CATY vs PFBC: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CATY and PFBC share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CATY and PFBC exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Cathay General Bancorp is a Los Angeles-headquartered bank holding company whose main operating subsidiary, Cathay Bank, provides commercial and consumer banking to small and middle-market businesses, commercial real estate borrowers, and retail households. Founded in 1962 in Los Angeles Chinatown, the franchise was built to serve customers often underserved by mainstream banks, especially Asian-American communities, and it specializes in commercial real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans for import-export clients, trade finance, treasury services, and relationship banking. With roughly $24 billion in total assets, about $20.7 billion in deposits, and a loan book near $19.5 billion, Cathay ranks among the larger publicly traded US regional banks, with branches concentrated in California, New York, and other markets with significant Asian-American populations plus a presence in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Full CATY guide

Preferred Bank is a California state-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles, founded to serve the Chinese-American community and the businesses within it. Over time it has built a franchise around small and mid-sized business lending, commercial real estate, and deposit relationships with entrepreneurs and professionals, while expanding beyond Southern California into markets such as New York and Texas. It is a relatively lean operation: a focused branch network, a commercial-lending emphasis, and historically strong efficiency and profitability metrics have let it post returns on assets and equity that are often above regional-bank peers.

Full PFBC guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CATY drivers: Net interest margin and rate environment; Niche franchise and deposit base.
• PFBC drivers: High-return, efficient commercial franchise; Niche focus on the Chinese-American business community.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The largest risk is commercial real estate concentration, since roughly half the loan book is CRE and a downturn in property values, occupancy, or refinancing could drive higher charge-offs. For PFBC, the dominant risk is credit concentration: Preferred Bank leans heavily on commercial and commercial-real-estate lending, so a downturn in California CRE or a few large problem loans can hit earnings hard.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CATY if you believe its drivers more; PFBC if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CATY and PFBC guides.

CATY. As of July 2026, Cathay trades at roughly 12 times trailing earnings on EPS of about $4.85, a low-double-digit multiple typical of regional banks and below larger money-center peers. Net income was about $86.9 million, or $1.29 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2026, down slightly from the prior quarter but up sharply from the year-ago period, with margin expansion offsetting higher credit reserves.

PFBC. These are qualitative descriptors tied to the asOf date, not live quotes. Bank profitability and credit metrics can change quickly as rates and the credit cycle move, so verify the current share price, net interest margin, nonaccrual and reserve levels, dividend, and book value from Preferred Bank's latest filings before acting. For a concentrated commercial lender, credit quality and margin trends matter more than any single trailing number.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): CATY shows revenue (ttm) ~$850M, q1 2026 net income ~$87M, q1 2026 diluted eps ~$1.29, total assets ~$24B; PFBC shows business model Los Angeles-based commercial bank focused on small and mid-sized businesses and the Chinese-American community; commercial and commercial-real-estate lending plus deposit gathering, profitability Historically strong for its size; recent periods showed return on assets around 1.8% and return on equity in the mid-to-high teens, often above regional-bank peers. Verify current figures, net interest margin Compressed modestly in early 2026 (around 3.57% in Q1 from roughly 3.74% prior), partly from interest reversals on new nonaccrual loans; check the latest reported NIM, deposit costs Elevated and slow to fall (roughly 3.10% in March 2026); the pace of deposit repricing is a key margin driver going forward.

CATY and PFBC are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CATY and PFBC exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.