Zacks Research Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for EWBC

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for shares of East West Bancorp in a report released on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $2.39 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.37. Zacks Research has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for East West Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $8.85 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for East West Bancorp’s Q2 2026 earnings at $2.47 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.55 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.50 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $9.91 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $2.53 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $2.61 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $2.81 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $2.68 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $10.64 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on EWBC. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Truist Financial set a $120.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 3.1%

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $115.50 on Thursday. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $119.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.76.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $645.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.75 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 27.16%.East West Bancorp’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.14 earnings per share.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $1,017,325.32. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 14,950 shares in the company, valued at $1,719,698.50. This trade represents a 37.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,453 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.90, for a total value of $848,896.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 85,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,762,824.60. This represents a 8.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 73,344 shares of company stock worth $8,184,226 over the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $32,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.