Everest Group Q2 2026 net income fell 17.8% to $559M ($14.22 per share) as catastrophe losses returned in reinsurance and premiums dropped 19.4% with the planned retail-insurance exit; it bought back $395M of stock and book value per share rose to $398.83.
Revenue
$4.0B
-11.8% YoY
Net income
$559M
-17.8% YoY
Diluted EPS
$14.22
-11.7% YoY
Overview
Everest Group earned $559 million ($14.22 per diluted share) in the second quarter of 2026, down 17.8% from $680 million ($16.10) a year earlier. Much of the drop comes from Everest writing less business: total revenues fell 11.8% to $3.96 billion as the company runs off the commercial retail insurance book whose renewal rights it sold to AIG, and cuts back on casualty reinsurance. Underwriting profit (premiums earned minus claims and expenses) fell from $385 million to $281 million. The main cause was catastrophe losses returning in reinsurance after an almost catastrophe-free second quarter in 2025.
The six-month picture points the other way. First-half net income rose 36.2% to $1.21 billion ($30.45 per share, from $20.93), because the first half of 2025 carried $554 million of catastrophe losses, $513 million of them from wildfires. The first half of 2026 had $180 million.
This is also the first year Everest reports under new segments. From January 1, 2026, the old "Reinsurance" and "Insurance" segments became Reinsurance Treaty, Global Wholesale & Specialty (the insurance business it is keeping) and Legacy (the sold or held-for-sale commercial retail insurance business, plus older run-off exposures). The company has restated prior-year figures on the same basis.
Key metrics
Metric
Q2 2026
Q2 2025
YoY Change
Total revenues
$3,961M
$4,491M
-11.8%
Gross written premiums
$3,772M
$4,680M
-19.4%
Net written premiums
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*Net operating income is the company's own non-GAAP measure, taken from the earnings release (8-K Exhibit 99.1, July 29, 2026). It is net income excluding after-tax investment gains/losses and foreign-exchange income/expense. All other figures come from the 10-Q.
What the combined ratio means: it is claims plus underwriting expenses as a share of premiums earned. Below 100% means the insurance business made money on its own, before investment income is counted. At 92.0%, Everest paid out about 92 cents for every dollar of premium it earned. This quarter's figure breaks down into a 62.2% loss ratio (claims), a 23.3% commission and brokerage ratio, and a 6.4% other-expense ratio.
Segments: where the premium went
Segment (Q2)
Gross written 2026
Gross written 2025
Change
Combined ratio 2026
Combined ratio 2025
Underwriting gain 2026
Underwriting gain 2025
Reinsurance Treaty
$2,720M
$2,951M
-7.8%
88.5%
84.9%
$283M
$413M
Global Wholesale & Specialty
$958M
$957M
+0.1%
95.2%
95.2%
$34M
$35M
Legacy
$94M
$772M
-87.9%
n/a
n/a
-$36M
-$63M
Total
$3,772M
$4,680M
-19.4%
92.0%
90.4%
$281M
$385M
Reinsurance Treaty, where Everest insures other insurers, is still the main source of profit, but the company is shrinking it on purpose. The 10-Q attributes the 7.8% drop in gross premiums to "underwriting actions on casualty pro rata and casualty excess of loss lines" and to lower property catastrophe premiums as property rates decline. The earnings release gives the numbers on a comparable basis: casualty excess-of-loss premium fell 25.0% and casualty pro-rata fell 22.8%, while property pro-rata grew 3.4%. Net written premium, which is what Everest keeps after buying its own reinsurance, fell much more steeply, by 20.0%. The 10-Q says this was largely because of premiums passed to Annapurna Re, a new Bermuda "sidecar" launched June 17, 2026, with funds managed by Stone Point as anchor investors. In a sidecar, outside investors take a share of Everest's risks and premiums in exchange for a share of the profit. Less premium stays on Everest's books, and less of its capital is tied up.
The segment's combined ratio worsened from 84.9% to 88.5%. Its loss ratio rose 2.6 points for these reasons:
$75 million of current-year catastrophe losses, against none a year ago. Most came from $42 million of other weather events and $23 million of "foreign conflict" losses, which the earnings release links to the Iran War.
$26 million of net adverse development on prior-year catastrophes. That is a $55 million increase for the 2024 Baltimore bridge collapse, partly offset by releases on older events.
Higher non-catastrophe weather losses. According to the earnings release, without them the attritional loss ratio (losses from ordinary, non-catastrophe claims) would have been 54.4% instead of 57.1%.
Partly offsetting these, $26 million of favorable development on prior-year non-catastrophe property claims.
Global Wholesale & Specialty is the insurance business Everest is keeping. Its gross premium was flat at $958 million: growth in other specialty and professional liability offset cuts in specialty casualty and workers' compensation. Its loss ratio improved 2.7 points to 62.0%, which the 10-Q attributes to "improved loss experience in certain lines of business and mix of business." Higher expenses used up all of that gain. Other underwriting expenses rose 21.1% to $89 million because of investment in the division's technology platform, which pushed the expense ratio up 2.4 points. The combined ratio stayed at 95.2% and the underwriting gain was $34 million, essentially unchanged. That is a thin margin for the business Everest's insurance plans now depend on.
Legacy is winding down as planned. Gross premiums fell 87.9% to $94 million after the AIG renewal-rights sale. Earned premiums are falling more slowly (-40.0% to $323 million) because policies already written keep earning premium until they expire. The segment's underwriting loss narrowed to $36 million from $63 million. That was helped by a $30 million credit this quarter from AIG, which pays Everest for transition services. The 10-Q says these credits end after the third quarter of 2026. Without the credit, Legacy's underwriting loss would have been about $66 million.
Reserves: a quiet quarter after last year's clean-up
Prior-year reserve development means changes to Everest's estimates of what claims from earlier years will cost. For the group it netted to zero this quarter: $26 million favorable on non-catastrophe claims and $26 million adverse on catastrophes. In Q2 2025 there was $59 million of adverse development. The 10-Q notes that the 2025 figures include reserve strengthening for U.S. casualty lines "driven by elevated loss experience in excess casualty and U.S. liability lines, principally related to accident years 2022 through 2024."
Everest also bought an adverse development cover, effective October 1, 2025. This is reinsurance that pays if older claims turn out to cost more than expected. It covers 2024-and-prior North American insurance and Legacy reserves, up to a $1.2 billion gross limit. At June 30, 2026, $1.26 billion of losses had been ceded to State National under the cover, up from $1.25 billion at year-end. That left $592 million of unused limit with State National and $400 million with MS Transverse. The small increase this quarter suggests the older casualty reserves held steady in Q2.
In Legacy, management says it "maintained conservative loss selections within the North America Casualty lines." The run-off book's attritional loss ratio is still high, at 75.6%.
Investments, one-offs and tax
Net investment income slipped 1.6% to $523 million. Bond income rose $15 million to $411 million. Limited-partnership income fell from $88 million to $61 million; these are private equity, private credit and real estate funds that are valued with a lag and swing from quarter to quarter. The annualized pre-tax yield was 4.6%, down from 4.9%. Year-to-date investment income is up 6.6% to $1.09 billion.
Other expense was $45 million. It included $25 million of transaction costs tied to the AIG renewal-rights deal (a purchase-price adjustment plus severance and retention pay) and $22 million of foreign-exchange losses. Q2 2025 had $60 million of FX losses but also a $27 million pension settlement gain that didn't recur. Deal expenses total $106 million so far this year.
Tax: the effective rate was about 18% ($124 million on $683 million of pre-tax income), compared with about 17% a year ago. The first-half figure includes a one-time benefit of about $40 million from a U.K. tax law change in March 2026.
GAAP vs. operating income: net operating income ($585 million, or $14.85 per share) is higher than net income because it leaves out investment losses and FX costs. Both measures fell by similar amounts (-20.3% and -17.8%). The decline is therefore not an accounting effect; it comes from lower underwriting profit.
Capital: buybacks are running hard
Everest bought back 1.2 million shares for $395 million in the quarter, compared with $200 million a year ago. First-half buybacks totaled $725 million, close to the $797 million it spent in all of 2025. It also paid $78 million in dividends ($2.00 per share). Shares outstanding fell to 38.7 million from 41.9 million a year earlier, a 7.6% reduction. That is why EPS fell less than net income (-11.7% vs. -17.8%).
Book value per share (shareholders' equity divided by the number of shares) rose to $398.83. That is up 5.0% since December and 11.4% from a year ago. Excluding unrealized gains and losses on bonds, it was $407.67, up 7.4% from $379.70 in December. Total equity barely moved ($15.43 billion vs. $15.46 billion). First-half earnings were offset by buybacks, dividends and a $347 million after-tax drop in bond values.
Other deals are in progress. Everest agreed to sell its Canadian commercial retail insurer for C$410 million, expected to close in the second half of 2026, and its Colombian operation to AIG, expected to close in early 2027. Separately, the Bermuda Monetary Authority has decided to become Everest's group-level regulator, with a transition period running to January 2027. The 10-Q warns this could affect capital requirements and compliance costs.
Takeaway: Everest is deliberately becoming a smaller company centred on reinsurance. Group gross premiums fell 19.4%, casualty reinsurance premiums were cut by roughly a quarter, and a new sidecar moves more risk to outside investors. The capital this frees up is going into buybacks, which cut the share count 7.6% in a year. The quarter's profit decline reflects catastrophe losses returning to a normal level after a benign Q2 2025, not a new reserve problem: prior-year development netted to zero.
Outlook
The 10-Q gives no numerical guidance. In the earnings release, CEO Jim Williamson cited "meaningful outperformance on rate and terms versus the market" at the mid-year reinsurance renewals and said share repurchases "remain a top priority." Things to watch:
Shrinking revenue base. Casualty reinsurance is being cut sharply, property catastrophe pricing is softening, more premium is going to the sidecar, and Legacy is running off. Earned premium will likely keep falling for several more quarters. Per-share earnings growth will have to come from underwriting margins and buybacks, not from volume.
Hurricane season. The third quarter is peak season for Atlantic hurricanes, and that risk sits in Reinsurance Treaty. This quarter's $75 million in segment catastrophe losses came without a major U.S. hurricane.
Legacy costs after the AIG credits end. The $30 million-a-quarter transition-service credit stops after Q3 2026. From Q4, Legacy's expense line loses that support unless run-off costs fall further.
Wholesale & Specialty margins. The loss-ratio improvement is real, but technology spending is absorbing it. The segment needs a combined ratio well below 95% before the insurance side becomes a meaningful source of profit.