Assurant (AIZ) Q1 2026 Earnings Call TranscriptMay 6, 2026
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Date
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET
Call participants
President and Chief Executive Officer — Keith Demmings Chief Financial Officer — Keith Meier
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Full Conference Call Transcript
Keith Demmings: Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Following a remarkable 2025, where we delivered our third consecutive year of double-digit earnings and EPS growth, we're pleased to share that 2026 is off to a strong start. The first quarter represents the strongest performance in Assurant's history, driven by record earnings in Global Lifestyle. We delivered 6% growth in adjusted EBITDA and 9% growth in adjusted EPS, both excluding reportable catastrophes. When excluding impacts from Global Housing's prior year reserve development, these metrics grew 8% and 12%, respectively. Once again, our diversified portfolio and disciplined execution supported strong performance in a dynamic operating environment.
Our results this quarter reflect the momentum we've built across the enterprise, supported by the durability of our earnings. We leveraged the strength and flexibility of our capital position to accelerate share repurchases during the quarter given our compelling valuation. At the center of our performance is our talented workforce, leading with insight, challenging convention and delivering with discipline. Their commitment continues to help us and our clients win together, as we redefine protection and related services and create value across the markets we serve. The first quarter represents an exceptional start to the year, reinforcing our path to achieving our tenth consecutive year of profitable growth. Turning to Global Lifestyle.
We delivered an exceptional first quarter with double-digit earnings growth in both Connected Living and Global Automotive. In Connected Living, earnings increased 18%, driven by expansion with existing clients and continued optimization of recently added programs. As our earnings benefit from the momentum we've built, we continue to execute on our compelling pipeline of new opportunities with 4 new mobile announcements this quarter. First, our long-term agreement with T-Mobile supports our leadership and innovation in this space. Following the success of our reverse logistics partnership, we deepened our relationship following T-Mobile's acquisition of U.S.
Cellular, successfully migrating another large in-force mobile subscriber base and contributing to an increase in our total devices protected that now stands at nearly 69 million devices globally. Like our prior device protection migration with Sprint, this reflects our proven ability to quickly transition large, complex device protection portfolios with minimal disruption and low subscriber churn, a critical proof point for potential new clients. Taken together, these milestones reinforce the strength of our relationship with a leading U.S. carrier and highlight the strategic value of our integrated mobile protection, repair and logistics platform. Second, we're extending our leadership in reverse logistics through a new opportunity with another large U.S. carrier.
Story Continues
This engagement expands our existing services to support all device return and disposition channels. Return devices will be repaired for circular usage, creating incremental value across their network. Devices will be processed through our highly automated Nashville device care center demonstrating how our investments in scaled infrastructure and operational excellence are enabling us to deepen relationships with key mobile partners and unlock new growth opportunities. Third, we recently expanded our partnership with Xfinity Mobile through a new rate plan that includes lifetime device protection for phones, tablets and watches, and includes a benefit that allows customers to receive a phone upgrade anytime. These benefits are embedded in Xfinity's Mobile Plus plant at a single bundled cost to customers.
This milestone builds on our 10-year partnership with Xfinity and underscores our shared focus on long-term customer value. And finally, following last year's introduction of Verizon's Total Wireless Protect, we expanded the offering to now include a more comprehensive loss and theft product. In addition, we recently launched Straight Talk Protect. This collaboration represents our third prepaid brand with Verizon, and further strengthens our footprint with this major carrier. Our success over the last 2 years in mobile has built extraordinary momentum. Our embedded scalable model demonstrates mobile's multiple growth paths, deep client entanglement and our innovation-led operating model. Turning to Global Automotive.
Following an inflection year in 2025, earnings increased 23% in the quarter, benefiting from higher investment income and continued loss improvement. Our performance this quarter positions the business for continued growth in 2026 as we remain focused on solidifying and expanding existing partnerships and winning new business across the globe. To support future growth, we're advancing capabilities utilizing AI across the business. Throughout 2026, we'll be introducing new products and capabilities fueled by AI, focused on enhancing dealership training, streamlining claims processing and improving customer experience while leveraging our scale to drive share gains with existing partners and win in the marketplace. Turning to Global Housing.
Following 2025's performance, where we surpassed $1 billion in adjusted EBITDA, excluding [ cats ], our first quarter results position us for solid underlying earnings growth in 2026, excluding prior year development. Underlying performance in the quarter was driven by double-digit top line growth in homeowners. For the year, we continue to expect a combined ratio in the low to mid-80s. This excludes prior year development and reflects our full year cat assumption of $185 million. We differentiate housing's performance through strong returns, client retention and renewal execution. During the first quarter, we completed 2 long-term renewals with large lender place partners representing over 5 million loans.
As we look at the remainder of 2026, we see clear opportunities to further build upon our market-leading position as we execute on our robust new business pipeline. In renters, we continue to see strength in our property management company channel, supporting ongoing growth in policies and reinforcing the effectiveness of our strategy. This channel continues to grow premiums double digits as today, we serve 6 of the top 10 PMCs. Our partners are realizing significant benefits from our platform. Throughout 2026, we remain focused on scaling our latest version of Cover360, which is driving double-digit penetration in premium lift across our PMC client base. Assurant continues to differentiate our performance while reinforcing our attractive valuation and compelling investment profile.
Our differentiated portfolio of lifestyle and housing businesses continues to deliver diversified earnings and cash flow, supporting strong returns, robust cash flow and attractive growth with lower volatility. Since 2020, we've grown adjusted EBITDA at an 11% compounded annual growth rate, while growing adjusted EPS at a 17% CAGR, both excluding catastrophes. This was supported by strong returns, generating an average ROE of approximately 14% and a return on tangible equity over 30%. Our outperformance against the broader S&P 1500 P&C group demonstrates our multiyear track record of differentiated results. Over the last 5 years, we've outperformed the group median for adjusted EBITDA and EPS, including cats and in line or better when excluding cats.
Finally, I'll provide an update on Assurant Home Warranty. While we're still very early, the launch of our new long-term relationship with Compass International Holdings spanning 6 U.S. real estate brands continues to progress well. As we ramp, we're working closely with Compass to drive agent education, marketing, product penetration and a positive customer experience. We believe our Home Warranty Solutions are resonating in the market, reinforcing our confidence in both our strategy and our ability to scale over time. For Assurant overall, first quarter was a strong start to the year, supported by the durability of our earnings model, the strength of our partnerships and our disciplined execution across the enterprise.
We are proud of the long-term performance we've continued to drive, delivering consistently, investing for growth and creating value for shareholders. I'll now turn the call over to Keith Meier to speak to the underlying growth levers of our business, including our updated 2026 outlook. With that, Keith, over to you.
Keith Meier: Thanks, Keith, and good morning, everyone. 2026 is off to an excellent start. We're excited about our performance and our increased outlook for the full year. We're operating from a position of strength, reflecting our powerful B2B2C distribution strategy in both lifestyle and housing. We continue to embed innovation across everything we do, deploying technology enhancements including AI and automation to drive simpler, faster and more consistent outcomes for our clients and customers. Our results this quarter are the product of disciplined execution and our commitment to operational excellence as we deliver differentiated customer experiences and attractive returns for shareholders. Before reviewing our updated 2026 outlook, let me start by highlighting our strong first quarter results, beginning with Global Lifestyle.
First quarter adjusted EBITDA increased 20% or $39 million compared to last year. Results included a $13 million real estate joint venture gain, of which $10 million was in Global Automotive. Within Connected Living, EBITDA growth was 18%, or $22 million, led by continued expansion with existing clients and optimization of recently added programs. Strong growth within our mobile device protection programs was supported by the addition of over 4 million subscribers across our U.S. and international partnerships, including T-Mobile's conversion of U.S. Cellular to Assurant. In Global trade in and reverse logistics, we processed nearly 7.5 million devices, an increase of approximately $2 million, driven by our reverse logistics programs and underlying organic growth.
In Global Automotive, adjusted EBITDA increased 23% or $17 million, including $10 million from the real estate gain. Excluding that gain, earnings in Global Auto increased 9% or $7 million. This growth was driven by continued improvement in loss experience following prior rate actions, enhancements to claims processes and product designs within our vehicle service contract offerings and improved performance in our guaranteed asset protection or GAP product. For Global Lifestyle overall, net earned premiums, fees and other income grew 11%, primarily driven by Connected Living growth from mobile trade-in and global protection programs as well as the recent launch of our partnership with Best Buy. Moving to Global Housing.
First quarter adjusted EBITDA was $237 million, including $24 million of reportable catastrophes. Excluding cats, adjusted EBITDA was $261 million. Absent the impacts of lower favorable prior period reserve development, underlying results were level year-over-year. First quarter results included a more normalized non-cat loss ratio of approximately 38%, excluding prior year development, aligned with our expectations. This compared to a loss ratio in the first quarter of 2025 that was lower than typical. Strong growth from higher in-force policies and average premiums in lender place allowed us to offset a more normalized loss ratio. Additionally, we saw growth from specialty products and higher investment income. Turning to our cat reinsurance program.
We are very pleased with the outcome of our 2026 program placement, which was finalized on April 1. Through our continued partnership with roughly 40 highly rated reinsurers, we secured strong coverage once again with more favorable terms than the prior year. Our [ program ] retention of $160 million is consistent with our retention from our 2025 program, representing a 1 and 5-year probable maximum loss or PML. Our main U.S. program provides nearly $1.6 billion of loss coverage in excess of our retention, protecting Assurant and its policyholders against severe events for up to a 1 and 265 year PML.
Our protection in Florida is even more robust with $1.8 billion of loss coverage in excess of our retention. In terms of costs, our 2026 catastrophe reinsurance premiums are estimated to be approximately $180 million, compared to approximately $200 million in 2025. The reduction reflects favorable market pricing, the strength of our portfolio and lower Florida exposures. Lastly, in Corporate and Other. First quarter adjusted EBITDA loss was $32 million, which includes investments made in our Home Warranty business. Turning to capital. Our liquidity position at quarter end was $836 million, providing flexibility to continue to invest in growth, return capital to shareholders and support future opportunities that enable Assurant to drive innovation for our clients and customers.
This quarter, we returned $169 million to our shareholders, including $125 million of share repurchases and $44 million in dividends. Our strong capital position allowed us the flexibility to accelerate our repurchase plans during the first quarter. On May 1, we repurchased an additional $30 million. Over the remainder of the year, we'll continue to evaluate capital deployment opportunities using a disciplined and balanced approach. Let's move on to our outlook for 2026. We now expect full year adjusted EBITDA and earnings per share to grow low single digits, both excluding cat, overcoming $94 million of lower favorable prior year reserve development. This includes $113 million in 2025 and $19 million in the first quarter of 2026.
Excluding the impact of prior year development, we expect high single-digit underlying growth in both adjusted EBITDA and earnings per share, excluding cats. Global Lifestyle is expected to lead the growth for Assurant. We're increasing our outlook for Lifestyle and now expect growth of approximately 10%, reflecting our strong first quarter results. Connected Living results for the year will benefit from continued optimization of new programs, expansion with existing clients and contributions from recently announced new programs and capabilities, demonstrating the returns we've achieved through previous investments. Global Auto is expected to grow from higher investment income, continued loss improvement and growth of global partnerships. Turning to Global Housing.
Our outlook has improved, and we now expect earnings to decline only modestly excluding cats. Absent prior year development, we continue to expect solid underlying growth for the full year. Consistent with our past approach, our 2026 outlook does not contemplate potential prior year reserve development for the remainder of the year. In lender-placed, we expect growth to be driven by higher tracked loans and in-force policy growth from expected new client wins and the continued hardening of the voluntary homeowners market. From a placement rate perspective, we anticipate some quarterly fluctuations from client loan movements during the year.
From a capital perspective, our strong cash generation creates flexibility, enabling us to reinvest for growth, including M&A and return excess capital to shareholders. For 2026, we now expect share repurchases of $300 million to $350 million, which is at the high end of our initial range from the beginning of the year and is subject to M&A and other market conditions. Our first quarter results demonstrate the strength and consistency of Assurant's differentiated business model. We look forward to executing on our increased financial objectives while delivering results for our clients and shareholders throughout the year. With that, operator, please open the call for questions.
Operator:[Operator Instructions]
Mark Hughes: The Connected Living results are quite strong in the quarter. Can you talk about the kind of your longer-term view on that business up 18% earnings. You got a good slide on a lot of the new business wins and renewals. Are you thinking that, that is a faster growth business? Or are we just kind of hitting it at a good peak here where you're executing on the pipeline, but it may not be sustained at this level?
Keith Demmings: Yes. I mean it's certainly a fantastic start to the year overall. And if you look back the last 3 years or so, we've grown our EBITDA and EPS overall double digits and a fantastic way to start the year this year with significant performance, our best year -- our best quarter story in history and then Lifestyle, obviously delivering outstanding results. I think when I look at it, I'd probably highlight 3 big drivers. First is, you've seen the scaling of our device protection subscriber counts. Over the last year, it's up at 4.3 million subs year-over-year. And that's a lot of hard work, a lot of innovation with partners. We've done incredible things with our cable partners.
We've launched new clients like Total Wireless, which is contributing significantly. We've launched programs internationally with clients like Telstra. And then obviously, with U.S. Cellular and our relationship with T-Mobile, that's driving a lot of momentum across the board for our protection business. That's certainly the biggest driver of our overall outperformance in Connected Living. But I'd also say we're maturing some of the non-mobile programs that we've announced to the market as well. Our relationship with Best Buy being one example, our relationship with Chase. These are 2 really important clients for us, and they're growing and contributing nicely.
And then finally, you saw a lot of growth in devices service, not just from our trade-in programs maturing and driving organic growth, but also the investments we've made in reverse logistics. So it does feel like we're in a great position. I feel great about how we look for the future.
Mark Hughes: I want to ask -- I don't know if you think of it this way, but the market share that you have got, if you kind of put the main Verizon AT&T programs to the side. I'm sure that's within your target area. But if you look at the size of the market, aside from those 2 big pieces of business, how much share do you think you have? How much more opportunity is there for further growth?
Keith Demmings: Yes, I still think there's a lot of white space in this market, particularly as we think about the globe. We're in obviously more than 20 countries around the world. Programs continue to mature. I think the product set continues to evolve. We've got a really deep value chain that we deliver across a wide range of services. So I think there's a tremendous amount of upside. And we're innovating, we're winning with new entrants and we're scaling in a way that's meaningful. So I do feel really good about that. And then maybe, Keith, you want to add?
Keith Meier: And I think when you think about Connected Living overall on top of that, we have opportunities in the extended service contract side, and you saw that with Best Buy. And we also have our financial services business performing well with the addition of Chase and other marquee clients. So I think when you look at Connected Living, in terms of what the opportunities are in the future, I think there's a lot of white space and opportunities ahead.
Operator: Our next question comes from Tommy McJoynt with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
Thomas Mcjoynt-Griffith: Staying on the same topic here, you've had some really good success with those 2 largest carriers in the U.S. being Verizon and AT&T. Can you start off just rehashing reminding us all of the services that you're now providing for each of those carriers?
Keith Demmings: Yes. Happy to do it certainly at a high level. And you're right. I mean we've been making progress really across the board in the U.S. with every major operator. And if you think back to the acquisition that we made of [ Hila ] back in 2020, a big part of that was they did a lot of great work with partners that we weren't necessarily doing as much with. So with Verizon, certainly, the growth that we've seen on the prepaid side, we support their visible brand, their total brand and now Straight Talk Wireless, and it's a fantastic relationship. We're innovating and launching new products and we're super excited there.
We provide a range of supply chain-related services as well. And then with AT&T, we do a lot of work around the supply chain, historically, a big trade-in partner for us. And to your point, long-term opportunity, it's all about building deep relationships, solving problems, building trust over time and then looking to find creative ways to innovate.
Thomas Mcjoynt-Griffith: And your remarks there sort of noting the fact that these large carriers often have different prepaid brands, something that I had admittedly overlooked. [ This is a ] similar dynamic exists on the postpaid side such that there could be an opportunity to win select postpaid segments for the big carriers? Or are those more of an all or nothing nationally campaign?
Keith Demmings: Yes. I think -- I mean you could think of it. There are certainly opportunities if you separate consumer from enterprise, so you could have postpaid customers that are consumer branded versus enterprise branded small business, et cetera. But generally speaking, most of the postpaid is under a single brand, and it's managed by a single provider. Not to say you couldn't have a variation to that over time, but that's typically how it works.
Operator: Our next question comes from Jeff Schmitt with William Blair.
Jeffrey Schmitt: Could you talk about your growth strategy for the new Home Warranty business just in terms of building that out beyond the Compass partnership and how you plan on doing that? And are you building out the contractor network as well there?
Keith Demmings: Yes. I mean, we absolutely are. I think first thing I'd say is we're super happy with the partnership we have with Compass. Obviously, we're still very early in terms of the ramp and the rollout, but there's complete alignment about the importance of delivering for customers, keeping the agents at the center of everything that we do. And then leveraging technology to integrate the offer naturally into the real estate process. So I feel really good. Volumes are ramping, the agents continue to get educated about our solution. And I would say our message and our vision of what we're trying to do is definitely resonating in the market.
In terms of other opportunity, yes, I mean, right now, we're certainly having many conversations with potential long-term partners, whether that's with current affinity clients that we do business with today, or whether it's looking at additional opportunities to serve the real estate sector. I feel good, there's multiple ways for us to drive growth. And I think our solution is unique, and our story is resonating. So I'm super happy about where we're headed. But maybe, Meier, do you want to add?
Keith Meier: Yes. And Jeff, you mentioned the contractor network. When you think about that, we have clients like Best Buy and Lowe's where we do a tremendous amount of appliance and all the related services in the home. And then we have other programs as well that round out several of the other home warranty services. So we have actually a very robust network that I think positions us in even stronger and better ways than some of the traditional players and we're able to leverage that.
Keith Demmings: And remember, we've been working on this rollout for well over a year to bring this to market in terms of the product, the service network and the full solution set. So this is not something we started 3 months ago, even though that's what it feels like in terms of the announcement in the market.
Jeffrey Schmitt: Right. Right. Okay. And then how much revenue is the new Best Buy legacy book adding in Global Lifestyle. And are those products, do they typically have multiyear contracts? How should we think about that ramp? Is it over 1 year, over a couple of years?
Keith Meier: Yes, Jeff. And you should think about it as definitely the -- there's a mix of shorter-term and longer-term contracts, so they can range from a couple of years to 5 years, that kind of range. So those earn over time. And we also did the assumption in the fourth quarter as well. So that will help some of those earnings coming through faster than they would have otherwise. But overall, you should see that evolving over the coming several years.
Operator: Our next question comes from Charlie Lederer with BMO Capital Markets.
Charles Lederer: On the new announcements in mobile, is there any sort of upfront spending you'd call out that we should think about as offsetting the strong growth in EBITDA in Lifestyle that you're experiencing? And more broadly, can you help dimension the impact, the ramp we should expect on those programs?
Keith Demmings: Sure. Certainly, U.S. Cellular was a move of an in-force block. So that starts to contribute immediately. There's a little bit of investment upfront to bring that to life, but that's behind us at this point. So I would suggest that's immediately accretive as we think about the run rate going forward. The other three examples, I would say they'll be accretive to EBITDA in aggregate, certainly this year. So there's not a big investment spend that would call out. I think they'll contribute positively this year. And then they'll ramp more naturally over time, but it's certainly not a drag as we think about '26.
Charles Lederer: And then maybe just on auto, you're clearly starting to get better results. Do you feel like you're out of the woods on loss costs there? Written premiums were down a little bit in the quarter, and I'd imagine you're still fairly early days as far as being on risk on some of the policies that were underwritten in that inflationary '22 time frame. Can you give us a sense, I guess, on claims frequency of those vintages too?
Keith Meier: Yes. I would say last year, we talked about being a bit of an inflection year for us. And we've seen that roll into this year. Auto had a good quarter. We had favorable loss experience continuing, and that also is aided by our prior rate increases, the enhancements we've been making to the claims processes, the product designs that we've been working on with our clients. And I think overall, it really speaks to the success that our auto team has been having and working with our clients to arrive at mutually beneficial outcomes. So overall, I think that we feel good about where that business is today.
Charles Lederer: And just lastly, did you guys update your cat outlook? I don't know if I missed that for the full year.
Keith Meier: Yes. So our cat assumption for this year is $185 million, up modestly from $175 million last year. That's mainly due to the growth of the business. And I would say in terms of our cat reinsurance, we were very pleased with the coverage that we secured this year. Our program costs are expected to be about $180 million. This year, down about $20 million from the $200 million from last year. And I think that really reflects the favorable market pricing that was out there, the strength of our performance of our portfolio. And then also we have a little bit lower Florida exposure.
So overall, we've been pleased with how that's come together and that kicks in or kicked in on April 1. And from a comparative rate standpoint from last year, we were down north of 20%. And so overall, the outcome, I think, was very positive, and we kind of stayed in that 1 in 5-year PML for the retention and at the top of the tower, about 1 in 265 years, so pretty consistent from last year.
Charles Lederer: Maybe just a quick follow-up on that. I mean should we think about the seasonality of your cat load being a little different just given the geographic shifts that you're speaking to?
Keith Meier: Yes. I think it's -- as it has been historically, I think the latter half of the year with the hurricane season is typically the -- where it would be weighted more so to that and obviously, mostly in the third quarter-ish kind of time frame.
Operator: Our next question comes from Brian Meredith with UBS.
Brian Meredith: So a couple of them. First, just on the Global Housing, placement rates keep picking up here. And I'm assuming that's still a function of the tight homeowners market. I wonder if you could give us a little color on it. It seems like the homeowners market is starting to lease loosen up in some states even outside of Florida. Do you expect that placement rate to kind of peak out here and maybe trend downwards here as the market kind of opens up a little bit here?
Keith Demmings: Yes. I mean we've talked about -- as we think about the year, we expect to add additional loans to the portfolio. We do think policy counts go up over the balance of the year. We'll see some fluctuation in placement rate. It hasn't really showed up yet in terms of the shifting away from the hard voluntary market. We're still seeing pretty strong growth in California and Texas. It's probably half the growth sequentially. The other half is other states and Florida is relatively stable. So I do feel like we haven't seen evidence of a major shift yet in terms of that trend line, but it's something we're certainly watching very closely.
But we feel good about how we're positioned as we think about the full year within that business and the pipeline of opportunities that we've got that our teams are working on actively.
Brian Meredith: Got you. And then my second question is you talked a fair amount about how AI is going to enhance, call it, customer experience and streamlining some processing functions, et cetera. I'm wondering from a productivity perspective, how you're kind of approaching it and is there any kind of KPIs or something we look at from a maybe margin enhancement or something that could potentially happen here over the next couple of years from what you're doing with AI? And that there's a lot of opportunity in your business for productivity improvements.
Keith Demmings: Yes. Maybe I'll start and Keith can certainly add in, and we'll think about over time, if there are metrics that can make sense. I'd say there's no doubt we think we can improve the customer experience. So set aside efficiency for a second. There are so many ways to remove friction to serve customers better, which is great for business, great for our clients. That also comes with efficiency gains as well. I think there's phenomenal opportunities to upscale our talent, to protect our talent and leverage them in new and different ways. I think we're leaning into more personalized services as we think about matching various product designs for what customer needs look like.
We're doing a lot of work around robotics and automation in our facilities. So there's a tremendous amount of leverage. I think this is going to be a game changer for our company over time. And I think we're incredibly focused on high-value use cases that we can bring to scale. And I think focus is key, and I think we're on a really good track to deliver that. But what would you add, Keith?
Keith Meier: Yes. I think, Brian, as you mentioned, what kind of metrics to look at, I'll give you a good example of that. If you look at housing, our general expenses are in the last year are up 2%, and our revenues, our net earned premiums fees and other income is up double digit, 11%. And so you're seeing us through our technology, getting that expense leverage. And I think those are the -- those are continuing to be areas where our technology is certainly helping us from an efficiency and expense perspective, but it's actually also helping us differentiate against the competition and really be able to deliver the great customer experiences.
So I think we win on both fronts, and that's why we're really passionate about the technology and having global platforms that allow us to make these things happen.
Operator:[Operator Instructions] Our last question comes from Mark Hughes with Truist Securities.
Mark Hughes: I had to switch screens there. So the fee income in Lifestyle was quite strong. You talked about good momentum in the reverse logistics program growth. I assume that's a contributor to that. I think the number of devices in service was up quite strongly. Was that helped by any particular programs in the first quarter, recognizing there's some seasonality there, but there seem to be a lot of strength. I know there's timing on some of these programs that can influence that business? How should we think about the coming quarters there in that dimension?
Keith Meier: Yes. I think you were -- you were thinking about it right, Mark, in terms of it being driven by our trade in reverse logistics side of the business. Devices-service have been growing significantly, and that's where that fee income has been growing as well. And then you also highlighted there is some seasonality into that. So we had a very strong quarter as it relates to the trade-in side. And then we're looking forward to continuing the progress we have with our clients in providing these reverse logistics and other trade in services as we go forward. So we feel good overall about the momentum.
Mark Hughes: Yes. Does that say nothing particularly unusual about the first quarter, no special programs. There's some variability there, but was there anything unusually robust about Q1?
Keith Meier: Yes. I would say it's more of the seasonality. And then also, I think it was also contributions across multiple programs, Mark. And obviously, some of the newer programs gearing up as well. But I think it was well balanced with some seasonality.
Keith Demmings: All right. I think that was the last question. So again, thanks for joining. We look forward to talking to everyone after the second quarter, and I know we'll see many of you at our mobile event in Nashville next week. So we look forward to that. And thanks again. Have a great day.
Operator: Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. Please disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.
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Assurant (AIZ) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool
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AIZ Q1 Earnings & Revenues Top Estimates on Solid Investment IncomeMay 6, 2026
Assurant, Inc. AIZ reported first-quarter 2026 net operating income of $5.95 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.2%. The bottom line increased 76% year over year.
Quarterly results benefited from lower reportable catastrophes, solid performance in both Global Lifestyle and Global Housing, and earnings growth across both Connected Living and Global Automotive. It was partially offset by higher expenses.
Total revenues increased 11.4% year over year to $3.4 billion, driven by higher net earned premiums and fees, other income, and net investment income. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.4%.
Net investment income was up 27.9% year over year to $159.6 million. The figure was higher than our estimate of $133 million.
Total benefits, losses and expenses increased 6.7% to $3 billion, mainly due to higher underwriting, selling, general, and administrative expenses, and interest expense. The figure was higher than our estimate of $2.9 billion.
Assurant, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Assurant, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Assurant, Inc. Quote
Segmental Performance of AIZ
Revenues at Global Housing increased 11.5% year over year to $769.8 million, primarily driven by higher Total net earned premiums, fees, and other income and net investment income. The figure was higher than our estimate of $737.8 million.
Adjusted EBITDA doubled year over year to $236.7 million, primarily due to $132.3 million of lower pre-tax reportable catastrophes. The figure was higher than our estimate of $207.8 million.
Revenues at Global Lifestyle rose 11.3% year over year to $2.6 billion. The increase was primarily driven by higher net earned premiums, fees and other income and net investment income. The figure was higher than our estimate of $2.5 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA of $236.7 million increased 20% year over year, driven by double-digit earnings growth across both Connected Living and Global Automotive.
Connected Living results benefited from subscriber growth in mobile protection programs and trade-in performance. Global Automotive results increased from higher investment income, including the gain noted above, and improved loss experience. The figure was higher than our estimate of $169.8 million.
Adjusted EBITDA loss at Corporate & Other was $31.9 million, wider than the year-ago quarter’s adjusted EBITDA loss of $28 million, primarily due to organic investments to support our Home Warranty business. It was partially offset by higher investment income from higher assets.
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Financial Position of AIZ
Liquidity was $836 million as of March 31, 2026, which was $611 million higher than the company’s current targeted minimum level of $225 million.
Total assets decreased 1.4% to $35.7 billion as of March 31, 2026, from the end of 2025.
Total shareholders’ equity came in at $5.8 billion and remains unchanged year over year.
Assurant’s Share Repurchase and Dividend Update
In the first quarter, Assurant repurchased shares for $125 million. From April 1 through May 1, 2026, AIZ repurchased shares for $30 million. It now has $620 million remaining under the current repurchase authorization.
AIZ’s total dividends amounted to $44 million in the reported quarter.
Assurant Provides Guidance for 2026
Assurant expects adjusted EBITDA, excluding reportable catastrophes, to increase by low single digits.
Global Lifestyle adjusted EBITDA is expected to increase by approximately 10% with contributions from Connected Living and Global Automotive.
Global Housing adjusted EBITDA, excluding reportable catastrophes, is expected to decline only modestly.
Corporate and Other adjusted EBITDA loss is expected to approximate $140 million, reflecting organic investments in the Home Warranty business.
Assurant expects adjusted earnings, excluding reportable catastrophes, per diluted share growth rate to increase in the low single digits.
AIZ also expects depreciation expense of approximately $180 million and an effective tax rate of approximately 19% to 21%, and continues to expect interest expense of approximately $113 million and amortization of purchased intangible assets of approximately $70 million.
AIZ Zacks Rank
Assurant currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Multi-Line Insurers
Everest Group, Ltd. EG reported first-quarter 2026 operating income of $16.08 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14.6%. The bottom line increased significantly 149% year over year. Total operating revenues of about $4 billion declined 4.6% year over year. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.7%. Gross written premiums fell 18.5% year over year to $3.6 billion, reflecting an 8.5% decline in Reinsurance Treaty, partially offset by growth in Global Wholesale &Specialty. Our estimate was $4.8 billion.
Net investment income rose 15.5% year over year to $567 million, driven by a larger asset base and strong alternative investment returns. The figure exceeded our estimate of $491 million and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $513 million.
Principal Financial Group, Inc. PFG first-quarter 2026 operating net income of $2.07 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.9%. The bottom line increased 14% year over year.
Total revenues decreased 4.5% year over year to $3.5 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14.5%. Total expenses decreased 8.2% year over year to $3 billion due to lower benefits, claims and settlement expenses as well as operating expenses. As of March 31, 2026, Principal Financial’s AUM were $770.2 billion, included within assets under administration of $1.8 trillion.
Markel Group Inc. MKL reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted operating income of $21.61 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 18.1%. The bottom line deteriorated 16% year over year. Including one-time items, MKL reported a net loss of $18.90 per share in the first quarter of 2026. Total operating revenues of $3.5 billion, up 0.1% year over year, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4%.
Earned premiums decreased 2% year over year to $2 billion in the quarter. The figure was lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.1 billion. Net investment income increased 8% year over year to $255.9 million in the first quarter. The figure was lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $262 million. However, this was more than offset by substantial net investment losses of $728 million. Total operating expenses of Markel Group decreased 0.6% year over year to $3.1 billion.
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Assurant Q1 Earnings Call HighlightsMay 6, 2026
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Key Points
Strongest Q1 ever: Assurant said record Global Lifestyle results and double‑digit growth in Connected Living (earnings up 18%) plus a 23% rise in Global Automotive powered the quarter, with nearly 69 million devices protected and expanded mobile partnerships (T‑Mobile, Xfinity, Verizon) and planned AI‑driven product rollouts. Capital return and outlook: Management accelerated buybacks, returned $169 million in Q1 and now targets $300–$350 million of share repurchases for 2026, while guiding to low‑single‑digit adjusted EBITDA and EPS growth excluding catastrophes (high single‑digit underlying growth excluding prior‑year reserve development). Housing and reinsurance: Global Housing included $24 million of Q1 catastrophes, and Assurant finalized a 2026 catastrophe reinsurance program with a $160 million per‑event retention, roughly $1.6 billion of coverage above retention and lower reinsurance premiums (~$180M vs ~$200M in 2025), supporting a targeted full‑year combined ratio in the low‑to‑mid 80s excluding prior‑year development. Interested in Assurant, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better.
Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) reported what management described as the strongest first-quarter performance in the company’s history, driven by record earnings in its Global Lifestyle segment and continued momentum across mobile device protection and related services.
On the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call, President and CEO Keith Demmings said Assurant delivered 6% growth in adjusted EBITDA and 9% growth in adjusted EPS, both excluding reportable catastrophes. He added that, excluding impacts from Global Housing’s prior-year reserve development, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS grew 8% and 12%, respectively.
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Demmings said the company used what he called the “strength and flexibility” of its capital position to accelerate share repurchases during the quarter, citing a “compelling valuation.”
Global Lifestyle posts record results as Connected Living expands
Demmings said Global Lifestyle produced record earnings, with double-digit earnings growth in both Connected Living and Global Automotive. In Connected Living, he said earnings increased 18%, driven by expansion with existing clients and optimization of recently added programs.
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During prepared remarks, Demmings highlighted four mobile-related announcements and expansions that he said reflect Assurant’s momentum:
T-Mobile: Demmings said Assurant deepened its relationship with T-Mobile following the carrier’s acquisition of UScellular, migrating “another large in-force mobile subscriber base.” He said the company’s total devices protected now stands at nearly 69 million devices globally. Reverse logistics with another large U.S. carrier: Demmings said a new engagement expands services to support all device return and disposition channels, with devices processed through the company’s automated Nashville Device Care Center. Xfinity Mobile: Demmings said Assurant expanded its partnership through a new rate plan that includes lifetime device protection for phones, tablets, and watches, plus an “upgrade anytime” benefit embedded in Xfinity’s Mobile Plus plan. Verizon prepaid brands: Demmings said Verizon’s Total Wireless Protect was expanded to include a more comprehensive loss and theft product, and that Straight Talk Protect was recently launched.
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In response to analyst questions, Demmings pointed to three main drivers behind Connected Living’s quarter: growth in device protection subscribers (up 4.3 million year-over-year, he said), maturing non-mobile programs such as relationships with Best Buy and Chase, and higher volumes in devices serviced supported by reverse logistics investments. Both Demmings and CFO Keith Meier said they still see “white space” for growth in Connected Living, including opportunities globally and in extended service contracts and financial services.
Automotive earnings rise; AI initiatives outlined
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Demmings said Global Automotive earnings increased 23% in the quarter, benefiting from higher investment income and continued loss improvement, and said the business is positioned for continued growth in 2026. He also said Assurant plans to introduce new products and capabilities “fueled by AI” during 2026, aimed at enhancing dealership training, streamlining claims processing, and improving customer experience.
Meier provided additional detail, noting Global Lifestyle adjusted EBITDA increased 20% year over year, or $39 million, including a $13 million real estate joint venture gain (with $10 million attributed to Global Automotive). He said Global Automotive adjusted EBITDA increased 23% or $17 million including the gain; excluding it, he said Global Auto earnings increased 9% or $7 million, driven by improved loss experience following prior rate actions, claims process enhancements, product design changes within vehicle service contracts, and improved performance in the company’s guaranteed asset protection (GAP) product.
On written premium trends and loss costs in auto, Demmings said the company has seen continued favorable loss experience, aided by prior rate increases and changes to claims processes and product design, and said management feels good about where the business stands.
Global Housing: catastrophes, renewals, and reinsurance update
In Global Housing, Meier said first-quarter adjusted EBITDA was $237 million, including $24 million of reportable catastrophes. Excluding catastrophes, adjusted EBITDA was $261 million. He said that absent the impacts of lower favorable prior-period reserve development, underlying results were level year over year.
Meier said first-quarter results included a “more normalized” non-catastrophe loss ratio of approximately 38%, excluding prior-year development, and that strong growth from higher enforced policies and average premiums in lender-placed insurance helped offset the more normalized loss ratio. He also cited growth from specialty products and higher investment income.
Demmings said homeowners results were supported by double-digit top-line growth and reiterated the company’s expectation for a full-year combined ratio in the low-to-mid 80s, excluding prior-year development and based on a full-year catastrophe assumption of $185 million. He also said the company completed two long-term renewals with large lender-placed partners representing more than 5 million loans.
Meier said the company finalized its 2026 catastrophe reinsurance program on April 1 and secured “more favorable terms” than the prior year. He said Assurant’s per-event retention of $160 million is consistent with 2025 and represents a 1-in-5-year probable maximum loss (PML). He added that the main U.S. program provides nearly $1.6 billion of coverage above retention up to a 1-in-265-year PML, while Florida coverage totals $1.8 billion above retention.
On costs, Meier said 2026 catastrophe reinsurance premiums are expected to be about $180 million versus about $200 million in 2025, citing favorable market pricing, portfolio strength, and lower Florida exposures. In Q&A, management said catastrophe losses are typically weighted toward the latter half of the year due to hurricane season.
Capital return and updated 2026 outlook
Meier said Assurant ended the quarter with $836 million of liquidity. During the first quarter, he said the company returned $169 million to shareholders, including $125 million in share repurchases and $44 million in dividends, and added that Assurant repurchased an additional $30 million through May 1.
Meier said Assurant now expects full-year adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS to grow low single digits excluding catastrophes, despite what he described as $94 million of lower favorable prior-year reserve development (including $113 million in 2025 and $19 million in the first quarter of 2026). Excluding prior-year development, he said the company expects high single-digit underlying growth in both adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS excluding catastrophes.
For segment expectations, Meier said Global Lifestyle is expected to lead growth and that the company increased its Lifestyle outlook to approximately 10% growth, reflecting strong first-quarter results. For Global Housing, he said the outlook improved and the company now expects earnings to decline only modestly excluding catastrophes, while still expecting solid underlying growth absent prior-year development. Meier emphasized that the 2026 outlook does not assume additional prior-year reserve development for the rest of the year.
Meier also updated the company’s capital return expectations, saying Assurant now expects 2026 share repurchases of $300 million to $350 million, at the high end of its initial range, subject to M&A and market conditions.
Home warranty ramp continues with Compass partnership
Demmings provided an update on Assurant Home Warranty, saying the company remains early in the launch of its relationship with Compass International Holdings spanning six U.S. real estate brands. He said the rollout is progressing and that Assurant is working with Compass on agent education, marketing, product penetration, and customer experience.
In Q&A, Demmings said Assurant is in conversations with potential long-term partners beyond Compass, including both current affinity clients and additional opportunities in the real estate sector. Meier said Assurant can leverage an existing service network built through relationships including Best Buy and Lowe’s, adding that the company has been working on the rollout for “well over 1 year” including product development and service network preparation.
About Assurant (NYSE:AIZ)
Assurant, Inc is a global provider of risk management products and services, specializing in the housing and lifestyle markets. The company offers insurance and related products designed to help consumers protect their homes, personal belongings, and electronic devices. Its core offerings include renters insurance, manufactured housing finance, flood insurance, mobile device protection plans, and extended service contracts for appliances and electronics.
Within its Global Housing segment, Assurant partners with mortgage lenders, financial institutions and government agencies to deliver specialty insurance and risk mitigation services.
The article "Assurant Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat.
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