W.R. Berkley's Q1 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Revenues Miss

W.R. Berkley Corporation WRB reported first-quarter 2026 operating income of $1.30 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15%. The bottom line increased 28.7% year over year.

The insurer benefited from higher premiums, strong investment income growth and lower catastrophe losses.

Behind the Headlines

W.R. Berkley’s net premiums written were about $3.2 billion, up 1.3% year over year. The figure missed our estimate as well as the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.18 billion.

Operating revenues totaled $ 3.7 billion, up 5% year over year, driven by higher net premiums earned, improved net investment income, higher revenues from non-insurance businesses and increased other income. However, the top line missed the consensus estimate by 0.28%.

W.R. Berkley Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

W.R. Berkley Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | W.R. Berkley Corporation Quote

Net investment income grew 12.2% to $404.3 million, supported by higher invested assets, better yields and strong fund income. The figure topped our estimate of $387 million. The consensus estimate was $401 million.

Total expenses increased 2.2% to $3 billion, caused by higher losses and loss expenses, other operating costs and expenses, and expenses from non-insurance businesses. The figure was lower than our estimate of $3.7 billion.

The loss ratio improved 100 basis points (bps) to 62.2, while the expense ratio deteriorated 80 bps year over year to 28.6.

Catastrophe losses of $75.7 million were lower than the $111.1 million incurred in the year-ago quarter.

The consolidated combined ratio (a measure of underwriting profitability) improved 20 basis points year over year to 90.7, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 91.8.

Q1 Segment Details

Net premiums written at the Insurance segment increased 3.2% year over year to $2.78 billion in the quarter, primarily driven by higher premiums from other liability, short-tail lines, auto and professional liability. The figure was slightly higher than our estimate.

The combined ratio deteriorated 50 basis points year over year to 92.2. Our estimate was 92.8.

Net premiums written in the Reinsurance & Monoline Excess segment increased 10.4% year over year to $394.6 million. The figure beat our estimate of $393.8 million.

The combined ratio improved 680 bps to 78.6, which matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Our estimate for the metric was 86.

Financial Update

W.R. Berkley exited the first quarter of 2026 with total assets worth $44.3 billion compared with $43.9 billion at the 2025-end level.

Senior notes and other debt increased 1.1% from the 2025-end levels to $1.8 billion.

Book value per share increased 1.6% from 2025-end levels to $26.13.

Cash flow from operations was $667.9 million, down 10.2% year over year.

Operating return on equity in the first quarter increased 120 basis points year over year to 21.2%.

Capital Deployment

Total capital returned to shareholders was $336.1 million, comprising $302.4 million in share repurchases and $33.7 million in regular dividends.

WRB’s Zacks Rank

W.R. Berkley currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Other Insurers

The Travelers Companies, Inc. TRV reported that first-quarter 2026 core income rose to $7.71 per share in the current quarter from $1.91 in the prior-year quarter, and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10%. Travelers’ total revenues increased 1% from the year-ago quarter to $11.9 billion, primarily driven by higher premiums, net investment income and other revenues. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.74%.

Net written premiums increased 1% year over year to a record $10.8 billion. Net investment income increased 9% year over year to $833 million. Travelers witnessed an underwriting gain of $1.7 billion compared with an underwriting loss of $305 million in the prior-year quarter. The consolidated underlying combined ratio of 85.3% decreased 50 bps year over year.

The Progressive Corporation PGR posted first-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $4.96, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.5%. The bottom line increased 6.7% year over year. Total revenues grew 8.2% year over year to $22.3 billion, driven by higher net premiums earned, an increase in net investment income and higher service revenues. However, the top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.2%.

Net premiums written were $23.6 billion in the quarter, up 6.5% from $22.2 billion a year ago. Net realized loss on securities was $120 million, narrower than the loss of $212 million in the year-ago quarter. The combined ratio deteriorated 40 bps from the prior-year quarter’s level to 86.4.

Upcoming Release

RLI Corp. RLI is set to report results for the first quarter ended March 2026 on April 22 after the market close.

RLI is a specialty property-casualty (P&C) insurance company that is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.85 per share in its upcoming report, representing a year-over-year decline of 7.6%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.9% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. RLI's revenues are expected to be $453.45 million, up 4.2% from the year-ago quarter.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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