Principal Financial Group, Inc. · PFG · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026
PFG posts strong Q2 growth despite investment-management outflows
The current analysis supports a constructive but qualified view: retirement services and Benefits & Protection showed strong operating momentum, while investment-management outflows remain the central counterweight. The evidence favors resilience, but sustained outflows and acquisition execution require monitoring.
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensusMarket reaction
event-close to next-session closeAsk FN2 about PFG FY2026 Q2
Transcript, numbers and history already loadedFree account. Your question opens in FN2 with this report's transcript and numbers attached.
Transcript intelligence
What changed
Compared with the prior quarter, the company added the pending Beam Benefits acquisition, reported approximately $11 billion of net investment-management outflows, and highlighted a new fixed-income ETF suite. Retirement and benefits momentum remained strong, while capital returns continued.
Guidance delta
Management maintained its guidance sentiment while emphasizing disciplined execution and long-term shareholder value.
Key takeaways
- Adjusted EPS grew 15% year over year, with margin expansion, according to the transcript analysis.
- Retirement transfer deposits grew 30% year over year, while Benefits & Protection pretax earnings rose 29%.
- Investment management recorded approximately $11 billion of net outflows, partly offset by private-markets AUM growth and active ETF inflows.
Management priorities
- Integrate Beam Benefits into the SMB benefits platform.
- Expand ETF capabilities and retirement-income solutions.
- Maintain disciplined capital deployment, including share repurchases and dividend increases.
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Analyst 52W Price Targets
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Sep 24, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBS | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Sep 10, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Aug 3, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI Group | In Line | In Line | Maintain | Jul 28, 2026 |
| B of A Securities | Underperform | Underperform | Maintain | Jul 28, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Jul 22, 2026 |
| Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Jul 13, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Jul 10, 2026 |
| Barclays | Underweight | Underweight | Maintain | Jul 7, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Jul 6, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jun 24, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Outperform | Strong Buy | Downgrade | May 19, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Sector Perform | Sector Perform | Maintain | Jan 21, 2025 |
| Citigroup | Sell | Sell | Maintain | Jul 23, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | Sell | Sell | Maintain | Jan 9, 2023 |
| Credit Suisse | Underperform | Neutral | Downgrade | Dec 8, 2022 |
| Wolfe Research | Perform | Peer Perform | Maintain | Jan 21, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Aug 3, 2016 |
| Bank of America | Neutral | Buy | Downgrade | Jun 29, 2016 |
| Macquarie | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Dec 4, 2015 |
| Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Oct 12, 2015 |
| Atlantic Equities | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Dec 3, 2014 |
| Sterne Agee | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 13, 2014 |
| Sandler O'Neill | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Apr 28, 2014 |
| Evercore Partners | Equal Weight | Underweight | Upgrade | Apr 11, 2014 |
| Scotiabank | Sector Underperform | Sector Perform | Downgrade | Nov 22, 2013 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $113.92. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $120 | $114.02 | +5.3% | Sep 10, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Analyst unavailable | $121 | $114.92 | +6.2% | Aug 17, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Wes Carmichael | $113 | $109.57 | -0.8% | Jul 22, 2026 |
| Atlantic Equities | Analyst unavailable | $94 | $113.09 | -17.5% | Jul 15, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $98 | $111.67 | -14.0% | Jul 10, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $92 | $112.55 | -19.2% | Jul 7, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | John Barnidge | $125 | $112.36 | +9.7% | Jun 24, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $107 | $103.3 | -6.1% | May 21, 2026 |
| Raymond James | Wilma Burdis | $111 | $101.85 | -2.6% | May 19, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $108 | $99.34 | -5.2% | Apr 27, 2026 |
| Barclays | Alex Scott | $87 | $97 | -23.6% | Apr 24, 2026 |
| UBS | Michael Ward | $94 | $92.32 | -17.5% | Apr 9, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $85 | $90.2 | -25.4% | Jan 13, 2026 |
| UBS | Michael Ward | $92 | $92.36 | -19.2% | Jan 8, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $85 | $90.88 | -25.4% | Jan 8, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Analyst unavailable | $100 | $89.24 | -12.2% | Dec 23, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $93 | $90.5 | -18.4% | Dec 15, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Bob Huang | $81 | $79.14 | -28.9% | Oct 23, 2025 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $94 | $81.77 | -17.5% | Oct 9, 2025 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $83 | $83.57 | -27.1% | Oct 8, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $80 | $83.41 | -29.8% | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Piper Sandler | Analyst unavailable | $94 | $83.41 | -17.5% | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Bob Huang | $77 | $77.65 | -32.4% | Aug 18, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Elyse Greenspan | $69 | $78.3 | -39.4% | Jan 14, 2025 |
| Bank of America Securities | Joshua Shanker | $91 | $87.51 | -20.1% | Oct 10, 2024 |
| Barclays | Alex Scott | $74 | $81.14 | -35.0% | Sep 4, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Bob Huang | $83 | $77.67 | -27.1% | Aug 19, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Mark Dwelle | $87 | $81.44 | -23.6% | Jul 29, 2024 |
| Jefferies | Suneet Kamath | $76 | $87.46 | -33.3% | Jul 18, 2024 |
| Jefferies | Suneet Kamath | $78 | $79.46 | -31.5% | Jun 28, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | John Barnidge | $85 | $84.56 | -25.4% | May 17, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | John Barnidge | $90 | $84.6 | -21.0% | Apr 5, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Bob Huang | $75 | $78.69 | -34.2% | Feb 15, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | Alex Scott | $64 | $69.38 | -43.8% | Dec 2, 2021 |
| Credit Suisse | Andrew Kligerman | $82 | $61.5 | -28.0% | Jul 5, 2021 |
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Start freeCompany context
Snapshot as of publicationPrincipal Financial Group, Inc. engages in the investment management offering business. It offers financial products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients. It operates its business through the following segments: Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection. The Retirement and Income Solutions Segment offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services for retirement savings along with select products for retirement income. The Principal Asset Management segment provides global investment solutions to institutional, retirement, retail and high net worth investors in the U.S. and select emerging markets. The Benefits and Protection segment includes selling individual life insurance products. The company was founded by Edward A. Temple in 1879 and is headquartered in Des Moines, IA.
Historical context
All PFG earningsFinancial Services peers this season
Latest reports in the same sector| Company | Quarter | EPS surprise | Market move | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PUK Prudential plc | FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026 | -40.9% | -0.5% | Prudential sustains growth and capital returns focus in H1 2026 |
| CM Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q3 2026 | +8.9% | -2.8% | CIBC Q3: Broad growth, resilient credit and expanded AI rollout |
| TD The Toronto-Dominion Bank | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q3 2026 | +13.8% | +1.4% | TD emphasizes growth investments alongside disciplined capital management |
| RY Royal Bank of Canada | FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q3 2026 | +6.2% | -1.3% | RBC reports record Q3 earnings while investing for growth |
| AFRM Affirm Holdings, Inc. | FY2026 Q4 · Calendar Q3 2026 | +1230.3% | +0.3% | Affirm's most profitable quarter shifts focus to product execution |
Latest beats and misses
Who reports nextBeat on EPS
- AZOFY2026 Q4 · September 22, 2026+3.6% EPS+3.3% move
- FPSFY2026 Q4 · September 15, 2026+4.3% EPS+9.5% move
- TCOMFY2026 Q2 · September 15, 2026+22.3% EPS+3.0% move
- KRFY2026 Q2 · September 11, 2026+2.8% EPS+2.7% move
- ADBEFY2026 Q3 · September 10, 2026+0.8% EPS+1.4% move
- ORCLFY2027 Q1 · September 10, 2026+10.3% EPS-1.7% move
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Sources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-07-28T17:03:55.020625+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-09-01T01:23:15.986970+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-09-24T00:40:51.134427+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-09-24T00:40:51.131624+00:00
Methodology
Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.
Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.
Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.
By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-09-24. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.