Title insurance provider Stewart Information Services (NYSE: STC) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street’s expectations in Q4 CY2025, with sales up 18.8% year on year to $790.6 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.65 per share was 21.9% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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"I am pleased with our strong fourth quarter results as they demonstrate continued progress across all lines of business as the market begins to slowly improve," commented Fred Eppinger, chief executive officer.

Company Overview

Founded in 1893 during America's westward expansion when property records were often disputed, Stewart Information Services (NYSE: STC) provides title insurance and real estate services, helping homebuyers, sellers, and lenders verify property ownership and protect against title defects.

Revenue Growth

Insurance companies generate revenue three ways. The first is the core insurance business itself, represented in the income statement as premiums earned. The second source is investment income from investing the “float” (premiums collected but not yet paid out as claims) in assets such as fixed-income assets and equities. The third is fees from policy administration, annuities, and other value-added services. Over the last five years, Stewart Information Services grew its revenue at a tepid 5% compounded annual growth rate. This fell short of our benchmark for the insurance sector and is a poor baseline for our analysis.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. Stewart Information Services’s annualized revenue growth of 13.7% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand recently accelerated. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, Stewart Information Services reported year-on-year revenue growth of 18.8%, and its $790.6 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2%.

Net premiums earned made up 86.4% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning Stewart Information Services barely relies on non-insurance activities to drive its overall growth.

Net premiums earned commands greater market attention due to its reliability and consistency, whereas investment and fee income are often seen as more volatile revenue streams that fluctuate with market conditions.

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Book Value Per Share (BVPS)

Insurance companies are balance sheet businesses, collecting premiums upfront and paying out claims over time. The float – premiums collected but not yet paid out – are invested, creating an asset base supported by a liability structure. Book value captures this dynamic by measuring:

• Assets (investment portfolio, cash, reinsurance recoverables) - liabilities (claim reserves, debt, future policy benefits)

BVPS is essentially the residual value for shareholders.

We therefore consider BVPS very important to track for insurers and a metric that sheds light on business quality. While other (and more commonly known) per-share metrics like EPS can sometimes be lumpy due to reserve releases or one-time items and can be managed or skewed while still following accounting rules, BVPS reflects long-term capital growth and is harder to manipulate.

Stewart Information Services’s BVPS grew at a decent 7.6% annual clip over the last five years. However, BVPS growth has recently decelerated to 4.1% annual growth over the last two years (from $50.11 to $54.30 per share).

Key Takeaways from Stewart Information Services’s Q4 Results

It was good to see Stewart Information Services beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also glad its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this was a solid print. The stock remained flat at $68.92 immediately after reporting.

Is Stewart Information Services an attractive investment opportunity at the current price? What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).