Bank performance is a significant area of interest for both industry professionals and academics. This paper aims to explore the key factors influencing the performance of commercial banks in emerging markets, with a focus on the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan (referred to as the MENAP region henceforth). Our analysis utilizes data from 56 publicly listed banks across 7 MENAP countries from 2015 to 2022. Our research identifies bank size, operational inefficiency, GDP growth rate, growth of broad money supply, increase in bank accounts, cashless payments, and the percentage of the population with access to the internet as the primary determinants of commercial bank performance. This research seeks to enhance the existing literature on commercial bank performance. It incorporates data from both pre- and post-COVID-19 periods to offer insights as comprehensive and holistic as possible. Additionally, we examine the effects of digitalization on commercial bank performance using various proxies.