Workers' compensation insurer Employers Holdings (NYSE: EIG) reported Q2 CY2026 results exceeding the market’s revenue expectations, but sales fell by 10.6% year on year to $220.2 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.70 per share was 25.7% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Chief Executive Officer Katherine Antonello commented: “This was another quarter defined by discipline, and the results of that discipline are becoming visible where it matters most, in our per-share results. Diluted earnings per share grew 29% year-over-year and adjusted earnings per share grew 46%, even as net income was essentially flat. These results reflect the accretive impact of our recapitalization strategy and the share repurchases we have executed as a part of it.

Company Overview

With roots in Nevada and a strong concentration in California where 45% of its premiums are generated, Employers Holdings (NYSE: EIG) is a specialty provider of workers' compensation insurance focused on small and select businesses engaged in low-to-medium hazard industries across the United States.

Revenue Growth

In general, insurance companies earn revenue from three primary sources. The first is the core insurance business itself, often called underwriting and represented in the income statement as premiums earned. The second source is investment income from investing the “float” (premiums collected upfront not yet paid out as claims) in assets such as fixed-income assets and equities. The third is fees from various sources such as policy administration, annuities, or other value-added services. Regrettably, Employers Holdings’s revenue grew at a sluggish 3.5% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This fell short of our benchmark for the insurance sector and is a tough starting point for our analysis.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. Employers Holdings’s performance shows it grew in the past but relinquished its gains over the last two years, as its revenue fell by 1.8% annually. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers because they were impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, Employers Holdings’s revenue fell by 10.6% year on year to $220.2 million but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 8.4%.

Net premiums earned made up 87% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning Employers Holdings barely relies on non-insurance activities to drive its overall growth.

Net premiums earned command greater market attention due to their 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) is invested, creating an asset base supported by a liability structure. Book value per share (BVPS) captures this dynamic by measuring these assets (investment portfolio, cash, reinsurance recoverables) less 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 because it reflects long-term capital growth and is harder to manipulate than more commonly-used metrics like EPS.

Employers Holdings’s BVPS grew at a sluggish 2.4% annual clip over the last five years. However, BVPS growth has accelerated recently, growing by 7.9% annually over the last two years from $41.09 to $47.83 per share.

Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for Employers Holdings’s BVPS to grow by 13.9% to $52.13, solid growth rate.

Key Takeaways from Employers Holdings’s Q2 Results

It was good to see Employers Holdings beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also excited its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. On the other hand, its book value per share missed and its net premiums earned fell slightly short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this print was mixed but still had some key positives. The stock remained flat at $49.73 immediately following the results.

Indeed, Employers Holdings had a rock-solid quarterly earnings result, but is this stock a good investment here? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).