Regional banking company SouthState (NYSE: SSB) beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q3 CY2025, with sales up 63.9% year on year to $698.8 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $2.58 per share was 17.2% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

Is now the time to buy SouthState? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free for active Edge members.

Company Overview

With roots dating back to the Great Depression era of 1933, SouthState (NYSE: SSB) is a financial holding company that provides banking services, wealth management, and correspondent banking services across six southeastern states.

Sales Growth

From lending activities to service fees, most banks build their revenue model around two income sources. Interest rate spreads between loans and deposits create the first stream, with the second coming from charges on everything from basic bank accounts to complex investment banking transactions. Luckily, SouthState’s revenue grew at an incredible 21.1% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. Its growth surpassed the average banking company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a great starting point for our analysis.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. SouthState’s annualized revenue growth of 17.2% over the last two years is below its five-year trend, but we still think the results suggest healthy demand. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, SouthState reported magnificent year-on-year revenue growth of 63.9%, and its $698.8 million of revenue beat Wall Street’s estimates by 6.5%.

Net interest income made up 80.8% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning SouthState barely relies on non-interest income to drive its overall growth.

Our experience and research show the market cares primarily about a bank’s net interest income growth as non-interest income is considered a lower-quality and non-recurring revenue source.

Software is eating the world and there is virtually no industry left that has been untouched by it. That drives increasing demand for tools helping software developers do their jobs, whether it be monitoring critical cloud infrastructure, integrating audio and video functionality, or ensuring smooth content streaming. Click here to access a free report on our 3 favorite stocks to play this generational megatrend.

Tangible Book Value Per Share (TBVPS)

Banks profit by intermediating between depositors and borrowers, making them fundamentally balance sheet-driven enterprises. Market participants emphasize balance sheet quality and sustained book value growth when evaluating these institutions.

This explains why tangible book value per share (TBVPS) stands as the premier banking metric. TBVPS strips away questionable intangible assets, revealing concrete per-share net worth that investors can trust. EPS can become murky due to acquisition impacts or accounting flexibility around loan provisions, and TBVPS resists financial engineering manipulation.

SouthState’s TBVPS grew at a solid 6.5% annual clip over the last five years. TBVPS growth has also accelerated recently, growing by 13.5% annually over the last two years from $42.27 to $54.48 per share.

Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for SouthState’s TBVPS to grow by 11.6% to $60.79, top-notch growth rate.

Key Takeaways from SouthState’s Q3 Results

We were impressed by how significantly SouthState blew past analysts’ net interest income expectations this quarter. We were also excited its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock traded up 1.2% to $95 immediately after reporting.

SouthState had an encouraging quarter, but one earnings result doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.