Arch Capital Group Ltd. (ACGL) Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
After-tax operating income $587 million, an increase from the previous year, despite $547 million of catastrophe losses.
Operating earnings per share $1.54, reflecting strong performance despite competitive market conditions.
Annualized operating return on equity 11.5%, indicating solid profitability.
Net premium written (Insurance segment) $1.9 billion, a 25% increase from Q1 2024, driven by the integration of the MidCorp and Entertainment Insurance Businesses.
Underwriting income (Mortgage segment) $252 million, consistent performance despite challenges in mortgage origination.
Delinquency rate (U.S. MI business) 1.96%, indicating strong portfolio performance.
Invested assets $43.1 billion, a 4% increase from year-end.
Net investment income and income from funds accounting $431 million pre-tax, a decrease attributed to a special dividend payment and portfolio repositioning.
Cash flow from operations Approximately $1.5 billion for the quarter, indicating strong operational performance.
Common shareholders' equity $20.7 billion, reflecting a strong balance sheet.
Debt plus preferred to capital ratio 14.7%, indicating a low leverage position.
Book value per share 3.8% growth for the quarter, reflecting overall strong performance.
Combined ratio (ex-catastrophe) 81%, showing improvement across all segments compared to the same quarter last year.
Favorable prior year development $167 million pre-tax, contributing 4 points to the overall combined ratio.
Reinsurance segment net premiums written growth 2.2%, impacted by reinstatement premiums and non-renewals.
Share repurchase $196 million in Q1 and an additional $100 million in April, demonstrating disciplined capital management.
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- Earnings Growth: Arch Capital Group Ltd reported a net income of $1.228 billion for Q4, translating to an EPS of $3.35, which marks a significant increase from last year's $925 million and $2.42 per share, indicating improved profitability.
- Revenue Decline: Despite the earnings increase, the company's quarterly revenue fell by 4.5%, dropping from $3.819 billion last year to $3.649 billion, suggesting challenges in revenue growth.
- Performance Comparison: The EPS growth of 38.5% compared to the previous year reflects improvements in cost control and operational efficiency, even as overall revenue declined, highlighting a mixed performance.
- Market Reaction: Investors may feel optimistic about the earnings growth; however, the revenue decline could raise concerns about future growth potential, potentially impacting the company's market performance.
- Earnings Beat: Arch Capital reported a Q4 non-GAAP EPS of $2.98, exceeding expectations by $0.41, indicating robust performance in its insurance and reinsurance segments, although shares only rose by 0.04%.
- Catastrophic Losses: The company faced pre-tax current accident year catastrophic losses of $164 million in its insurance and reinsurance segments, net of reinsurance and reinstatement premiums, highlighting ongoing market risks.
- Reserve Development: Arch Capital experienced favorable development in prior year loss reserves amounting to $118 million, net of related adjustments, showcasing effective risk management and loss control, which enhances financial stability.
- Share Buybacks: The company executed $798 million in share repurchases during Q4, reflecting confidence in its intrinsic value, while the book value per common share reached $65.11 as of December 31, 2025, marking a 4.5% increase from September 30, 2025.

- Market Performance: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 2.5% and closed above 50,000 for the first time.
- Nasdaq Struggles: In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite ended the week down 1.8%, despite a strong rally on Friday.
- Position Liquidation: Madison Asset Management sold all 1,893,081 shares of Trex in Q4 2025 for an estimated $97.82 million, indicating a significant decline in the fund's Trex position and reflecting a pessimistic outlook on the company's future performance.
- Poor Market Performance: As of February 5, 2026, Trex shares were priced at $43.02, down 38.6% year-over-year, significantly underperforming the S&P 500 by 52 percentage points, suggesting serious challenges to its competitive position in the market.
- Sales Growth Potential: Despite market volatility, Trex achieved a 25% sales increase in its latest quarter, with new products accounting for 25% of sales, indicating strong innovation capabilities and demand that could lay the groundwork for future recovery.
- Attractive Valuation: Trex's EV-to-EBITDA ratio stands at 15, below its decade-long average of 23, suggesting that the current stock price remains attractive in light of its long-term growth potential, which may draw interest from long-term investors.
- Earnings Announcement Date: Arch Capital is set to release its Q4 earnings on February 9th after market close, with consensus EPS estimates at $2.57, reflecting a 13.7% year-over-year growth, indicating sustained profitability potential.
- Historical Performance: Over the past two years, Arch Capital has consistently beaten EPS estimates 100% of the time, showcasing its strong earnings capability and market adaptability, while achieving a 38% beat rate on revenue estimates, indicating revenue growth volatility.
- Estimate Revision Dynamics: In the last three months, EPS estimates have seen 13 upward revisions and 1 downward revision, reflecting analysts' optimism regarding the company's earnings outlook, whereas revenue estimates have seen no upward revisions and 2 downward revisions, suggesting market caution regarding revenue growth.
- Focus on Buybacks: Despite a reduced emphasis on growth, Seeking Alpha's quantitative rating indicates that Arch Capital remains favored by investors, particularly regarding its buyback plans, highlighting the company's proactive strategy in capital management.
- New Position Disclosure: Madison Asset Management disclosed a new position in MSA Safety, acquiring 568,244 shares valued at approximately $91 million, representing 1% of its $8.7 billion AUM, indicating confidence in the company's potential.
- Holding Rankings: Following this acquisition, MSA Safety remains outside Madison's top five holdings, which include ACGL, ROST, PCAR, GOOGL, and APH, reflecting the firm's ongoing commitment to a diversified investment strategy.
- Financial Performance: MSA Safety reported a trailing twelve-month revenue of $1.86 billion and a net income of $279.92 million, with a dividend yield of 1.13%, although its stock has underperformed the S&P 500 index over the past year, suggesting market caution regarding its growth prospects.
- Future Outlook: MSA Safety is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter results on February 11, where management is expected to provide guidance for 2026, and investors should pay attention to anticipated low-single-digit sales growth for the year ahead.










