The end of an earnings season can be a great time to discover new stocks and assess how companies are handling the current business environment. Let’s take a look at how Ryan Specialty (NYSE: RYAN) and the rest of the insurance brokers stocks fared in Q4.

The insurance brokerage industry, while influenced by insurance pricing cycles, benefits from durable secular tailwinds as rising risk complexity (climate, data privacy), regulatory scrutiny, and insurance pricing inflation. These increase demand for professional risk-management advice. Brokers operate models that rely on commissions and fees tied to premium volumes and growing contributions from recurring advisory, benefits, and compliance services. Scale is a key advantage, enabling better carrier access, stronger data and benchmarking, and efficient deployment of technology and compliance investments, which in turn supports ongoing industry consolidation. The headwinds are labor intensity and wage inflation for producers, regulatory complexity (this cuts both ways, as you can see), and execution risk when integrating new digital tools into legacy workflows.

The 5 insurance brokers stocks we track reported a slower Q4. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.1%.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 8.5% since the latest earnings results.

Weakest Q4: Ryan Specialty (NYSE: RYAN)

Founded in 2010 by insurance industry veteran Patrick Ryan, Ryan Specialty (NYSE: RYAN) is a wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager that helps retail brokers place complex or hard-to-place risks with insurance carriers.

Ryan Specialty reported revenues of $751.2 million, up 13.2% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 2.6%. Overall, it was a disappointing quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts’ revenue and EPS estimates.

Ryan Specialty delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 25.6% since reporting and currently trades at $33.04.

Is now the time to buy Ryan Specialty? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q4: Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MRSH)

With roots dating back to 1871 and a presence in over 130 countries, Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MRSH) is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk, strategy, and workforce challenges through its four specialized businesses.

Marsh & McLennan reported revenues of $6.60 billion, up 8.7% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 0.7%. The business had a strong quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and a narrow beat of analysts’ organic revenue estimates.

Marsh & McLennan achieved the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 2.3% since reporting. It currently trades at $174.12.

Is now the time to buy Marsh & McLennan? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO)

With roots dating back to 1939 and operations spanning 44 U.S. states and 14 countries, Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO) is an insurance brokerage and risk management firm that markets and sells insurance products across property, casualty, and employee benefits sectors.

Brown & Brown reported revenues of $1.61 billion, up 35.7% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 2.2%. It was a softer quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ organic revenue estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 17.9% since the results and currently trades at $65.37.

Read our full analysis of Brown & Brown’s results here.

Baldwin Insurance Group (NASDAQ: BWIN)

Rebranded from BRP Group in May 2024, Baldwin Insurance Group (NASDAQ: BWIN) is an independent insurance distribution company that provides tailored insurance, risk management, and employee benefits solutions to businesses and individuals.

Baldwin Insurance Group reported revenues of $347.3 million, up 5.3% year on year. This result missed analysts’ expectations by 1.4%. Overall, it was a slower quarter as it also produced a slight miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a miss of analysts’ organic revenue estimates.

Baldwin Insurance Group had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is up 18.3% since reporting and currently trades at $21.88.

Read our full, actionable report on Baldwin Insurance Group here, it’s free.

Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG)

Founded in 1927 and operating in approximately 130 countries through direct operations and correspondent networks, Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) provides insurance brokerage, reinsurance, consulting, and third-party claims settlement services to businesses and individuals worldwide.

Arthur J. Gallagher reported revenues of $3.61 billion, up 34.8% year on year. This number was in line with analysts’ expectations. Taking a step back, it was a mixed quarter as it failed to impress in some other areas of the business.

The stock is down 14.9% since reporting and currently trades at $209.29.

Read our full, actionable report on Arthur J. Gallagher here, it’s free.

Market Update

Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure?

These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. Spring 2026 came, and the focus shifted abruptly from technological disruption to geopolitical risk. The US’ conflict with Iran became the dominant driver of market psychology, and when geopolitics takes center stage, the script changes quickly. Investors stop debating growth rates and start worrying about oil supply, inflation, and global stability.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Strong Momentum Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.