Prudential Financial Q4 Earnings Miss, Revenues Beat, Dividend Raised

Prudential Financial, Inc. PRU reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted operating income of $3.30 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2%. However, the bottom line rose 11.5% year over year.Prudential Financial's fourth-quarter results reflect higher asset management fees, favorable underwriting results, and improved net investment spread results, partially offset by increased expenses.Prudential Financial, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Prudential Financial, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Prudential Financial, Inc. QuoteOperational UpdateTotal revenues of $14.52 billion increased 11.6% year over year. The increase in revenues was due to higher premiums, net investment income, and asset management fees, commissions, and other income. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6%.Total benefits and expenses amounted to $13 billion, which increased 11.8% year over year in the fourth quarter due to higher insurance and annuity benefits, interest credited to policyholders' account balances, interest expense, and amortization of acquisition costs.Quarterly Segment UpdatePrudential Global Investment Management’s (PGIM) adjusted operating income of $249 million in the reported quarter decreased 3.8% year over year. This decrease was due to higher expenses and lower other related revenues due to lower seed and co-investment income. It was partially offset by higher asset management fees.PGIM’s assets under management of $1.466 trillion increased 7% year over year. The uptick was driven by equity market and fixed income appreciation as well as strong investment performance. The U.S. Businesses delivered an adjusted operating income of $1 billion, which increased 22% year over year. This increase was due to higher net investment spread results, more favorable underwriting results, and lower expenses. It was partially offset by lower net fee income.International Businesses’ adjusted operating income increased 2% year over year to $757 million in the fourth quarter. The increase was due to higher net investment spread results and more favorable underwriting results. It was partially offset by higher expenses.Corporate and Other incurred an adjusted operating loss of $552 million, wider than a loss of $490 million reported a year ago. This higher loss primarily reflected increased expenses due to an organizational charge and unfavorable foreign exchange remeasurement impacts.Capital DeploymentPrudential Financial returned capital of $730 million to its shareholders in the form of share repurchases worth $250 million and dividends worth $480 million in the fourth quarter.PRU's board has authorized the repurchase of up to $1 billion of outstanding shares during the period from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2026. The board of directors authorized a 4% increase in the quarterly cash dividend of $1.40 per share. The dividend will be paid out on March 12 to shareholders of record at the close of business as of Feb. 17, 2026. This marks the 18th consecutive year of dividend increase.Financial UpdatePRU exited the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $19.7 billion, which increased 6.5% from 2024-end.Total debt balance of $20.3 billion increased 0.7% from 2024-end.As of Dec. 31, 2025, Prudential Financial’s assets under management and administration increased 7% year over year to $1.8 trillion.Adjusted book value per common share, a measure of the company’s net worth, was $100.17, which increased 4.5% year over year.Operating return on average equity was 13.3% in the fourth quarter, which improved 110 basis points year over year.Full-Year UpdateFor 2025, the adjusted operating income of Prudential Financial was $14.43 per share. The bottom line increased 14.3% from the 2023 figure. The bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.4%. Revenues for the year totaled $57.6 billion, which decreased 15% from the 2024 level. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.9%.Zacks RankPrudential Financial 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 InsurersVoya Financial, Inc. VOYA reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted operating earnings of $1.94 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8%. The bottom line increased 38.5% year over year. Adjusted operating revenues amounted to $2 billion, which increased 5.7% year over year. Net investment income increased 13.4% year over year to $591 million. Meanwhile, fee income of $633 million increased 16.5% year over year. Premiums totaled $738 million, down 6.5% from the year-ago quarter. Total benefits and expenses were $1.9 billion, up 2.7% from the year-ago quarter. As of Dec. 31, 2025, VOYA’s assets under management, and assets under administration and advisement totaled $1.1 trillion.Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company WTW delivered fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $8.12 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.5%. The bottom line increased 2% year over year. Willis Towers posted adjusted consolidated revenues of $2.9 billion, which declined 3% year over year on a reported basis. Revenues increased 6% on an organic basis but declined 5% on a constant currency basis. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.5%.The total costs of providing services decreased 10% year over year to $1.9 billion. Our estimate was pegged at $1.8 billion. Adjusted operating income was $1 billion, which decreased 1% year over year. Margin expanded 80 basis points to 36.9%.Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted net earnings of $2.38 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.2%. The bottom line increased 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Total revenues of $3.6 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.3%. The top line also improved 33.8% year over year.Arthur J. Gallagher’s total expenses increased 44.7% year over year to $3.4 billion in the reported quarter. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization and change in estimated acquisition earnout payables grew 3.3% from the prior-year quarter to $710 million. Free Report: Profiting from the 2nd Wave of AI ExplosionThe next phase of the AI explosion is poised to create significant wealth for investors, especially those who get in early. It will add literally trillion of dollars to the economy and revolutionize nearly every part of our lives.Investors who bought shares like Nvidia at the right time have had a shot at huge gains.But the rocket ride in the "first wave" of AI stocks may soon come to an end. The sharp upward trajectory of these stocks will begin to level off, leaving exponential growth to a new wave of cutting-edge companies.Zacks' AI Boom 2.0: The Second Wave report reveals 4 under-the-radar companies that may soon be shining stars of AI’s next leap forward.Access AI Boom 2.0 now, absolutely free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU): Free Stock Analysis Report Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG): Free Stock Analysis Report Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (WTW): Free Stock Analysis Report Voya Financial, Inc. (VOYA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks