Equitable二季度调整后EPS同比增长24%，但收入显著低于预期

Our AI knew it: This high-conviction medtech just jumped 27%+ on blowout earnings
Introduction & Market Context
Equitable Holdings (NYSE:EQH) presented its second quarter 2026 earnings results on August 5, 2026, showcasing strong operational momentum as the company advances toward its year-end merger with Corebridge Financial. The presentation highlighted a 24% year-over-year increase in adjusted earnings per share and record assets under management and administration of $1.2 trillion, positioning the combined entity to become a leading player across retirement, wealth management, and institutional solutions.
The company’s shares closed at $48.25 on August 4, up 0.52% from the previous close, and remained unchanged in after-hours trading. While the adjusted EPS of $1.75 beat analyst estimates of $1.67, revenue of $1.66 billion fell significantly short of the $3.85 billion forecast, reflecting the accounting volatility inherent in the company’s hedging activities.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
Equitable delivered robust second quarter results across all three business segments. The company’s strategic framework, as illustrated in the presentation, demonstrates how the pending merger positions the organization for enhanced customer outcomes and shareholder value.
Non-GAAP operating earnings reached $488 million, or $1.70 per share on a reported basis and $1.75 per share after adjusting for notable items. This represented a 24% year-over-year increase in adjusted EPS, driven by higher net interest margins and fee-based revenues across the retirement business, along with strong asset growth in wealth management and asset management.
The company’s performance across its three main business pillars showed consistent execution of its growth strategy during the first half of 2026, as detailed in the following breakdown.
The Retirement segment generated $408 million in operating earnings (representing 67% of total earnings) with net inflows of $1.7 billion in the quarter. This was driven primarily by continued strength in Registered Index-Linked Annuity (RILA) sales, which increased 10% year-over-year, and spread lending net issuance of $2.6 billion. Total Retirement assets under management reached $189 billion, up 15% from the prior year.
Asset Management, through AllianceBernstein, contributed $139 million in operating earnings (23% of total) and recorded net inflows of $0.8 billion in the quarter. The segment’s private markets platform achieved $91 billion in assets under management, growing 18% year-over-year and reaching the company’s 2027 target of $90-100 billion ahead of schedule. Total AB assets under management stood at $906 billion, up 9% year-over-year.
Wealth Management delivered $60 million in operating earnings (10% of total) with advisory net inflows of $2.0 billion, representing an 11% trailing twelve-month organic growth rate. Total assets under administration reached $141 billion, up 27% year-over-year, with productivity per advisor increasing 13% to $469,000.
Detailed Financial Analysis
The company’s consolidated financial results demonstrate the strength of its diversified business model. The following chart illustrates the composition of operating earnings and key performance metrics for the quarter.
Breaking down the quarterly performance, the Retirement segment’s net interest margin of $456 million reflected a stable spread of 1.74% (excluding alternative income), up 1 basis point from the first quarter. Fee-based revenue in Retirement reached $489 million, benefiting from strong equity market performance.
The revenue drivers across segments showed consistent growth trends throughout the first half of 2026, as illustrated in the following analysis.
AllianceBernstein’s fee revenue totaled $853 million in the quarter, with base fees of $829 million and performance fees of $24 million. Management raised its full-year 2026 performance fee guidance to $115-135 million, up from the prior range of $95-115 million, with most of the benefit expected in the fourth quarter. The adjusted operating margin for Asset Management reached 33.0%, up 7 basis points year-over-year.
Wealth Management advisory fees of $235 million are reported on a one-quarter lag, meaning the benefit of second quarter market growth is expected to show up in second half 2026 results. The segment maintained a pre-tax operating margin of 14.5%.
Strategic Merger Positioning
The proposed merger with Corebridge Financial represents a transformative transaction for Equitable Holdings. Shareholders of both companies approved the merger at a special meeting held on July 30, 2026, marking significant progress toward the anticipated year-end closing.
The strategic rationale and anticipated benefits of the merger are outlined in the company’s forward-looking framework.
The combined entity, to be known as New Equitable, is projected to deliver compelling financial outcomes including over 10% EPS and cash generation accretion, 15%+ adjusted return on equity, and $30 billion+ in adjusted book value on a pro-forma basis. The organization expects to generate $5 billion+ in adjusted operating earnings and $4 billion+ in cash generation on a 2027 run-rate basis.
Management has established the organizational structure for New Equitable and announced the top three levels of leadership, focusing on delivering both expense and revenue synergies. The company expects to host a second quarter 2027 Investor Day to provide detailed guidance on the combined entity’s strategic priorities and financial targets.
Financial Targets and Capital Management
Equitable continues to track favorably against the financial targets established at its 2023 Investor Day, demonstrating consistent execution across cash generation, payout ratios, and earnings per share growth.
The company is on track for approximately $1.8 billion in cash generation in 2026, progressing toward its 2027 target of $2.0 billion annually. First half 2026 results showed a 70% payout ratio, within the company’s 60-70% target range on a full-year basis, though the second quarter payout ratio of 92% reflected incremental buybacks following the RGA transaction.
EPS growth has accelerated significantly, with first half 2026 showing 25% growth compared to the prior year, well above the 12-15% compound annual growth rate target established for the 2023-2027 period.
Capital management remained a key focus during the quarter, with the company maintaining strong regulatory capital ratios and ample holding company liquidity.
Equitable returned $449 million to shareholders in the second quarter through $366 million in share repurchases and $83 million in dividends, reducing shares outstanding by 8 million during the period. The company achieved a 10% reduction in shares outstanding over the trailing four quarters.
Cash and liquid assets at the holding company stood at $0.8 billion as of quarter-end. The combined NAIC Risk-Based Capital ratio remained well above the company’s 400%+ target. Management received regulatory approval for $0.9 billion of insurance company dividends in the second half of 2026, supporting the $1.8 billion full-year cash generation target.
Portfolio Quality and Risk Management
Equitable’s investment portfolio maintains a conservative, high-quality profile designed to support the company’s insurance liabilities while generating attractive risk-adjusted returns. The general account investment portfolio composition demonstrates this disciplined approach.
The $117 billion general account portfolio is diversified across public corporates (29%), private credit (20%), public structured credit (19%), and mortgage loans (21%), with limited exposure to alternatives at approximately 2% of the total. The fixed maturity portfolio maintains a 98% investment grade rating, with an A2 average credit quality.
The company’s private credit allocation, representing 19% of the general account, is highly rated and well-diversified across asset classes including private placements (48%), private asset-backed securities (28%), infrastructure debt (21%), and direct lending (3%). Nearly 90% of the private credit portfolio is directly underwritten by AllianceBernstein, providing deep insight into underlying credit quality.
The resilience of Equitable’s balance sheet under stress scenarios demonstrates the strength of its risk management framework, as illustrated in the following analysis.
Under a hypothetical credit stress scenario assuming Global Financial Crisis-level losses for investment grade securities, structured credit, and commercial mortgage loans, along with a 40% equity market decline for alternatives, the company’s Risk-Based Capital ratio would decline from approximately 475% to 430%—still well above the 400% target and regulatory requirements. This stress test demonstrates the portfolio’s ability to withstand severe market dislocations while maintaining strong capital adequacy.
The mortgage portfolio, representing 21% of the general account, features strong fundamentals with a 67% loan-to-value ratio and 1.9x debt service coverage ratio. The office component of the commercial mortgage loan portfolio, which has been a focus of industry concern, maintains solid metrics with 2.1x debt service coverage, over 79% occupancy, and nearly all Class A properties.
Segment Deep Dive
The Retirement segment’s performance reflected continued strength in product sales and spread lending, as detailed in the following quarterly analysis.
Retirement operating earnings adjusted for notable items reached $408 million in the second quarter, up from $368 million in the prior year period. Net flows of $1.7 billion were driven by strong RILA sales and health savings account volumes, with tax-exempt net inflows of $45 million. The segment’s return on assets on a trailing twelve-month basis was 1.02%, compared to 1.17% in the prior year, reflecting the impact of higher capital deployment in spread lending assets.
Asset Management continued to execute on its growth strategy, with particular strength in private markets and institutional channels.
AllianceBernstein’s operating earnings of $139 million increased year-over-year primarily due to growth in base fees. The institutional pipeline stood at $25.8 billion as of quarter-end, including an $11.8 billion commercial mortgage loan mandate from Equitable that funded in July. This mandate demonstrates the strategic "flywheel" between Equitable’s general account needs and AB’s asset management capabilities.
Active net flows for AB showed improvement sequentially, with the second quarter recording positive flows of $0.8 billion after first quarter outflows of $7.1 billion. The adjusted operating margin of 33.0% increased 7 basis points year-over-year, reflecting operating leverage from AUM growth.
Wealth Management maintained strong momentum in advisory flows and productivity metrics.
Advisory assets under administration grew from $73.3 billion in the second quarter of 2025 to $95.7 billion in the second quarter of 2026, driven by $8.4 billion in trailing twelve-month net flows, $4.5 billion in acquired advisory assets, and $9.5 billion in market performance. The segment’s 8% annualized organic growth rate in the quarter demonstrates the continued resonance of its value proposition with advisors and clients.
Forward-Looking Statements
Looking ahead to the second half of 2026, management provided guidance on several key metrics and strategic priorities. The company expects to maintain its retirement core spreads near 174 basis points, with wealth management earnings continuing to grow at a double-digit pace. Alternative investment returns, which were below plan in the second quarter, are expected to improve in the second half of the year.
The effective tax rate of 15% in the second quarter is expected to normalize to approximately 20% for the consolidated entity in the second half of 2026, which will modestly impact reported earnings per share. However, the company remains confident in achieving more than 15% EPS growth for full-year 2026.
The Corebridge merger remains on track for closing by year-end 2026, with regulatory approvals progressing as expected. Integration planning is well underway, with the new organizational structure established down to approximately the top 500 positions. Management emphasized that the benefit of the merger extends beyond expense synergies to include significant revenue synergies from enhanced distribution capabilities and product breadth.
The company divested its Employee Benefits business during the quarter, sharpening its focus on at-scale businesses with minimal impact to future earnings. This strategic action aligns with the broader goal of concentrating resources on the highest-return opportunities across retirement, wealth management, and asset management.
With over 10 million combined customers across the merged entity, a differentiated presence across retail, institutional, and worksite channels, and approximately $1 trillion in pro-forma assets under management, New Equitable is positioned to deliver enhanced outcomes for both customers and shareholders. The company’s scale is expected to drive a top-quartile expense ratio to support growth and profitability, while distribution breadth should result in a lower cost of funds and differentiated asset sourcing capabilities.
As Equitable progresses toward the merger closing and prepares for "Day 1 of New Equitable" in the first half of 2027, the company’s second quarter results demonstrate the operational momentum and financial strength that underpin its strategic transformation.
Full presentation:
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