Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (Form 3)

FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person * Cummings George W. III 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 01/01/2026 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol Business First Bancshares, Inc. [BFST] (Last) (First) (Middle) 500 LAUREL STREET, SUITE 101 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) __X__ Director _____ 10% Owner _____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (Month/Day/Year) (Street) BATON ROUGE, LA 70801 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) _X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person ___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip) Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 4) 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4) 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5) Common Stock 358,775(1)(2) D Common Stock 3,911(1) I By Spouse

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.			SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Cummings George W. III 500 LAUREL STREET, SUITE 101 BATON ROUGE, LA 70801	X

Signatures

/s/ Heather G. Roemer, as Attorney-in-Fact for George W. Cummings III		01/21/2026
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	Acquired in exchange for 54,704 shares of Progressive Bancorp, Inc. ("Progressive") in connection with the merger of Progressive with and into the issuer (the "Merger"). At the effective time of the Merger, each share of Progressive common stock was converted into the right to receive 6.63 shares of the issuer's common stock, plus cash, without interest, in lieu of any fractional shares.
(2)	Includes 223,669 pledged shares of common stock of the issuer.
Remarks: Exhibit List: Exhibit 24, Power of Attorney

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