MetLife's Q2 2026 adjusted EPS rose 20% to $2.43 on unusually favorable Group Benefits claims and strong Asia investment returns, while GAAP net income was flat at $705M (+1%) because of hedge-related derivative losses.
Revenue
$19.2B
+10.5% YoY
Net income
$705M
+1.0% YoY
Diluted EPS
$1.09
+5.8% YoY
Overview
MetLife's second quarter of 2026 (three months to June 30) looks like two different quarters depending on which profit line you read. GAAP net income (profit under standard US accounting rules) available to common shareholders barely moved: $705 million vs. $698 million, up 1%. Adjusted earnings, the figure management uses to run the business, rose 15% to $1.573 billion. Adjusted earnings per share rose 20% to $2.43, helped by a lower share count after buybacks.
Adjusted earnings strip out investment and derivative gains and losses, which move with markets, plus a few accounting items that don't reflect how the insurance business is doing. The two profit lines split because MetLife booked about $338 million after tax of net investment losses and $610 million after tax of net derivative losses in the quarter. The earnings release says the derivative losses were "driven by stronger equity markets, higher long-term interest rates, and strengthening of the U.S. dollar". Most of those derivatives are hedges, meaning contracts that lose value when markets move in MetLife's favor elsewhere. So a loss on them is mostly a mark-to-market effect (a paper revaluation to current market prices) rather than money lost in the business.
The main driver was underwriting, meaning the claims MetLife actually paid compared with what it priced for. The 10-Q attributes the $211 million rise in adjusted earnings "primarily" to "favorable underwriting and other insurance adjustments, higher market factors and volume growth, partially offset by higher expenses", with the underwriting piece "primarily reflecting favorable mortality results in the Group Benefits segment."
Key figures
Metric
Q2 2026
Q2 2025
YoY Change
Total revenues (GAAP)
$19,154M
$17,340M
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PFOs = premiums, fees and other revenues, which is the money coming in from selling insurance and related services, as opposed to investment income. Neither quarter had any "notable items" (MetLife's label for one-off charges or gains), so adjusted earnings excluding notable items equal adjusted earnings in both periods.
A caution on the 10.5% revenue growth: it overstates how fast the business grew. According to the release, the 18% jump in GAAP net investment income was "primarily due to increases in the estimated fair value of certain securities that do not qualify as separate accounts under GAAP". These are assets held on behalf of policyholders, where investment gains largely flow through to customers rather than to MetLife. In the same quarter, interest credited to policyholder account balances rose $667M, from $2,400M to $3,067M, which offsets much of the $1,041M increase in net investment income. The cleaner growth measures are adjusted net investment income, up 7%, and adjusted PFOs excluding pension risk transfer, up 5%.
Segment results (adjusted earnings)
Segment
Q2 2026
Q2 2025
Reported change
Constant-currency change
Group Benefits
$503M
$401M
+25%
n/a
Retirement & Income Solutions (RIS)
$377M
$370M
+2%
n/a
Asia
$420M
$346M
+21%
+25%
Latin America
$268M
$233M
+15%
+4%
EMEA
$108M
$100M
+8%
+11%
MetLife Investment Management (MIM)
$57M
$54M
+6%
n/a
Corporate & Other
$(160)M
$(142)M
loss widened $18M
n/a
Total
$1,573M
$1,362M
+15%
+14%
"Constant currency" restates last year's figures at this year's exchange rates, so the change reflects the business itself rather than currency moves.
Group Benefits (+$102M): the biggest contributor. This segment sells life, dental and disability insurance through employers. The 10-Q says "mortality results improved in the current period due to lower claims incidence and severity in the life business". Fewer covered employees died, and the claims that did come in were smaller. Morbidity (sickness and disability claims) "benefited from favorable claims experience in the disability business and favorable rate actions within the dental business." Revenue growth was small: adjusted PFOs rose 1%, or 4% excluding participating contracts. So this profit jump came from lower claims, not higher sales. Claims experience in group life varies from quarter to quarter and is not something to count on repeating. For comparison, the six-month segment figure was up $171M, and management noted that the first half also included "unfavorable morbidity experience across products".
Asia (+$74M reported, +25% constant currency). The earnings release credits "stronger equity markets, higher VII, and volume growth". VII is variable investment income, the lumpy returns from private equity and similar holdings. The 10-Q says $54M of the increase came from market factors, mainly "higher returns on private equity funds" and higher fixed-income yields. Growth in constant currency was higher than the reported 21% because the U.S. dollar strengthened against the yen, so each yen of profit was worth fewer dollars. Sales were $794M, up 17% in constant currency.
Latin America (+$35M reported, but only +4% in constant currency). Most of this segment's growth came from currency. The 10-Q says "foreign currency movements contributed $25 million to the increase in adjusted earnings as the Mexican and Chilean peso strengthened against the U.S. dollar." Tax adjustments in Chile and Mexico also helped. A higher value-added tax in Mexico partly offset the gains. The underlying business did grow: adjusted PFOs rose 6% in constant currency, and sales rose 9%, mainly through third-party distribution in Brazil.
RIS (+$7M). This is MetLife's US retirement business: pension risk transfer (taking over company pension obligations), structured settlements and funding agreements. Recurring investment income rose, but that gain was "largely offset by higher interest credited expenses and lower variable investment income", mainly from weaker returns on private equity and mortgage loan funds. Adjusted PFOs rose 28% to $1.769B. Pension-risk-transfer premiums are large, one-time deals, so the more comparable figure is PFOs excluding them: up 19% to $1.259B, mainly from UK longevity reinsurance and structured settlement sales.
EMEA (+$8M) grew through "increased sales and business growth across the region", partly offset by higher direct expenses. MIM (+$3M), the asset-management arm, reflects the December 2025 PineBridge Investments acquisition. MIM's other revenues rose 34% to $317M and assets under management rose 20% to $748.1B, but PineBridge's costs absorbed most of the extra revenue, "partially offset by savings generated through synergy initiatives." Corporate & Other's loss widened by $18M, which the 10-Q attributes to higher legal costs, higher corporate and employee-related expenses, and reinsurance transactions that closed in December 2025.
Takeaway: About three-quarters of the $211M rise in adjusted earnings came from two sources that can reverse: unusually low claims in Group Benefits (+$102M) and investment-market gains in Asia ($54M, mainly private-equity returns). The steadier growth is slower: adjusted PFOs excluding pension risk transfer rose 5%, and adjusted net investment income rose 7%. Adjusted EPS was up 20% this quarter, but that growth rate is not a reliable guide to future quarters.
Capital and shareholder returns
Buybacks and dividends: about $700M of share repurchases in Q2 and about $400M of common dividends, for "over $1.1 billion" returned in the quarter. Year-to-date repurchases were about $1.7B, including about $225M in July.
New authorization: on August 5, 2026 the board approved another $3.0 billion of buybacks. Only $622M was left under the previous authorization at June 30.
Holding company cash and liquid assets were $3.4B, which management says is within its target range.
Costs: the direct expense ratio (direct operating expenses as a share of adjusted PFOs), excluding notable items and pension risk transfer, rose to 12.1% from 11.7%. The release calls this "on track for our yearly target". The GAAP expense ratio rose to 21.7% from 19.8%.
Pending sale: MetLife is selling its Ukraine subsidiary, which added a tax charge to the first half's effective tax rate.
Outlook
MetLife did not give a new numeric earnings forecast in the Q2 release. It said adjusted return on equity was 17.0% for a second straight quarter, "at the top of our range", with the direct expense ratio on track for its yearly target. The larger buyback authorization points to continued share-count reduction, and that supports EPS growth even when total earnings grow more slowly.
Our read: the first-half figures (adjusted earnings of $3.159B vs. $2.711B, up 17%) show real improvement. Asia's higher-yielding investment portfolio, sales growth in Latin America and EMEA, and PineBridge's added fee revenue should all keep contributing. Two items flattered this quarter, though. Group Benefits mortality claims were unusually low, and private-equity returns in Asia were strong. If either returns to normal, adjusted earnings growth would likely fall back toward the mid-to-high single digits, with buybacks adding a few points at the per-share level. GAAP net income will keep swinging with interest rates, equity markets and the dollar because of MetLife's hedging program. Adjusted earnings and book value per share (up 8% to $38.59) give a better picture of how the business is doing than any single quarter's GAAP profit.
The quarter's full 10-Q (filed August 6, 2026) is the source for all figures, with segment commentary cross-checked against the August 5, 2026 earnings release.