Western Alliance price target lowered to $74 from $80 at Wedbush

Wedbush analyst David Chiaverini lowered the firm’s price target on Western Alliance to $74 from $80 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. Q4 earnings results for the banking industry were “mixed and mostly in-line” with the outlook provided in the firm’s earnings preview, says the analyst, who calls “the biggest surprise compared to our preview” the impact that rate cuts could have on bank net interest income outlooks. The firm had previously expected net interest margins to trough in Q4 or Q1 of 2024 for most banks, but it is now expecting NIM to trough mid-year, especially for the more asset sensitive banks in its coverage, the analyst added.