First Republic Bank shares continued their decline on Friday, adding to a string of losses this week that came as doubts over the future of the regional lender increased.
The company's share price fell more than 43 percent to $3.51 a share, bringing its loss since Monday to more than 75 percent.
First Republic has failed to fully stabilize itself since the crises that led to the failures of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York in March. The banks were seized by regulators after depositors rushed, within the span of just a few days, to withdraw their money out of fear for their long-term viability.
Though also seen as a troubled bank, First Republic got a brief respite when 11 of the largest US banks got together to inject $30 billion in deposits into lenders. But the precarious situation returned to focus this week when it reported earnings results and told investors they had seen an outflow of more than $100 billion in deposits since mid-March.
Now, a mix of doubt and speculation is clouding the road ahead, unnerving investors. The bank has been talking to regulators, policymakers and industry partners about a rescue package for weeks without coming up with a long-term solution.
The stock fell nearly 50 percent on Tuesday, following a sour earnings update from the company on Monday. It dropped again on Wednesday, before recovering slightly on Thursday. With Friday's drop, the share price has fallen from more than $120 per share in early March – a drop of more than 95 percent that has wiped about $22 billion from First Republic's market valuation.
However, First Republic's problems appear to be under control, unlike in March when investors feared the effects of tumbling bank failures. That's partly because other lenders are also reporting income, and showing their health is relatively good.
The S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent on Friday, with every bank other than First Republic gaining and largely outperforming the broader index. Even the KBW regional bank index, an index of smaller regional lenders in the United States, rose 1.2 percent on Friday, ending flat for the week.
“The market has a pretty short attention span,” said Ron Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard, adding that he thinks the potential for systemic problems arising from another bank failure is underappreciated. “Most of the investors seem to have moved on,” he said.
Instead, the focus has shifted to a number of strong earnings updates from companies across the country. The S&P 500 is on track to close the week 0.9 percent higher, up 1.5 percent for the month.