Regional bank stocks surged on Wednesday after Western Alliance reported that customer deposits are growing.
Western Alliance said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that its deposit balances stabilized by late March, and that its deposit growth exceeded $2 billion between March 31 and May 12 to around $50 billion. That’s up from $46.7 billion as of the end of last quarter.
Western Alliance shares rose roughly 13%, recouping its losses and then some from the last two weeks.
Shares of other beaten-down regional lenders rallied on the news. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking exchange-traded fund rose about 6%. PacWest shares rose about 18%, KeyCorp added 7% and Comerica marched up 11%.
Western Alliance’s latest deposit update comes after it earlier this month strongly denied a report that it’s exploring strategic options, including a potential sale. The report, along with PacWest’s confirmation that it’s exploring options, helped accelerate a steep sell-off in regional bank stocks that started when Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed in March.
Shares of Western Alliance are down about 40% for the year.
