Analyst Consensus ?
ConsensusHold30 ratings
Bullish723.3%
Neutral1756.7%
Bearish620.0%
W. R. Berkley Corporation · WRB · FY2025 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2025
W.R. Berkley: Strong Q2, but guidance and pricing risks remain
W.R. Berkley’s Q2 results support a constructive operating case: record net premiums, solid underwriting, and strong investment income were paired with management’s focus on liability and private-client growth. The case is tempered by lowered guidance sentiment and intensifying pricing, inflation, tariff, catastrophe, and reinsurance risks.
Reported After market closeNYSEFinancial Services
$25.96B market cap
100quality score
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS
$1.05
Consensus $1.03
EPS surprise
+1.9%
Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue
$3.67B
Consensus $3.10B
Revenue surprise
+18.4%
Reported versus consensus
Market reaction
event-close to next-session close
Stock move
+1.1%
Event window
SPY move
+0.0%
Same window
Abnormal move
+1.1%
Stock minus SPY
Volume
1.5×
Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift
+4.4%
Up to 20 sessions
WRBSPY benchmark
Ask FN2 about WRB FY2025 Q2
Transcript, numbers and history already loaded
Why did WRB rise 1.1% after beating EPS estimates in FY2025 Q2?What changed in WRB's guidance and outlook in FY2025 Q2?Give me the bull and bear case for WRB after FY2025 Q2 earnings.
Free account. Your question opens in FN2 with this report's transcript and numbers attached.
Transcript intelligence
What changed
The latest analysis shows strong Q2 execution and a more extended fixed-income portfolio, while guidance sentiment was lowered and competitive pressure from MGAs and reinsurance capacity became more prominent. Management also indicated potential interest in acquiring MGAs if valuations are attractive.
Guidance delta
Guidance sentiment was lowered. Management nevertheless expressed optimism about 8–12% annual growth.
Key takeaways
- Q2 earnings exceeded expectations, with EPS up 8.7% and record net premiums of $3.4 billion.
- Underwriting remained strong, with an 88.4% accident-year combined ratio before catastrophe losses.
- Higher fixed-maturity yields supported investment income, while portfolio duration extended to 2.8 years.
- Management highlighted liability lines and private-client growth amid increasing MGA and reinsurance pricing competition.
Management priorities
- Maintain focus on liability lines and private-client growth.
- Monitor potentially attractive MGA acquisition opportunities.
- Keep the investment portfolio flexible, including possible duration adjustments if the yield curve steepens.
- Continue dividends and evaluate other capital-return mechanisms.
- Adjust pricing strategy as tariffs, labor policy, and medical inflation develop.
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Estimate
Beat
Miss
Match
Analyst 52W Price Targets
$69.73Current
$53.36Low
$69.18Average
$89High
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Oct 8, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Stanley | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Oct 6, 2026 |
| Mizuho | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Sep 16, 2026 |
| UBS | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jul 27, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Underweight | Underweight | Maintain | Jul 21, 2026 |
| Truist Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 21, 2026 |
| B of A Securities | Underperform | Neutral | Downgrade | Jul 16, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI Group | Underperform | Underperform | Maintain | Jul 10, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jul 9, 2026 |
| Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Jul 8, 2026 |
| Barclays | Underweight | Underweight | Maintain | Jun 12, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Jun 8, 2026 |
| Argus Research | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Apr 27, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Market Perform | Underperform | Upgrade | Apr 23, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Jan 27, 2026 |
| TD Cowen | Sell | Hold | Downgrade | Jan 20, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Sector Perform | Sector Perform | Maintain | Jan 28, 2025 |
| Janney Montgomery Scott | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Nov 11, 2022 |
| Boenning & Scattergood | Outperform | Neutral | Upgrade | Sep 20, 2021 |
| Deutsche Bank | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Apr 21, 2021 |
| Credit Suisse | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jan 11, 2021 |
| CFRA | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Apr 24, 2020 |
| Buckingham Research | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Jan 22, 2020 |
| Buckingham | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Jan 22, 2020 |
| Bank of America | Underperform | Neutral | Downgrade | Jun 14, 2018 |
| Sterne Agee CRT | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Sep 21, 2015 |
| Keefe Bruyette & Woods | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Oct 27, 2014 |
| Compass Point | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 27, 2014 |
| Macquarie | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 16, 2013 |
| Citigroup | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Oct 12, 2012 |
| BGB Securities | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Apr 25, 2012 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $69.73. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $70 | $69.65 | +0.4% | Oct 7, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Bob Huang | $70 | $70.14 | +0.4% | Oct 6, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $77 | $75.61 | +10.4% | Jul 27, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $74 | $72.71 | +6.1% | Jul 21, 2026 |
| Oppenheimer | Analyst unavailable | $70 | $72.71 | +0.4% | Jul 21, 2026 |
| Atlantic Equities | Analyst unavailable | $74 | $70.68 | +6.1% | Jul 15, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $68 | $72.02 | -2.5% | Jul 10, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $74 | $71.28 | +6.1% | Jul 9, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Yaron Kinar | $72 | $71.28 | +3.3% | Jul 9, 2026 |
| Barclays | Alex Scott | $62 | $67.54 | -11.1% | Jun 12, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $58 | $68.57 | -16.8% | Jun 8, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $68 | $66.64 | -2.5% | Apr 27, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Analyst unavailable | $68 | $67.5 | -2.5% | Apr 23, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Ryan Tunis | $71 | $67.21 | +1.8% | Apr 9, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Ryan Tunis | $75 | $67.87 | +7.6% | Feb 2, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $71 | $68.58 | +1.8% | Feb 2, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $73 | $67.5 | +4.7% | Jan 28, 2026 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $80 | $67.09 | +14.7% | Jan 27, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $76 | $69.6 | +9.0% | Jan 14, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Yaron Kinar | $69 | $68 | -1.0% | Jan 14, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $68 | $68.71 | -2.5% | Jan 13, 2026 |
| Barclays | Alex Scott | $64 | $69.29 | -8.2% | Jan 8, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $73 | $68.49 | +4.7% | Jan 7, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $69 | $69.99 | -1.0% | Jan 7, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $75 | $69.1 | +7.6% | Dec 16, 2025 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $67 | $69.1 | -3.9% | Dec 15, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $80 | $77.51 | +14.7% | Nov 17, 2025 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $78 | $75.1 | +11.9% | Oct 27, 2025 |
| BMO Capital | Analyst unavailable | $64 | $75 | -8.2% | Oct 22, 2025 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $84 | $73.48 | +20.5% | Oct 21, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Elyse Greenspan | $66 | $73.48 | -5.3% | Oct 21, 2025 |
| Jefferies | Andrew Andersen | $75 | $73.48 | +7.6% | Oct 21, 2025 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $87 | $77.77 | +24.8% | Oct 8, 2025 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $73 | $77.77 | +4.7% | Oct 8, 2025 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Ryan Tunis | $82 | $70.01 | +17.6% | Aug 12, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Elyse Greenspan | $70 | $70.85 | +0.4% | Apr 22, 2025 |
| Goldman Sachs | Robert Cox | $69 | $62.27 | -1.0% | Nov 25, 2024 |
| CFRA | Catherine Seifert | $67 | $59.13 | -3.9% | Oct 23, 2024 |
| UBS | Brian Meredith | $69 | $58.53 | -1.0% | Oct 22, 2024 |
| Bank of America Securities | Joshua Shanker | $76 | $61.03 | +9.0% | Oct 22, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Scott Heleniak | $63 | $61.03 | -9.7% | Oct 22, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | Alex Scott | $61 | $61.03 | -12.5% | Oct 22, 2024 |
| Evercore ISI | David Motemaden | $60 | $61.03 | -14.0% | Oct 22, 2024 |
| Truist Financial | Mark Hughes | $68 | $59.28 | -2.5% | Oct 17, 2024 |
| Jefferies | Yaron Kinar | $57 | $57.47 | -18.3% | Oct 9, 2024 |
| Barclays | Alex Scott | $56 | $60.58 | -19.7% | Sep 4, 2024 |
| Wells Fargo | Elyse Greenspan | $59 | $51.82 | -15.4% | Jul 23, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | Alex Scott | $83 | $78.17 | +19.0% | Jun 13, 2024 |
| BMO Capital | Michael Zaremski | $89 | $78.04 | +27.6% | Apr 25, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Scott Heleniak | $88 | $86.61 | +26.2% | Apr 5, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $68 | $67.7 | -2.5% | Apr 27, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $67 | $66.69 | -3.9% | Apr 25, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $44.67 | $71.05 | -35.9% | Apr 21, 2022 |
| UBS | Brian Meredith | $40.93 | $21.72 | -41.3% | Jul 26, 2021 |
| Deutsche Bank | Phil Stefano | $53.36 | $34.88 | -23.5% | Apr 21, 2021 |
Track every rating change on WRB the moment it posts. Free to start.
Start freeCompany context
Snapshot as of publicationW. R. Berkley Corporation functions as an insurance holding company, primarily underwriting commercial policies across the United States and globally. Its extensive operations are divided into two principal divisions: Insurance, and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment delivers a wide spectrum of commercial insurance solutions. This includes foundational coverages such as general liability, property, commercial auto, and professional liability, alongside specialized offerings like workers' compensation, environmental policies for diverse businesses, directors and officers (D&O) liability, cyber risk protection, and niche policies for fine arts and jewelry.…
Historical context
All WRB earningsFinancial Services peers this season
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Latest beats and misses
Who reports nextBeat on EPS
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Sources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:55.686058+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-10-08T02:30:47.672283+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-10-08T02:30:47.668773+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 2026-10-08. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.