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what it is
Westamerica is a California bank that takes deposits, makes loans, and gets paid to stay boring.
how it gets paid
Last year Westamerica Bancorp made $231M in revenue. commercial real estate loans was the main engine at $83.2M, or 36% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 13.8% last year. The absurd part is the scale: one quarter produced $174M of revenue against $231M for the trailing year.
what just happened
Revenue hit $174M and EPS reached $3.40, a from a year ago jump of 204%.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
75/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
11.0x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
3.7% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
$4.53 fy2025 eps est
xvary composite: 59/100 — below average
What they do
Westamerica is a California bank that takes deposits, makes loans, and gets paid to stay boring.
Westamerica operates 76 branches across 20 counties in northern and central California. Community banking → your checking account, mortgage, and business loan sit in one place → so what: moving all of that is annoying, so customers tend to stay. The bank also carries a B++ balance-sheet grade and 85/100 price stability, which is the paid-to-be-boring part.
How they make money
$231M
annual revenue · their business grew -13.8% last year
commercial real estate loans
$83.2M
commercial loans
$50.8M
residential real estate loans
$41.6M
deposit service fees
$32.3M
construction and consumer loans
$23.1M
The products that matter
makes business loans
Commercial banking
core earnings driver
this is where most of the $207M in net interest income starts. if loan yields compress or demand slows, the whole income statement feels it.
spread business
gathers deposits and consumer loans
Retail banking
funding base
retail deposits help fund the bank, and funding matters more when total revenue fell to $231M. cheap deposits are the difference between a healthy spread and a shrinking one.
deposit franchise
fees, service charges, and other income
Non-interest income
$24M · about 10% of revenue
this $24M segment is the diversification story, but it is too small to offset pressure in a bank where net interest income does most of the work.
limited cushion
Key numbers
$4.53
fy2025 eps
That is the current 2025 earnings estimate. At your $49.86 share price, you are paying about 11.0x that number, which is cheap only if earnings stop falling.
3.7%
dividend yield
You are getting paid while you wait, and 3.7% is real cash in a stock with 0.9 beta, which means lower swings than the market.
11.0x
trailing p/e
P/E → price-to-earnings ratio → so what: you are paying $11 for each $1 of trailing profit, which is modest versus many banks.
76
branches
That branch count across 20 counties shows the model: local scale, not national ambition.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 85 / 100
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for WABC right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
beat estimates
Revenue hit $174M and EPS reached $3.40, a from a year ago jump of 204%.
The absurd part is the scale: one quarter produced $174M of revenue against $231M for the trailing year. EPS was $3.40 versus $1.19 in Q4 2024, based on the quarterly history and the latest company report.
$174M
revenue
$3.40
eps
+204%
vs. last year growth
the number that mattered
$3.40 matters most because it was nearly 75% of the full-year 2025 EPS estimate of $4.53 in one quarter.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is net interest income compression at a california regional bank.
high
Too much rides on one line item
Net interest income was $207M, about 90% of total revenue, and it fell 8.5% from last year. When the spread business weakens, there is no second engine big enough to step in.
core revenue concentration
high
Earnings are shrinking faster than the valuation says
Net income fell from $162M in 2023 to $138.6M in 2024 and then to $116.2M in 2025. A low P/E helps until the E keeps dropping.
pressure on dividend support
med
There is no moat if growth stalls
At 1.3x forward book, the market is not paying for a special franchise. If lending growth and spread management both stay weak, this becomes a plain bank with plain returns.
limited re-rating case
low
Succession is still a real question
CEO David Payne has been in the seat for 37 years. Stability is useful until the market starts asking who comes next and whether strategy changes with them.
leadership transition risk
Net interest income is about 90% of revenue and fell 8.5%, while non-interest income is only $24M. If the spread keeps tightening, there is not much diversification to absorb it.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
core metric
net interest income at $207M
This is about 90% of revenue. One more weak year here matters more than any headline beat.
valuation tension
11.0x earnings versus falling profits
Cheap stocks get cheaper when the earnings base is shrinking. Watch whether the multiple stays low for the right reason or the dangerous one.
calendar
annual shareholder meeting on apr 23, 2026
The ballot includes eight directors and executive pay. For a bank with a 37-year CEO tenure, governance questions are not theoretical.
capital return
2M-share buyback authorization
Repurchases can support per-share results, but they do not fix a revenue line that fell to $231M. Buybacks help most when the business stops slipping first.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
75 / 100
in human-speak, analysts think the business is steady enough to model even if the direction is not exciting.
street stance
2 analysts · hold
That means the street is not calling for a breakout. It is waiting for proof that earnings have stopped moving the wrong way.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for WABC is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$50
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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