MetLife (NYSE:MET) Misses Q4 CY2025 Revenue Estimates

Global insurance giant MetLife (NYSE:MET) missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025, but sales rose 20.7% year on year to $23.81 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $2.49 per share was 6.3% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) has been named on the Fortune World’s Most Admired Companies™ list for the seventh consecutive year – ranking No. 1 in the Insurance: Life and Health industry for 2026. The recognition reflects MetLife’s strong reputation, consistent performance and longstanding leadership in financial services. “For nearly 160 years, MetLife has been committed to helping people move forward with confidence,” said MetLife President and CEO Michel Khalaf.

Company Overview

Founded in 1863 by a group of New York businessmen during the Civil War era, MetLife (NYSE:MET) is a global financial services company that provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services to individuals and businesses worldwide.

Revenue Growth

Big picture, insurers generate revenue from three key sources. The first is the core business of underwriting policies. The second source is income from investing the “float” (premiums collected upfront not yet paid out as claims) in assets such as fixed-income assets and equities. The third is fees from various sources such as policy administration, annuities, or other value-added services. Regrettably, MetLife’s revenue grew at a sluggish 3.4% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This fell short of our benchmark for the insurance sector and is a poor baseline for our analysis.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. MetLife’s annualized revenue growth of 4.6% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, but we were still disappointed by the results.

This quarter, MetLife generated an excellent 20.7% year-on-year revenue growth rate, but its $23.81 billion of revenue fell short of Wall Street’s high expectations.

Net premiums earned made up 69.2% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning insurance operations are MetLife’s largest source of revenue.

Net premiums earned commands greater market attention due to its reliability and consistency, whereas investment and fee income are often seen as more volatile revenue streams that fluctuate with market conditions.

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Book Value Per Share (BVPS)

Insurance companies are balance sheet businesses, collecting premiums upfront and paying out claims over time. The float–premiums collected but not yet paid out–are invested, creating an asset base supported by a liability structure. Book value per share (BVPS) captures this dynamic by measuring these assets (investment portfolio, cash, reinsurance recoverables) less liabilities (claim reserves, debt, future policy benefits). BVPS is essentially the residual value for shareholders.

We therefore consider BVPS very important to track for insurers and a metric that sheds light on business quality because it reflects long-term capital growth and is harder to manipulate than more commonly-used metrics like EPS.

MetLife’s BVPS declined at a 14.1% annual clip over the last five years. On a two-year basis, BVPS fell at a slower pace, dropping by 2.5% annually from $41.07 to $39.02 per share.

Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for MetLife’s BVPS to grow by 63.2% to $58.05, elite growth rate.

Key Takeaways from MetLife’s Q4 Results

We struggled to find many positives in these results. Its revenue missed and its net premiums earned fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this quarter could have been better. The stock traded down 1.5% to $76.85 immediately after reporting.

MetLife underperformed this quarter, but does that create an opportunity to invest right now? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).