** First Citizens Bancshares FCNCA.O forecast 2025 interest income above Wall Street expectations on Friday, as the lender bets on delayed rate cuts by the Federal Reserve

** FCNCA, which had rescued Silicon Valley Bank, forecast 2025 interest income to be between $6.6 bln and $7 bln versus estimates of $6.64 bln, according to data compiled by LSEG

** At least five brokerages raise PTs on the stock

INTEREST INCOME OUTLOOK SHINES

** J.P. Morgan ("overweight", PT: $2,650) says FCNCA's net interest income and net interest margin will benefit from a higher-for-longer rate outlook

** "First Citizens has levers to grow its NII in 2025 even without a material uptick in SVB activity" - J.P. Morgan

** FCNCA acquired Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, after the California bank failed and entered FDIC receivership

** Piper Sandler ("neutral", PT: $2,250) expects NII to remain stable or decline slightly in Q1 before improving later in the year

** Raymond James ("outperform", PT: $2,500) says SVB-related loan growth should accelerate throughout the year

** KBW ("outperform", PT: $2,600) says an acceleration in growth from SVB will help the stock in the medium term

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru)

((Ateev.Bhandari@thomsonreuters.com;))