REINSURANCE GROUP OF AMERICA (RGA)·Q4 2025 Earnings Summary
RGA Crushes Q4 With Record EPS — Stock Surges 10% to All-Time High
February 6, 2026 · by Fintool AI Agent
Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE: RGA) delivered a blowout fourth quarter, posting record adjusted operating EPS of $7.75 — the company's second consecutive record quarter . The result crushed prior-year EPS of $4.99 by 55% and handily beat consensus expectations of ~$5.75 by 35%.
Shares surged +9.8% to $226.19 on the trading day following earnings, hitting a new 52-week high of $228 as investors cheered both the earnings beat and strong forward guidance.
Did RGA Beat Earnings?
Decisively, yes. Q4 2025 marked RGA's second consecutive record quarter in terms of earnings .
For the full year 2025, RGA delivered record operating EPS, generated a 15.7% ROE, and increased the value of inforce business margins by 18% . The company deployed $2.5 billion of capital into inforce transactions at attractive risk-adjusted returns, reinstated share buybacks, and maintained a strong balance sheet with $2.7 billion of excess capital .
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat Drove the Strong Results?
CEO Tony Cheng attributed the quarter's strength to the diversity of RGA's global platform:
"The quarter capped off another year of excellent financial results with strength across our businesses and geographies. These results underscore the value and diversity of our global platform and the exceptional work of our local teams."
Key drivers included:
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Management Actions & Variable Investment Income — The U.S. was particularly favorable, driven by management actions and variable investment income, with individual life mortality in line with expectations
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Equitable Transaction Contribution — The Equitable block continues to perform in line with expectations, generating earnings consistent with $60-$70M guidance for H2 2025
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Broad Geographic Strength — EMEA results reflect strong volume growth and favorable experience; APAC continues to see growth momentum along with inforce actions
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Balance Sheet Optimization — Inforce management actions had a $95 million favorable financial impact in Q4
How Did Each Segment Perform?
All five operating segments delivered improved results versus the prior year, with Asia Pacific Traditional nearly doubling its pre-tax operating income.
U.S. & Latin America
The Traditional segment "reflected the favorable impacts from inforce management actions and strong variable investment income" partially offset by "expected unfavorable group claims experience" .
The Financial Solutions results "reflected the contribution from the Equitable transaction, which continues to perform in line with our expectations." The Equitable business generated earnings consistent with $60-$70M guidance for H2 2025, and RGA continues to expect $160-$170M from the transaction in 2026 .
Key Insight on Equitable Block: CFO Axel André outlined four key drivers of economic upside: (1) repriced business with updated mortality/behavior assumptions, (2) uplift from higher asset yields, (3) lower expenses absorbed into existing infrastructure, and (4) capital efficiency from legal entity structure .
Asia Pacific — The Standout
APAC pre-tax operating income, excluding notable items, was up 18% for the full year, "reflecting strong underlying growth and favorable underwriting experience" .
CEO Tony Cheng noted: "This business continues to grow at a nice rate given our success in delivering product development across the region, as well as some of the favorable market and regulatory dynamics in places like Japan and Korea."
EMEA — Strong Volume Growth
Full year pre-tax earnings, excluding notable items, were up 35%, "reflecting continued strong new business growth along with favorable experience" .
The longevity business remains "an area of notable growth" for RGA, with high-quality opportunities in UK longevity swaps .
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat About Capital Allocation?
RGA outlined a balanced capital deployment strategy:
The company also successfully retroceded another block of US PRT business to Ruby Re and expects the vehicle to be fully deployed by mid-2026. "Third-party capital remains a key component of our capital management strategy."
How Did the Stock React?
RGA shares surged +9.8% to $226.19 in the first trading day after earnings, hitting a new all-time high of $228.
Book value per share, excluding AOCI and B36 embedded derivatives, increased to $165.50, representing a compounded annual growth rate of 10% since the beginning of 2021 .
What Changed From Last Quarter?
Q4's $7.75 EPS was the second consecutive record quarter, representing a significant rebound from the softer Q3 that was impacted by actuarial assumption reviews . Premium growth of 7.4% YTD on a constant currency basis "has benefited from strong growth across North America, EMEA, and APAC" .
What Did Management Guide for 2026?
CFO Axel André provided specific 2026 guidance:
"The key takeaway is that we view $24.75 as a reasonable starting point for 2025 runway EPS. And we are reiterating our intermediate-term 8%-10% EPS growth target, which assumes approximately $1.5 billion of annual capital deployed into inforce transactions."
On ROE, management acknowledged they are "running at or above the high end of the range and will continue to evaluate this target" .
The company reported $3.4 billion in estimated deployable capital at year-end , providing significant dry powder for future transactions and capital returns.
Strategic Exit: Group Healthcare
In a significant strategic move, RGA announced it will exit group healthcare lines of business entirely:
"Following a strategic review, we have decided to stop writing new business effective immediately and also to not renew existing business at the end of the current one-year term across our group healthcare lines of business."
Management emphasized they "remain focused on best positioning RGA for the future by ensuring that we're deploying capital in businesses that are strategically aligned" .
Key Risks and Considerations
While the quarter was strong, investors should note:
- Claims Experience Volatility — Economic claims experience was unfavorable by $51M in the quarter, with approximately half driven by U.S. Group business
- Inforce Management Actions Unpredictable — Timing and size of these actions is highly unpredictable; management expects "more limited impact compared to recent experience" in 2026
- Variable Investment Income — 7% return assumption for 2026 is below long-term expectations of 10%-12%, primarily due to muted environment for real estate sales
- Japan FX/Rate Exposure — While higher rates are generally good for RGA, exposure to disintermediation risk from higher rates is modest
Ask Fintool AI AgentQ&A Highlights
On Capital Allocation (Wells Fargo):
"We're targeting 20%-30% total payout ratio going forward, but we also have the flexibility to be opportunistic as the year goes on."
On External Asset Manager Partnerships (Wells Fargo):
"We have been using external partners for decades, and we definitely continue to plan to do that... This flexible approach and our ability to partner is a real strength because what we're trying to do is really get the right capabilities and the right expertise."
On Japan Opportunities (Barclays):
"Japan has strong tailwinds from the recent regulatory changes and macroeconomic changes. Clients are taking actions to address balance sheets, which results in considerable opportunities for risk transfer... Our focus is on the sweet spot, which are transactions which have both asset and biometric risks."
On LTC Block Performance (Evercore):
"We're very happy with our LTC business, and it has performed well over time... We continue to manage our overall exposure to the product relative to the size of our balance sheet."
On Flu Season Impact (Piper Sandler):
"It's still too early to predict the final outcome of the current flu season, but the latest declining trends in population-level flu activity in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. are encouraging... When we look at our Q4 results, we didn't see any material evidence of seasonality in that experience."
On Regional Pipeline (UBS):
"Our pipeline is both rich and diverse... In Asia, we continue to see a strong pipeline both in the product development area as well as the financial solutions as clients adjust to the new capital frameworks in markets like Japan and Korea."
Value of Inforce Business
Management emphasized the growing value of RGA's inforce book:
"In 2025, the value increased by $6.6 billion or 18%, with meaningful contributions from both new business and management actions. Over the past two years, the future expected value has increased by over $11 billion or approximately 16% per annum."
This metric is designed to convey "the underlying value and future earnings power of our inforce business" .
The Bottom Line
RGA delivered a record quarter that exceeded expectations on virtually every metric. The 55% year-over-year growth in adjusted operating EPS, combined with strong performance across all geographic segments and a clear 2026 roadmap, validates management's strategy of building a diversified global reinsurance platform.
With $3.4 billion in deployable capital, a clear 8%-10% EPS growth target, and the strategic exit from underperforming group healthcare, RGA appears well-positioned entering 2026. The 10% stock surge to an all-time high suggests investors strongly agree.
Related Resources:
Data sourced from RGA's Q4 2025 earnings call transcript and 8-K filing. Stock prices from S&P Global. Article updated February 6, 2026 with earnings call transcript analysis.