CARE screens best-in-class on valuation and peer ranking, but a negative news-driven downgrade and a materially negative modeled risk/reward after reaching its price target temper the near-term case.
Thesis pillars
- Best In Class Valuation↓Deteriorating
- Negative News Sentiment Downgrade↓Deteriorating
- Consecutive Earnings Misses↑Improving
- +1 more pillar — see the Why tab for full reasoning
Pillars as of Jul 5, 2026, based on the 10-K filed Mar 5, 2026
Carter Bankshares, Inc. (CARE) Stock Analysis
Inst Constrain edge
Financial Services · Banks - Regional
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $29.00 — A.R:R 0.6:1 is below the 1.5:1 minimum. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Cyclical risk: PE expanding 2.3x (earnings normalizing).
Carter Bankshares is a bank holding company headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia, with $4.9 billion in assets at December 31, 2025, operating through its subsidiary Carter Bank & Trust across 64 branches in Virginia and North Carolina. The bank earns revenue from commercial... Read more
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $29.00 — A.R:R 0.6:1 is below the 1.5:1 minimum. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Cyclical risk: PE expanding 2.3x (earnings normalizing). Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Score 6.4/10, moderate confidence.
Passes 7/9 gates (positive momentum, clean insider activity, no SEC red flags, news events none recent, earnings proximity 93d clear, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on favorable risk/reward ratio. Suitability: aggressive.
About Carter Bankshares, Inc.
About Carter Bankshares, Inc.
Carter Bankshares held $4.9 billion in assets at December 31, 2025, operating 64 branches for Carter Bank & Trust across Virginia and North Carolina. The company elected to become a financial holding company in October 2025 and its bank subsidiary joined the Federal Reserve System in November 2025, placing it under primary oversight from the FRB and the Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions.
Carter Bank & Trust earns net interest income from commercial and consumer lending, including commercial real estate, construction, and commercial and industrial loans, funded primarily by FDIC-insured deposits. Loans secured by commercial purpose real estate, excluding construction, totaled approximately $2.2 billion, or 57.1% of the total loan portfolio, while CRE construction loans added a further $481.8 million, or 12.4% of total loans, and 94.4% of the commercial loan portfolio overall was secured by real estate. That CRE book is concentrated primarily in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia and Georgia, with exposure to the retail/restaurant, warehouse, hospitality, multifamily and office sectors, leaving the bank more sensitive to regional real estate cycles than a more geographically diversified competitor.
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Carter Bankshares carries a legacy credit concentration distinct from its CRE exposure: its largest credit relationship, tied to various entities associated with James C. Justice, II operating in hospitality, agriculture and energy, was placed on nonaccrual status in the second quarter of 2023 and still carried a $214.0 million principal balance, now reduced to judgments, as of December 31, 2025. That single relationship represents 87.7% of the company's nonperforming assets and nonperforming loans and 5.5% of total portfolio loans, and the company has received $87.9 million in cumulative curtailment payments to date but cannot guarantee the timing or amount of further recoveries.
See also: Financial Services · Banks - Regional
From Carter Bankshares, Inc.'s most recent 10-K filing, extracted July 6, 2026.
Recent developments
updated 2026-11-02Recent Developments — Carter Bankshares, Inc.
Latest news
- NEWS Are Non-Recurring Gains Masking Core Earnings at Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) Before the Next Quarterly Report? - kal — kalkine.ca negative
- NEWS Are the Cheapest Banks on Trailing Earnings, Associated Banc-Corp, River City Bank, TowneBank, Preferred Bank, Customers — kalkine.ca neutral
- NEWS What Lies Beneath the Steepest Trailing EPS Gains Among Banks at ACNB, Customers Bancorp, Tompkins Financial, First Nati — kalkine.ca neutral
- NEWS Edgewell Personal Care stock hits 52-week high at 28.05 USD - Investing.com — Investing.com positive
- NEWS Carter Bankshares (NASDAQ:CARE) Share Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average - Should You Sell? - MarketBeat — MarketBeat positive
Generated 2026-11-02T11:33:16Z.
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Model-generated analysis — not investment advice. Not a registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results. How we score · Editorial policy
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Rating Breakdown
2 ceiling hits
Price Targets
Position Sizing
Risk Alerts
Earnings
Verdict History
Frequently Asked Questions
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $29.00 — A.R:R 0.6:1 is below the 1.5:1 minimum. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Cyclical risk: PE expanding 2.3x (earnings normalizing). Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Prior stop was $28.06. Score 6.4/10, moderate confidence.
Analyst target: $29.82 (+2.8% upside). Prior stop was $28.06. Stop-loss: $28.06.
Cyclical risk: PE expanding 2.3x (earnings normalizing); Analyst target reached - limited upside remaining; Consecutive earnings misses (2).
Carter Bankshares, Inc. trades at a P/E of 4.9 (forward 11.2). TrendMatrix value score: 8.6/10. Verdict: Sell.
11 analysts cover CARE with a consensus score of 3.9/5. Average price target: $35.
What does Carter Bankshares, Inc. do?Carter Bankshares is a bank holding company headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia, with $4.9 billion in assets at...
Carter Bankshares is a bank holding company headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia, with $4.9 billion in assets at December 31, 2025, operating through its subsidiary Carter Bank & Trust across 64 branches in Virginia and North Carolina. The bank earns revenue from commercial and consumer lending, including commercial real estate, and from fees on financial services, and elected to become a financial holding company in October 2025. Its largest credit relationship, tied to entities associated with James C. Justice, II, remains reduced to judgments with a $214.0 million principal balance.