Globe Life Q3 Earnings Beat, Revenues Miss, Premiums Rise Y/Y

Globe Life Inc.’s GL third-quarter 2024 net operating income of $3.49 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 14.4%. The bottom line improved 29% year over year, primarily driven by higher excess investment income and insurance underwriting income.Globe Life Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Globe Life Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Globe Life Inc. QuoteBehind the HeadlinesGlobe Life reported total premium revenues of $1.2 billion, up 5% year over year. This upside was primarily driven by higher premiums from Life and Health insurance.Net investment income increased 7% year over year to $284.9 million.The company reported operating revenues of $1.4 billion, up 5.2% from the year-ago quarter. The improvement was driven by growth in Life and Health insurance premiums and higher net investment income. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.6%.Excess investment income, a measure of profitability, increased 16% year over year to $39.5 million.Total insurance underwriting income increased 19% year over year to $387.4 million. The increase was due to higher Life underwriting income.Administrative expenses were up 18.6% year over year to $88.4 million.Total benefits and expenses increased 1.2% year over year to $1 billion, primarily due to higher amortization of deferred acquisition costs, commissions, premium taxes and non-deferred acquisition costs, other operating expense and interest expense.Segmental ResultsPremium revenues at Life increased 4% year over year to $818.6 million, driven by higher premiums written by distribution channels like American Income and Liberty National. American Income grew 7% and Liberty National rose 6%.Net sales of $147.4 million increased 10% year over year. Underwriting margins increased 29% year over year to $387.2 million.Health insurance premium revenues rose 7% year over year to $353.9 million, primarily driven by higher premiums from United American, Family Heritage, Liberty National, American Income and Direct to Consumer. Net health sales increased 8% year over year to $59.2 million. Underwriting margins decreased 10% year over year to $86.9 million.Financial UpdateShareholders’ equity, excluding accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI), as of Sept. 30, 2024, increased 0.5% year over year to $7.12 billion.As of Sept. 30, 2024, Globe Life reported book value per share, excluding AOCI, of $83.92, up 12.9% year over year.Operating return on equity, excluding AOCI, was 15.3% for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2024, which expanded 60 basis points year over year.Share RepurchaseGlobe Life repurchased 5.8 million shares worth $580 million in the reported quarter.2024 and 2025 ViewGL estimates net operating income between $12.20 and $12.40 for the year ending Dec. 31, 2024. For the year ending Dec. 31, 2025, GL projects net operating income per share in the range of $13.20-$13.90.Zacks RankGlobe Life currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Performance of Other Finance StocksMoody's Corporation MCO reported third-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $3.21 per share, which handily outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.89. The bottom line surged 32% from the year-ago quarter figure.After considering certain non-recurring items, net income attributable to Moody's was $534 million or $2.93 per share, up from $389 million or $2.11 per share in the prior-year quarter. Quarterly revenues were $1.81 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.73 billion. Also, the top line jumped 23% year over year. Total expenses were $1.08 billion, up 15% year over year. Adjusted operating income of $867 million soared 32%. Adjusted operating margin was 47.8%, rising from 44.6% a year ago.Synchrony Financial SYF reported third-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.94, which comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.77. The bottom line also increased from $1.48 per share a year ago. Net interest income improved 5.7% year over year to $4.6 billion in the third quarter. Also, it beat the consensus mark by 2.1%. Total deposits were $82.3 billion, which rose 5.4% year over year, but missed our estimate. Provision for credit losses increased 7.3% year over year to $1.6 billion due to increased net charge-offs, partly offset by lower reserve build, 2.5% higher than our estimate. The purchase volume of Synchrony declined 4% year over year to $45 billion in the third quarter because of selective consumer spending and credit actions. Also, the figure missed the consensus estimate of $46.5 billion.American Express Company AXP reported third-quarter 2024 EPS of $3.49, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.7%. The bottom line climbed 6% year over year. Total revenues net of interest expense amounted to $16.6 billion, which marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, the top line improved 8.2% year over year in the quarter under review. Provision for credit losses escalated 10% year over year to $1.4 billion due to a rise in net write-offs partially offset by a reduced net reserve build. Total expenses increased 9% year over year to $12.1 billion due to an elevated customer engagement cost level, which resulted from expanding Card Member spending, higher usage of travel-related benefits and marketing expenses.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Moody's Corporation (MCO): Free Stock Analysis Report American Express Company (AXP): Free Stock Analysis Report Synchrony Financial (SYF): Free Stock Analysis Report Globe Life Inc. (GL): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks