Globe Life cuts 2026 earnings outlook to $15.35–$15.65 a share
Key Facts
Globe Life cut its 2026 net operating income outlook to between $15.35 and $15.65 per diluted share as it reported third-quarter results on Wednesday, October 21. The revision came amid health insurance underwriting pressures, including losses in its group insurance business and excess claims from prior periods, according to its earnings filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In its July earnings filing, the company had forecast net operating income of between $15.55 and $15.95 a share for the same year. The company thus lowered both ends of its annual guidance from the range announced with its second-quarter results. The revised range refers to net operating income per diluted share, a non-GAAP measure, while the company separately reported its quarterly GAAP net income.
Detailing the health insurance pressures, Globe Life said its Evry unit posted an underwriting loss of about $16 million in the third quarter of 2026. The company attributed the unit's weak results to high-severity claims in its nascent group health insurance business. Alongside the Evry loss, the company recorded about $7 million in excess Medicare supplement insurance claims during the same period. It described these in its filing as "excess claims related to prior periods," linking the charge recorded in the quarter to claims from earlier periods. The company attributed the emergence of those claims during the quarter to processing delays at the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
United American posted a health underwriting loss of $6.371 million in the third quarter of 2026, according to the segment results table in the company's filing. At the group level, the health underwriting margin remained positive at $115.637 million during the same period. United American's loss thus coincided with a continued positive health insurance margin for Globe Life overall. Evry's loss also follows management's earlier expectations for sales growth in the business, outlined during the second-quarter earnings call in July. Management said at the time: "We expect Evry sales to be about $50 million for the full year 2026," an annual sales estimate that preceded the announcement of the unit's quarterly underwriting loss.
For the group's quarterly results, GAAP net income per diluted share was $4.62 in the third quarter of 2026, according to the official filing. Investing.com reported quarterly earnings per share of $4.84, compared with analyst estimates of $4.91. The earnings figure cited by the website fell short of analysts' expectations for the period. In after-hours trading on Wednesday, October 21, Globe Life shares fell 4.7% following the earnings announcement, according to Investing.com. The shares declined after the results and the cut to annual guidance were released, during the extended session following the market close.
For next year, Globe Life expects net operating income of between $16.10 and $17.10 a share in 2027, according to its third-quarter earnings filing. The lower end of that range exceeds the upper end of its revised 2026 outlook. Both ends of next year's range also exceed the range the company announced for the current year in July. These estimates put management's expectations for next year at higher levels as it reduces its estimates for the current year. The figures announced for 2027 remain forecasts for net operating income per share, while the current cut concerns estimates for fiscal 2026.