Is First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) a buy in 2026?
Yes, on balance. The Compass leans toward accumulating First Busey Corporation at current levels.
A 158-year-old Illinois bank just doubled in size, trades below book, and nobody outside the Midwest is paying attention.
Where BUSE is headed
First Busey is not the same company it was eighteen months ago. The March 2025 merger with CrossFirst Bankshares roughly doubled the balance sheet to north of $20 billion in assets, dragged the headquarters to Leawood, Kansas, and bolted a high-growth commercial book in Dallas, Denver, Phoenix and Kansas City onto a sleepy Illinois deposit franchise that has been compounding quietly since Ulysses S. Grant was president. That revenue growth print of +143% is not organic magic, it is acquisition math. Strip it back and what you actually own is a $20B-asset community bank with a 0.97x price-to-book, an 11x earnings multiple, and a wealth management arm (FirsTech plus the trust business) that throws off fee income most regional banks would kill for.
Read the full Compass Direction on BUSE
The complete destination call, the overlooked angle, milestones, and bull, base, and bear price scenarios (around $28.21).
See the full BUSE analysisGet calls like this, free
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Frequently asked questions
Is First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) a buy in 2026?
Yes, on balance. The Compass leans toward accumulating First Busey Corporation at current levels. A 158-year-old Illinois bank just doubled in size, trades below book, and nobody outside the Midwest is paying attention.
What is BUSE's Compass Score?
First Busey Corporation scores 58/100 on Alexandria's Compass, placing it in the "Favorable" tier. Scores blend eight factors and update weekly.
What is the price target for BUSE?
Alexandria's full Compass Direction includes bull, base, and bear price scenarios with the valuation math behind each. Read the full breakdown on the BUSE page.
Compass verdicts are AI-generated, forward-looking editorial research from publicly available data, not investment advice or a recommendation regarding any security. Scores and verdicts update as the data changes.