''When Zions does emerge from this credit cycle, shareholders are left with a company who has the most enviable footprint in banking, a straight shooting management team, and a strong distribution network,'' analyst Brent Christ said in a note Tuesday. He raised the stock to ''outperform'' from ''in-line'' and said credit costs and collateralized debt obligation write-downs are ''manage- able.''

Zions jumped $2.61, or 9.7 percent, to $29.45 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading after earlier rising as much as 12 percent, the biggest gain since July 17. The stock had dropped 58 percent in the prior 12 months.

The lender ''has historically been a high-growth, high-performing bank which has encountered rising credit headwinds over the past 12 months as real estate pressures in its core western and southwestern U.S. markets have escalated,'' Christ said.

''There is considerable pent up demand to own the stock,'' he said.