Brown & Brown Q4 Earnings Top Estimates on Strong Investment Income

Brown & Brown, Inc.’s BRO fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 93 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.1%. The bottom line increased 8.1% year over year.

The quarterly results reflected higher commission and fees, improved investment income, and higher adjusted EBITDAC, offset by higher expenses and lower organic revenues.

BRO’s Q4 Details

Total revenues of $1.6 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.1%. The top line improved 35.7% year over year. The upside can be primarily attributed to commission and fees, which grew 36% year over year to $1.6 billion and improved investment and other income. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for commission and fees was pegged at $1.6 billion. Organic revenues declined 2.8% to $1 billion in the quarter under review.

Investment income and other income increased 17.3% year over year to $27 million.
Adjusted EBITDAC was $529 million, up 35.6% year over year. EBITDAC margin remained unchanged year over year to 32.9%.

Total expenses increased 41.4% to $1.29 billion due to a rise in employee compensation and benefits, other operating expenses, amortization, depreciation and interest.

Full-Year Highlights

Adjusted earnings of $4.26 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.2%. The bottom line increased 10.9% year over year.
Total revenues of $5.9 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.6%. The top line improved 22.8% year over year. Organic revenues increased 2.8%.

Adjusted EBITDAC increased 25.6% to $2.1 billion, while adjusted EBITDAC margin expanded 70 bps to 35.9%.

Financial Update of BRO

Brown & Brown exited 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of $1 billion, which increased 60% from the 2024-end level. Long-term debt was $6.8 billion as of Dec. 30, 2025, up 91.5% from the 2024-end level. Net cash provided by operating activities in 2025 was $1.4 billion, up 23.5% year over year.

Capital Deployment

The board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 16.5 cents per share. The dividend will be paid out on Feb. 11, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Feb. 4, 2026.

Zacks Rank

BRO 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 fourth-quarter 2025 core income of $11.13 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 32% and improved 22% year over year. Travelers’ total revenues increased 3.2% from the year-ago quarter to $12.4 billion, primarily driven by higher premiums, net investment income, and other revenues. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.08%.

Net written premiums increased 1% year over year to a record $10.8 billion. Net investment income increased 10.3% year over year to $1 billion. The figure matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Travelers witnessed an underwriting gain of $1.7 billion, up 21.7% year over year. The consolidated underlying combined ratio of 82.2 improved 180 bps year over year. 

RLI Corp. RLI reported fourth-quarter 2025 operating earnings of 94 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 23.6%. The bottom line increased 80.8% from the prior-year quarter. Operating revenues for the reported quarter were $449 million, up 3% year over year. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.4%.

Gross premiums written decreased 2.1% year over year to $463.2 million. This uptick can be attributed to the solid performance of the Casualty segment (up 2.4%). Our estimate was $505.2 million. Net investment income increased 9.2% year over year to $42.3 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was $42.9 million, while our estimate for the metric was pegged at $44.5 million. The investment portfolio’s total return was 1.5% in the quarter.

W.R. Berkley Corporation’s WRB fourth-quarter 2025 operating income of $1.13 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.9%. The bottom line remained flat year over year. W.R. Berkley’s net premiums written were $3 billion, up 2.1% year over year. The figure was lower than our estimate of $3.2 billion. Operating revenues came in at $3.7 billion, up 5.9% year over year. However, the top line missed the consensus estimate by 0.9%.
 
Net investment income grew 6.6% to $338.2 million. Total expenses increased 7.2% to $3.1 billion, driven by higher losses and loss expenses. This was quite close to our estimate of $3.2 billion.

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

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