W. R. Berkley Q2 FY2026: record premiums, 90.0% combined ratio
W. R. Berkley's second quarter was better than the headline numbers suggest: operating EPS of $1.27 beat the $1.0956 consensus by 15.9%, the combined ratio improved to 90.0%, and net investment income hit a record $418.7 million. Read the top line with care — revenue rose just 1.2% to $3.72 billion, and the Reinsurance segment shrank. This is a profitability story, not a growth story.
1 · Expected vs. Actual
Free preview belowGAAP diluted EPS was $1.15 versus $1.00 a year ago, and operating EPS was $1.27 versus $1.05, so operating EPS cleared the $1.0956 consensus by 15.9%. The gap between the two measures is $55.2 million of net investment losses booked this quarter, which the company strips out of operating income. For an insurer that is standard housekeeping, but it means the GAAP figure the market headlines is the more volatile one.
Revenue came in at $3.72 billion, up 1.2% from $3.67 billion in the same quarter last year. Almost all of it came from underwriting: Insurance net premiums earned were $2.83 billion and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess chipped in $0.36 billion, down from $0.37 billion. Note that the two segments only add up to $3.19 billion — investment income of $418.7 million and non-insurance businesses of $134.4 million sit outside them.
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Figures on this page come from the company's original SEC filings. The analysis is generated automatically and checked against validation rules, but may still contain errors or omissions. Not investment advice. · Generated 2026-09-17
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