Aflac (AFL) Q1 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Net earnings for Q1 2026 surged to $1,019 million, a 3,413.8% increase year-over-year, driven by lower net investment losses and non-recurring items compared to Q1 2025.

• Total revenues rose 27.9% year-over-year to $4.3 billion in Q1 2026, driven by strong investment gains and product initiatives in both Japan and the U.S.

• Adjusted earnings per diluted share rose 5.4% to $1.75, and 6.6% to $1.77 excluding foreign currency impact, reflecting stable core insurance operations.

• Adjusted earnings were $901 million, nearly flat year-over-year, with a slight 0.6% decrease.

• $1.3 billion was returned to shareholders via $1.0 billion in share repurchases and $315 million in dividends.

Financial highlights

• Net EPS (diluted) was $1.98, up from $0.05 in Q1 2025, while adjusted EPS (diluted) increased to $1.75 from $1.66.

• Net investment gains of $49 million in Q1 2026 compared to losses of $963 million in Q1 2025, primarily from derivatives and FX activities.

• Shareholders’ equity increased to $30.0 billion ($58.69 per share) from $26.3 billion ($48.55 per share) year-over-year.

• Adjusted book value per share rose 5.7% to $54.96, and excluding foreign currency remeasurement, was $42.71.

• Annualized return on average shareholders’ equity was 13.7%; adjusted ROE excluding FX remeasurement was 16.4%.

Outlook and guidance

• Japan segment outlook for 2026: benefit ratio 60%-63%, expense ratio 20%-23%, pretax profit margin 33%-36%.

• U.S. segment outlook for 2026: benefit ratio 48%-52%, expense ratio 36%-39%, pretax profit margin 17%-20%.

• Management remains focused on profitable growth, capital deployment, and extending its record of dividend increases.

• The Board increased the quarterly dividend by 5.2% and declared a $0.61 dividend for Q2 2026.