


First Republic Bank’s shares tanked again on Monday, falling 47 percent and surpassing last week’s lows. The slide follows yet another downgrade in the bank’s credit rating by Standard & Poor’s, which dropped First Republic to B+ from BB+ on Sunday after first lowering it to junk status just last week.
The rating agency said the $30 billion infusion “may not solve the substantial business, liquidity, funding, and profitability challenges that we believe the bank is now likely facing.”
The San Francisco-based bank received the rescue package from 11 major U.S. banks last week in a bid to prevent its collapse. S&P Global Ratings stated that while the package may relieve short-term liquidity pressures, there are significant long-term challenges facing the business..
Due to the volatility, trading in First Republic’s shares was halted multiple times, with the stock price dropping approximately 88 percent in the last two weeks.
During afternoon trading, the stock’s volume exceeded 158 million shares, compared to the average of less than 14 million shares per day. At closing, the stock was down 47 percent, at $12.13, bouncing back from its intraday low of $11.52, an all-time low for First Republic’s stock.
Many bank stocks were down on Monday with the exeception of JPMorgan Chase, which closed the day up about 1 percent. The bank’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, is reportedly in talks with other banks for a renewed round of financial assistance.