signature bank shares have now lost nearly half their value in 2022 as its exposure to freefalling cryptocurrencies continues to weigh on the sp 500 component signature bank sbny joined the sp 500 in december and has fallen as much as 48 this year through thursday compared with a 231 drop by the sp 500 index spx and an 184 decline in the spdr sp regional banking exchangetraded fund kre  the bank’s shares had soared to a record close of 36600 on jan 12 but closed thursday at 16755 the lowest close since feb 1 2021 they have fallen 153 this week on track for the biggest weekly drop since april 2020 and have dropped 453 while losing ground in 11 of the past 13 weeks while the bank has held about 29 billion in deposits for cryptocurrencies the shares appear to have been oversold analysts have said in recent weeks but the stock has continued to weaken amid sharp losses in bitcoin btcusd and other cryptocurrencies bitcoin has plummeted 56 this year as of morning trading friday also read bitcoin crash these three metrics show how bad the carnage is and what to expect next jefferies analyst casey haire said last month that signature bank’s sbny 2023 earnings would still come in at 20 a share even when stripping out its entire crypto deposits business the profit figure would still convert to a pricetoearnings ratio of 95 haire said which is in line with the spdr’s regional banking etf kre the factset consensus for 2023 earnings per share was 2670 “given our belief that sbny’s crypto deposit franchise will survive we view the stock as oversold at these levels” haire said at the time when haire penned his research note on may 13 signature bank’s stock closed at 20120   the stock was up 19 in morning trading on friday but has dropped 151 since may 13 while the regional banking etf has slipped 46 despite the rocky reception to signature bank in the stock market analysts have only slightly reduced secondquarter earnings estimates according to factset data at last check wall street expected signature bank to earn 509 a share in the second quarter down from 510 a share as of may 31 and 513 a share as of april 29 according to factset and all 17 analysts surveyed by factset have the equivalent of buy ratings on the stock with the average price target of 34038 implying a near doubling in price the company’s midquarter update as of may 13 revealed core loan growth of 17 billion and a drop of 14 billion in deposit balances related to volatility in crypto space sifting through those numbers janney analyst jake civiello on may 16 reiterated a buy rating and issued a 325 a share fair value estimate “we have longbelieved that sbny has been a conduit for nonbank investors to get exposure to digital assets via a highly regulated financial institution” civiello said “we reiterate that sbny exposure is almost entirely depositbased not loanoriented that said recent stock price volatility serves as a reminder that the pendulum swings both ways with respect to momentum investors” also read crypto lender blockfi sees ‘increased institutional demand’ ceo says as competitor celsius pauses withdrawals