private

Top 14% of the Russell 3000 for a buyout by a private-equity firm, holdco or insiders. How it works

What an activist or buyer would see: cheap, overpaid, diluted or under pressure.

Dilutive SBCYes
54% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Low revenue per employeeYes
$13K · 11th pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AIYes
0.1 per 10K words · 9th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Buyout-sizedYes
$938M market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

11 other checks

TSR below peersNo
1 of 5 years
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
$3M median
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
105% of net income
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
22% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
2% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
99% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support
Net cashNo
—
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Recurring revenueNo
4 of 10
10-K business scored 7+ of 10 for recurring revenue
AI-rollup shapedNo
1 of 10
10-K business scored 5+ of 10 as an AI-rollup target
Active 13DNo
0 filings
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingNo
−$7M net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Filed	Form	Acquirer	Price	Premium
Jul 7, 2025	8-K	Business First Bancshares, Inc.	—	—

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	YoY
Revenue	$7M	$8M	$10M	$11M	$11M	1.2%
Net income	$52M	$54M	$71M	$65M	$88M	35%
Operating cash flow	$56M	$70M	$91M	$61M	$92M	50%
Capex	$4M	$8M	$12M	$2M	$66K	96%
Stock-based comp	$3M	$4M	$4M	$3M	$6M	94%
Buybacks	$11M	$0	$0	$0	$4M
Dividends	$9M	$11M	$13M	$15M	$17M	13%

None on file.

−$7Mnet selling by insiders, open market, last 12 months

Bought $92K · 3 tradesSold $7M · 29 trades

Year	CEO total comp	Comp actually paid	TSR (indexed)	Peer TSR
FY2025	$3M	$3M	144	131
FY2024	$3M	$3M	138	127
FY2023	$2M	$2M	129	116
FY2022	$3M	$2M	113	121
FY2021	$2M	$2M	142	133