San Francisco-based First Republic Bank is fighting for survival, with its shares staging a sharp relief rally early Thursday morning, though some of it faded in later trading as investors consider what’s next for the beleaguered bank.

Shares of First Republic popped nearly 20 percent in volatile trading on Thursday morning following a sharp selloff earlier in the week that wiped out around 60 percent of the stock’s value after the beleaguered bank announced that its depositors had withdrawn over $100 billion of their savings in the wake of recent bank failures.

Thursday’s early-morning rally, which also saw other U.S. bank stocks rise, followed a bruising slide in recent days that was sparked by an earnings report (pdf) First Republic Bank released on April 24, revealing it had experienced an “unprecedented” run on deposits following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank.

“With the closure of several banks in March, we experienced unprecedented deposit outflows,” Neal Holland, chief financial officer of First Repbulic, said in the earnings report.

On March 9, a day before SVB failed, First Republic’s deposits stood at $173.5 billion, down a mere 1.7 percent from year-end 2022.

But on March 10, as SVB’s collapse grabbed headlines, First Republic began experiencing an unprecedented run on its deposits that saw $101 billion in savings flee the bank through April 21.

“No bank on earth can survive if its customers pull their money out of the bank—especially if it happens all at once,” said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments.

“If First Republic fails or is bailed out, that will likely cause more downward pressure on the already beaten down financial sector,” he added.

Word of the deposit exodus sent the bank’s stock to record lows, with its shares dropping 49 percent on Tuesday and nearly 30 percent on Wednesday.

“Investors got a sharp reminder on Tuesday that the U.S. banking crisis and broader credit crunch are not over,” Will Denyer of Gavekal Research wrote in a Wednesday research note.

Amid the brutal selloff, First Republic’s market capitalization hit a low of around $886 million on Wednesday, a stunning decline from its November 2021 peak of around $40 billion.

At the time of reporting, much of Thursday morning’s rally had faded, with First Republic shares up around 14.7 percent.

It comes as Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Thursday amid a raft of strong corporate earnings updates, which outweighed data showing that the U.S. economy slowed more than expected in the the first quarter.

In the face of fleeing deposits, First Republic was forced to borrow from federal programs to bolster its balance sheet.

The bank said in its earnings report that its total borrowings peaked on March 15, at $138.1 billion. The interest rate the bank has to pay on those loans is considerably higher than what it pays on deposits, pressuring its bottom line.

“We moved swiftly and leveraged our high-quality loan and securities portfolios to secure additional liquidity. We are working to restructure our balance sheet and reduce our expenses and short-term borrowings,” Holland said in the report.

In a bid to bolster its balance sheet, First Republic said it plans to sell off unprofitable assets, including low-interest mortgages it provided to affluent customers. It also plans to lay off between 20–25 percent of its workforce, which totaled around 7,200 employees at the end of 2022.

First Bank is also planning to cut executive officer pay significantly while also slashing non-essential projects, and reducing corporate office space.

It also said it’s “pursuing strategic options,” which is Wall Street code that it’s looking for a white knight to swoop in for a rescue.

Regulators have so far refrained from stepping in to rescue First Republic, with some experts suggesting that regulators are waiting to see if the banks that provided the $30 billion lifeline can hammer out some kind of rescue deal.

“There is some nervousness about how Silicon Valley Bank went down, and maybe they’d like to see if First Republic can work out its problems itself,” Stephen Lubben, a professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, told Bloomberg.

“Regulators are also probably worried that if this does not stop, who is next?” he added. “That is, who comes after First Republic on the hot seat?”

There are a few possibilities for what happens next for the beleaguered San Francisco lender, which continues to operate despite the turmoil.

One possibility is that the bank proceeds with the steps it has outlined to bolster its balance sheet, continuing to run its business in hopes of eventually pulling up out of its nosedive.

That’s option number one for First Republic CEO Michael Roffler, who said in the earnings report that deposits have stabilized and the bank remains “fully committed” to serving its customers.

“With the stabilization of our deposit base and the strength of our credit quality and capital position, we continue to take steps to strengthen our business,” Roffler said. “We remain fully committed to serving our communities, and we are grateful for the ongoing support of our clients and colleagues.”

While staying the course is likely to mean a long and grueling road, First Republic does appear to have enough liquidity to continue operating for some time. It said in its report that its available liquidity—comprised of $45.1 billion in cash and unused borrowing capacity—is more than twice as high as its uninsured deposits (excluding the $30 billion uninsured deposit infusion by big banks).

“That’ll be a long road, but they do have some liquidity that will enable them to continue,” David Chiaverini, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, told CNN.

Another possibility, experts say, is that First Republic could sell some of its assets to other banks at above market value, with First Republic sweetening the deal by giving the buyers preferred equity.

Bloomberg reported that advisers working for First Republic were proposing a similar idea, where stronger banks would buy bonds at above market value so that First Republic could issue more shares.

Finally, there’s the possibility that, as with SVB and Signature, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) would swoop in and place First Republic into receivership and carry out a resolution, making depositors whole and slowly selling off its assets to maximize recoveries for shareholders and debt holders.

First Republic did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this article.