Raymond James Upgrades CNOB After Earnings Beat

ConnectOne Bancorp gained 7.4% over the past week, comfortably ahead of the median 4.4% rise across its closest regional bank peers. The post-earnings momentum has now drawn a formal endorsement from Raymond James, whose analyst Daniel Tamayo upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform this morning, setting a $37 price target against Friday's $32.69 close.

The upgrade and what sits behind it

Tamayo's move reverses a downgrade he made in July, when he cut CNOB from Strong Buy to Market Perform. The timing of today's upgrade, days after a 5.9% single-day earnings gain, suggests the Q3 print cleared whatever hurdle had prompted the July step-down. The consensus now stands at three Outperform calls, no Holds. The mean price target across the covering analysts is $37.40.

Piper Sandler's Justin Crowley raised his target to $38 in June, up from $34. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' Tim Switzer lifted his target to $34 in April. Both firms maintained Outperform or Overweight ratings through the period. Raymond James, which had been the outlier with a neutral stance, has now rejoined the bullish chorus.

FDIC call report data gives some grounding to the improved sentiment. Net loans and leases at ConnectOne's insured bank charters have risen for five consecutive quarters. Total assets reached $14.4 billion in Q2 2026, the largest second quarter on record in ORTEX's dataset. The FDIC series does not yet have enough history to test whether it leads the company's reported results, so it is context rather than a signal.

What the lending data says post-earnings

The cost to borrow CNOB shares spiked to 1.53% on October 21, the session before the earnings print, and has since dropped to 0.70%. That is still 69% above where it stood a week ago, but the retreat confirms the pre-earnings demand for short exposure has largely faded. Availability remains ample at 2,759%, meaning roughly 28 shares sit available for every one currently borrowed. The lending market is not under pressure.

Short interest is running at 3.96% of free float. It rose about 23% over the past month, a meaningful build for a mid-cap regional bank, though the level is not extreme.

Options and retail attention

The put-call ratio edged to 0.3452 on October 23, slightly above its 20-day mean of 0.31. That reading, while mildly elevated, is well inside the 52-week range of 0.14 to 4.93. Options positioning is no longer flashing a strong signal in either direction.

Retail attention, which spiked to 6.04 standard deviations above the 90-day average as of October 19, has not yet been updated. That pre-earnings spike was the sharpest of the signals that converged around the print.

Data summary

• Raymond James upgrade to Outperform, $37 target, from Market Perform
• Stock up 7.4% over one week, peer median 4.4%
• Earnings print on October 22 produced a 5.9% one-day gain
• Cost to borrow: 0.70%, down from 1.53% peak, still 69% above one week ago
• Availability: 2,759% (ample)
• Short interest: 3.96% of free float, up 23% over one month
• FDIC data: net loans and leases up five consecutive quarters; total assets $14.4bn, largest Q2 on record