Investors that bet on a drop in share price by First Republic
FRC,
generated $848 million in paper gains as the most profitable short trade in March, data provider Ortex said Tuesday in its monthly recap. The bank’s stock fell 89% in March as investors pondered the fate of the San Francisco-based lender after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed. First Republic received $30 billion in backing from the U.S.’s largest banks on March 17, but the stock continued to slide to an all-time low on March 20. First Republic stock is down by 6.5% on Tuesday, and has lost 88.8% of its value so far this year.