Earnings roundup: Prudential works to save ‘unique’ Japanese market

Life insurers continue to record strong earnings and stronger annuity sales in 2026.

Several industry leaders reported first-quarter financials on Wednesday and Thursday, led by Prudential Financial, Jackson Financial, and Lincoln Financial.

Here is a roundup of those calls:

Prudential Financial earnings

Prudential posted stronger first-quarter earnings Wednesday, driven by solid insurance and retirement performance, even as the insurer continued to grapple with fallout from compliance problems in Japan.

CEO Andy Sullivan said the company is seeing “tangible evidence of stronger execution” across the enterprise despite the unexpected disruption in Japan.

The insurer recently announced that Prudential of Japan is not ready to resume sales after a 90-day ban following widespread misconduct. Prudential extended the sales moratorium for another 180 days, for a total financial impact of about $1 billion.

POJ announced actions to address the misconduct, including measures to reimburse impacted customers, restructure employee incentive compensation, and strengthen oversight of sales practices, governance, and risk management. The plans also include enhanced education, training and recruitment standards for POJ employees.

The Japan market is "unique," Sullivan said, with “specialized access to teachers and the service defense forces across Japan and literally is in every geography across Japan with 7,000 agents.”

Prudential’s U.S. businesses generated about $1 billion in pretax adjusted operating income, up 3% year over year. Retirement earnings climbed 9% to more than $570 million, helped by strong spread income and continued momentum in retail annuities and pension risk transfer deals.

Group insurance earnings fell sharply, however, to $38 million from $89 million a year earlier. Executives cited higher disability claims incidence and severity tied to macroeconomic uncertainty, partially offset by favorable mortality trends in group life insurance.

Individual life earnings more than doubled to $139 million, aided by improved mortality experience and higher spread income.

International operations remained under pressure from the ongoing Prudential of Japan sales suspension. International pretax adjusted operating income slipped 4% to $810 million as the company absorbed roughly $130 million in costs tied to customer reimbursements, life planner compensation and lost sales.

Jackson Financial earnings

Jackson Financial reported strong first-quarter insurance results as growth in spread-based products and registered index-linked annuities offset market volatility and weaker fee income.

President and CEO Laura Prieskorn said the company benefited from strong demand for retirement income and protection products, particularly its registered index-linked annuities and fixed indexed annuities.

Retail annuity sales increased 31% from a year earlier to $5.3 billion. RILA sales rose 68% to $2 billion, while fixed and fixed indexed annuity sales jumped to $756 million from $174 million a year earlier.

Jackson said spread-based products accounted for 52% of total sales during the quarter, reflecting its ongoing effort to diversify beyond traditional variable annuities. The company said nearly 40% of account values now come from spread-based and investment-only variable annuity products.

Variable annuity sales (excluding certain internal exchanges) of $2.5 billion were down 6% from the first quarter of 2025, primarily reflecting lower sales of products with lifetime benefits.

Chief Financial Officer Don Cummings said the insurer’s investment portfolio remains conservatively positioned despite increased allocations to higher-yielding assets through its partnership with TPG.

“We continue to maintain our disciplined investment approach,” Prieskorn said.

Jackson maintained its full-year 2026 target of at least $1.2 billion in free capital generation and projected capital returns to shareholders of $900 million to $1.1 billion.

Lincoln Financial earnings

Lincoln Financial reported strong first-quarter earnings growth as improvements in its insurance businesses and disciplined capital management continued to bolster results.

The company said adjusted operating income rose 16% from a year earlier, marking its seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. President and CEO Ellen Cooper said the results reflected years of efforts to strengthen the balance sheet, improve efficiency and shift toward products with steadier cash flows and lower market sensitivity.

“Lincoln has a differentiated set of competitive advantages,” Cooper said, “a diversified franchise across four businesses, each at a different stage of its realignment toward our financial and strategic objectives, a deep distribution platform that we are actively expanding and optimizing, and capabilities tailored to each of the markets we serve.”

Insurance operations were a key driver of performance. Group protection earnings climbed 11% to $112 million, helped by favorable underwriting results in group life insurance and continued margin expansion. The business posted an 8% margin, up 60 basis points from a year ago.

Lincoln’s life insurance segment also improved sharply, generating $41 million in operating income compared with a $16 million loss a year earlier. Sales rose more than 30% to $129 million, fueled by growth in core life products and executive benefits.

Demand was especially strong for accumulation-focused and limited-guarantee products, areas the company has prioritized in recent years, Cooper said.

Chief Financial Officer Christopher Neczypor said favorable mortality trends and strong alternative investment returns also supported results.

Annuity earnings slipped modestly to $275 million as Lincoln continued repositioning the business toward spread-based products such as fixed indexed annuities. Retirement plan services earnings increased 26%.

By The Numbers: Prudential

• Operating Income: $1.6 billion ($1.5 billion in Q1 2025)
• Net Income: $597 million ($707 million in Q1 2025)
• Earnings Per Share: $1.68 per share ($1.96 in Q1 2025)
• Share Repurchases: $250 million in Q1 2026
• Dividend Declared: $496 million in Q1 2026
• Stock Price Movement: Shares dipped slightly at midday Thursday to $99.58

By The Numbers: Jackson

• Operating Earnings: $361 million ($376 million Q1 2025)
• Net Income: -$435 million (-$35 million in Q1 2025)
• Earnings Per Share: -$6.24 per share (-0.48 in Q1 2025)
• Share Repurchases: $192 million in Q1 2026
• Dividend Declared: $65 million in Q1 2026
• Stock Price Movement: Shares declined about 1.8% as of midday Thursday to $112.79

By The Numbers: Lincoln

• Total Revenue: $5.3 billion ($4.7 billion in Q1 2025)
• Net Income: -$211 million (-$756 million in Q1 2025)
• Earnings Per Share: -$1.10 per diluted share (-$4.41 in Q1 2025)
• Share Repurchases: None
• Dividend Declared: $0.45 per share
• Stock Price Movement: Shares down 3.3% to $36.39 on midday Thursday

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.