Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF) · Nov 5, 2026 · Earnings

Brighthouse earnings beat on actuarial items as core EPS misses

Miss — Adjusted EPS less notable $3.68 vs ~$4.96 consensus

Brighthouse earnings beat headline EPS estimates, but revenue and earnings excluding notable items fell short as capital weakened.

Brighthouse is operating as a retirement-income and life insurer built around its Shield annuity franchise, while its legacy run-off book and a pending Aquarian merger remain major parts of the story. The merger has already been approved by shareholders and most non-insurance conditions have been cleared, leaving insurance regulatory approvals as the key remaining closing hurdle.

The headline beat is mostly an accounting-quality beat, not an operating one. Adjusted earnings per share was $9.12 versus a published consensus of roughly $4.96, but $5.42 per share came from notable items, primarily actuarial and other insurance adjustments in run-off. Excluding those items, earnings were $3.68 per share, below consensus. That makes the clean read a miss, despite the large reported EPS beat.

FigureQ3 2026Q3 2025Consensus
Adjusted revenues (Financial Results)$2,104M$2,171M$2,180M
Adjusted earnings (Financial Results)$527M$970M—
Adjusted EPS (Financial Results)$9.12$16.87~$4.96
Adjusted earnings, less notable items (Financial Results)$213M$261M—
Adjusted EPS, less notable items (Financial Results)$3.68$4.54~$4.96
Combined adjusted capital (Key Metrics)$4,800M$5,400M—
Combined RBC ratio (Key Metrics)415%-435%435%-455%—

The core annuity engine is holding up, but not accelerating broadly. Shield Level Annuity sales rose to $2.11 billion from $2.05 billion a year earlier, and total variable and Shield sales reached $2.31 billion versus $2.23 billion. That supports the company’s main growth franchise, but total annuity account values still faced net outflows, with variable and Shield net flows of negative $2.53 billion. Fixed and income annuity sales remained sharply lower at $104 million versus $506 million last year. (Variable and Shield Level Annuities; Variable and Shield Level Annuity Sales)

Life and run-off results make the earnings base less clean. Life adjusted earnings improved to $91 million from $40 million, but nine-month life sales were flat at $107 million and life insurance in-force continued to decline. Run-off produced $166 million of adjusted earnings, but it also absorbed $248 million of the quarter’s $314 million in notable items, showing how much the headline result depended on volatile legacy-book adjustments. (Statements of Adjusted Earnings by Segment; Life Sales; Notable Items by Segment)

Capital moved in the wrong direction even as statutory earnings recovered. Combined adjusted capital fell to $4.8 billion from $4.944 billion in June, while the preliminary RBC ratio declined to 415%-435% from 430%-450%. Common equity excluding AOCI increased to $9.28 billion from $8.98 billion, but the statutory capital measures most relevant to the insurance subsidiaries weakened. That is a meaningful counterweight to the reported earnings beat. (Key Metrics; Combined TAC and RBC Ratio; Brighthouse Financial, Inc.’s Common Stockholders’ Equity, Excluding AOCI)

The filing does not change the merger story. It confirms that Brighthouse is still operating under the pending Aquarian transaction and does not add a new closing milestone or revised terms. The business update therefore matters mainly for the standalone operating record: Shield demand remains resilient, but underlying earnings, revenue, and capital were softer than the headline EPS suggests.

Bottom line: This was a headline earnings beat but an underlying earnings miss. Brighthouse’s core Shield franchise is intact, yet weaker revenue and capital make the quarter modestly worse than expectations for the business itself.

What to watch next

Aquarian merger closing, targeted by December 6

Original filing on SEC EDGAR

More Brighthouse Financial, Inc. news

Brighthouse earnings beat on actuarial items as core EPS misses | BHF Stock News
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