Prudential Financial earnings: third quarter 2026

Prudential Financial, the American life insurer, made less from running its business in the third quarter of 2026 than a year earlier. Its adjusted earnings per share, the figure it uses to judge the underlying business, fell to $3.77 from $4.05, but that was still well above what analysts expected. The main drag was Japan, where its Prudential of Japan unit has suspended sales, raising costs and cutting profit there. Revenue fell, mostly because premiums dropped. Prudential kept returning cash to its owners and raised its dividend per share from a year ago. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Prudential's adjusted earnings per share of $3.77 came in about 14% above the $3.31 that analysts expected on average, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar. ¹²

The strong points

• The dividend rose to $1.40 a share from $1.35 a year ago, and Prudential kept buying back $250 million of its own shares each quarter, so there are fewer shares to share the profit. ¹
• On the company's own adjusted measure, which leaves out swings in the value of its investments, its book value per share grew to $102.39 from $99.25 a year ago. ¹
• It paid $741 million to shareholders in dividends and buybacks, slightly more than a year ago. ¹

The weak points

• Profit from its Japan businesses fell to $559 million from $750 million, after the sales suspension at Prudential of Japan raised costs and worsened results on the policies it insures. ¹
• Adjusted earnings per share fell about 7% from a year ago, to $3.77. ¹
• Total revenue fell about 14% to $13.5 billion, mainly because premiums, the money customers pay for their policies, dropped sharply. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A strong report. Profit came in well above what analysts expected, even though it fell from a year ago, held back mostly by the sales stop in Japan.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)
• The previous results, for what it forecast then

Notes

1. Prudential Financial's results release, 3 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 3 November 2026. ↩