First Carolina Financial Services (FCBM): fair value, margin of safety and Wheel Score

Is FCBM undervalued?

First Carolina Financial Services (FCBM) closed at 12.63 on 16 Oct 2026. The GLS average fair value - the simple average of the 7 valuation models that produced a positive number - is 18.27, which puts the price 31% below it. 5 of the 7 models value the shares above the current price. A gap this wide is rare in our universe of ~7,400 US stocks and is exactly what the Value part of the Wheel Score rewards; it is also where the question "why is it this cheap?" matters most.

The 7 models disagree widely: EPV gives 4.85 while Payback Time gives 30.08. A spread that wide means the average is sensitive to which methods you trust; the model table below shows where each one lands, and the Quote page lets you switch any of them off.

The nightly engine files FCBM under Speculative / Distressed - negative earnings or a Piotroski score of 3 or less - which caps its Wheel Score at 45 and keeps it out of the Sunday Scan.

Nine valuation models for FCBM

Each model turns the latest filed numbers into a value per share; the GLS fair value is the simple average of the ones that produce a positive number. The last two rows are shown for reference and never enter the average. The Quote page lets you switch any model off and add your own margin of safety.

Quality and financial health

Financial health is weak: FCBM passes 0 of the nine Piotroski tests. Our screens drop the stock at the health rule; a low score is often the reason a stock looks cheap on the valuation models. The GLS Moat score is 5.7 out of 10: a ten-year record that is consistent in some of the metrics the score tracks (revenue, earnings, margins, cash flow, returns on capital) and patchy in others.

Returns on capital are thin or negative - ROIC 2.5%, ROE 3.5%, ROA 0.4% - with debt at 0.40 times equity and a free-cash-flow yield of 5.0%.

First Carolina Financial Services pays no dividend, so the DDM model does not apply and a covered-call holder earns only the premium and any price gain.

Institutional ownership scores 3/10, insider activity 5/10 and Congressional trading 5/10 on the GLS smart-money scales.

Wheel Score 39: No options

FCBM has no listed options in the nightly snapshot, so there is nothing to sell and the stock cannot be wheeled however good the business; the Wheel Score is capped at 39 and shown as "No options" (39 here). The valuation and quality numbers still apply to owning the shares outright.

Volume runs at 72k shares a day on a market cap of $382M, with a beta of 1.24 - a high beta, so the stock tends to move more than the market and a strike can be gapped through; the Stability part of the Wheel Score gives that 6 of 20.

The Wheel Score ranks ~7,400 US stocks for selling cash-secured puts and covered calls; it is updated nightly and is not a recommendation. The walkthrough lesson shows how the score fits into a trade, start to finish.

Upcoming events

First Carolina Financial Services reports earnings on 29 Oct 2026 - inside the 14-day window the Sunday Scan avoids, because a put sold now would carry the report's gap risk.

Earnings, dividend, IPO, split and economic calendars for the whole market, filterable to your watchlists.

Similar stocks in Banks - Regional

The 12 companies below are the closest to First Carolina Financial Services by market cap within the Banks - Regional industry, each with its own fact sheet; the Compare page puts up to eight of them side by side.

⚖ Compare FCBM with 7 of them   All Financial Services stocks →