NMI Holdings Q4 Earnings Beat, Primary Insurance in Force Rises Y/Y

NMI Holdings Inc. NMIH reported fourth-quarter 2025 operating net income per share of $1.20, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.6%. The bottom line increased 12.1% year over year. 

The quarterly results reflected higher premiums earned, improved net investment income and consistent growth in the high-quality insured portfolio. These were offset by lower persistency.

Operational Update

NMI Holdings’ total operating revenues of $181 million increased 8.4% year over year on higher net premiums earned (up 6.3%) and net investment income (up 21%). Revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by about 1%. 

Primary insurance in force increased 5.1% year over year to $221 billion. Our estimate was $213.4 billion while the consensus estimate was $218 billion.

Annual persistency was 83.4%, down 30 basis points (bps) year over year. 

New insurance written was $14.2 billion, up 19.1% year over year.

Underwriting and operating expenses totaled $31.1 million, flat year over year. 

Insurance claims and claim expenses were $21.2 million, which surged 22.5% year over year. 

The loss ratio was 13.9, which deteriorated 190 bps. The adjusted expense ratio of 19.3 improved 100 bps year over year, while the adjusted combined ratio of 21.4 improved 130 bps.

Full-Year Highlights

Operating net income per share was $4.92, up 11.1% year over year.  The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.89.

Operating revenues were $706 million, up 8% year over year. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $704.7 million.

Combined ratio deteriorated 290 bps.

Financial Update

Book value per share, a measure of net worth, was up 20.4% year over year to $33.98 as of Dec. 31, 2025. 

NMI Holdings had $43.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, down 19.1% from the 2024 end level. 

The debt balance of $416.5 million increased 0.5% from the end of 2024.

The annualized adjusted return on equity was 14.7%, which contracted 90 bps year over year. Total PMIERs available assets were $3.5 billion. 

Net risk-based required assets totaled $2.1 billion at the end of fourth-quarter 2025.

Zacks Rank

NMIH 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

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited AXS reported fourth-quarter 2025 operating income of $3.25 per share, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.4% and rose 9.4% year over year.

Total operating revenues of $1.7 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.2%. The top line rose nearly 9% year over year on higher premiums earned. Net premiums written rose 13% to $1.4 billion, with an increase of 14% in the Insurance segment and growth of 5% in the Reinsurance segment.

Chubb Limited CB reported fourth-quarter 2025 core operating income of $7.52 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.9%. The bottom line improved 24.9% year over year.

Total operating revenues improved 7.4% year over year to $15.3 billion. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.7%. Chubb’s strong performance was driven by solid underwriting profit, robust premium growth and record investment income.

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 can be attributed to the poor performance of the Property Segment. 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.

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

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