Core Insights - The Q3 earnings season for regional banks showed satisfactory results, with First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC) reporting a revenue increase of 16.3% year-on-year, exceeding analysts' expectations by 2.5% [3][5]. Industry Overview - Regional banks serve as intermediaries between local depositors and borrowers, benefiting from rising interest rates that enhance net interest margins, digital transformation that reduces operational costs, and local economic growth that drives loan demand [2]. - However, these banks face challenges such as fintech competition, deposit outflows to higher-yielding alternatives, credit deterioration during economic slowdowns, and regulatory compliance costs [2]. - Recent concerns regarding regional bank stability, particularly following high-profile failures and significant exposure to commercial real estate, add to the challenges faced by the sector [2]. Company Performance - First Financial Bancorp reported total revenues of $234 million for Q3, marking a 16.3% increase year-on-year, and adjusted net income of $72.6 million, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.76 [5][6]. - The adjusted return on assets was 1.55%, and the adjusted return on tangible common equity was 19.3% [6]. - Despite the positive revenue performance, the stock price has decreased by 2.6% since the earnings report, currently trading at $23.65 [6].

Joining us now is Tom Lee. He's Funst Strat's head of research and a CNBC contributor. It's good to see you joining us from the nation's capital today.So, what's your take on everything that we are talking about now daily. Uh, well, I I heard the earlier segment, Scott, and I I do think I'm kind of more in the Jamie Diamond camp, you know, that uh the in Steve Leeman's point that there's opacity in private credit. And that's the problem that investors are going to grapple with for some time. And I think tha ...