Stewart Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results

• Total revenues of $900.7 million (GAAP and adjusted basis) compared to $796.9 million ($791.3 million on an adjusted basis) in the prior year quarter
• Net income of $30.3 million ($41.2 million on an adjusted basis) compared to net income of $44.3 million ($46.7 million on an adjusted basis) in the prior year quarter
• Diluted EPS of $0.98 ($1.33 on an adjusted basis) compared to prior year quarter diluted EPS of $1.55 ($1.64 on an adjusted basis)

EmitenTrust.com EmitenTrust.com HOUSTON, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE: STC) today reported net income attributable to Stewart of $30.3 million ($0.98 per diluted share) for the third quarter 2026, compared to net income attributable to Stewart of $44.3 million ($1.55 per diluted share) for the third quarter 2025. On an adjusted basis, net income for the third quarter 2026 was $41.2 million ($1.33 per diluted share) compared to net income of $46.7 million ($1.64 per diluted share) in the third quarter 2025. Pretax income before noncontrolling interests for the third quarter 2026 was $45.6 million ($60.3 million on an adjusted basis) compared to $61.2 million ($64.5 million on an adjusted basis) for the third quarter 2025.

Third quarter 2025 results included $5.6 million of pretax net realized and unrealized gains, primarily driven by $4.3 million of net unrealized gains on fair value changes of equity securities investments in the title segment and a $1.2 million realized gain on a sale of real property in the corporate segment.

"This quarter, we faced increased industry headwinds that we anticipate will continue into next year," commented Fred Eppinger, chief executive officer. "We remain focused on growing market share across our businesses while maintaining disciplined operational execution in this challenging market environment."

Selected Financial Information

Summary results of operations are as follows (dollars in millions, except per share amounts, pretax margin and adjusted pretax margin, and amounts may not add as presented due to rounding):

Title Segment

Summary results of the title segment are as follows (dollars in millions, except pretax margin and adjusted pretax margin):

Title segment operating revenues increased $30.6 million (5 percent) in the third quarter 2026 compared to the third quarter 2025, primarily driven by growth in agency title revenues. Agency gross title revenues increased $24.6 million (7 percent), while direct title revenues increased $6.1 million (2 percent) primarily due to higher domestic commercial activity during the third quarter 2026. Net of agency retention, agency title revenues increased $5.0 million (8 percent), consistent with the increase in gross agency revenues.

Combined employee costs and other operating expenses increased $16.5 million (6 percent) in the third quarter 2026 compared to the prior year quarter, primarily driven by higher title revenues, which resulted in increased salaries and employee benefits and higher title search and third-party service fees. As a percentage of title operating revenues, these expenses were approximately 44 percent, which is comparable to the third quarter 2025. Title loss expense increased $4.0 million (20 percent) compared with the prior year quarter, primarily due to higher title revenues. The title loss ratio, as a percentage of title operating revenues, remained comparable to the prior year quarter.

Investment income decreased $1.1 million (8 percent) in the third quarter 2026, primarily due to lower interest income resulting from reduced eligible escrow balances compared to the prior year quarter. Net realized and unrealized gains in the third quarter 2025 were primarily related to net unrealized gains on fair value changes of equity securities investments. In addition to net realized and unrealized gains, adjusted title pretax income included total non-GAAP expense adjustments of $4.4 million and $3.0 million, in the third quarters 2026 and 2025, respectively, primarily related to acquisition-related intangible asset amortization, third-party acquisition consulting fees and severance expenses (refer to Appendix A for details).

Direct title revenues information is presented below (dollars in millions):

Domestic commercial revenues increased $7.3 million (9 percent) in the third quarter 2026, primarily due to higher commercial transaction activity. Domestic commercial closed orders improved 18 percent, while the average domestic commercial fee per file decreased 8 percent to $16,300 compared to $17,700 from the prior year quarter, primarily due to reduced data center and energy transaction size and volume. Domestic non-commercial revenues increased $3.0 million (2 percent) in the third quarter 2026. Average domestic residential fee per file in the third quarter 2026 was $3,200, which was comparable to the prior year quarter. Total international revenues decreased $4.2 million (10 percent) in the third quarter 2026, primarily due to a large commercial transaction that closed in the prior year quarter.

Real Estate Solutions Segment

Summary results of the real estate solutions (RES) segment are as follows (dollars in millions, except pretax margin and adjusted pretax margin):

Segment revenues increased $79.9 million (68 percent) in the third quarter 2026 compared to the prior year quarter, primarily driven by the recent MCS acquisition and higher revenues from credit information and valuation services. Combined employee costs and other operating expenses increased $72.7 million (71 percent), primarily due to higher costs of services associated with increased revenues and increased employee count from acquisitions. Non-GAAP adjustments to pretax income in both third quarters 2026 and 2025 were primarily related to acquisition-related intangible asset amortization. Additionally, third quarter 2026 adjustments included MCS integration costs.

Corporate Segment

Expenses attributable to corporate operations for the third quarter 2026 increased to $12.2 million compared to $9.5 million in the third quarter 2025, primarily due to higher interest expense on increased debt balances.

Expenses

Consolidated employee costs increased $19.7 million (9 percent) in the third quarter 2026 compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to higher salaries and employee benefit expenses resulting from a 12 percent higher average employee count. As a percentage of total operating revenues, consolidated employee costs improved to 26.0 percent in the third quarter 2026, compared to 27.2 percent in the prior year quarter, primarily due to higher operating revenues.

Consolidated other operating expenses increased $69.6 million (38 percent) in the third quarter 2026 compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to increased real estate solutions service expenses and higher title search and third-party services fees associated with higher operating revenues. As a percentage of total operating revenues, consolidated other operating expenses increased to 28.7 percent compared to 23.8 percent in the prior year quarter primarily due to higher costs of services from real estate solutions.

Other

Net cash provided by operations was $46.6 million in the third quarter 2026, compared to $92.6 million in the third quarter 2025, primarily due to lower net income and the timing of payments related to operating liabilities during the quarter. 

Third Quarter Earnings Call

Stewart will hold a conference call to discuss the third quarter 2026 earnings at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, October 22, 2026. To participate, dial 833-419-0865 (USA) or 785-838-9333 (International) – access code STCQ326. Additionally, participants can listen to the conference call through Stewart's Investor Relations website at https://investors.stewart.com/news-and-events/events/default.aspx. The conference call replay will be available from 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on October 22, 2026 until midnight on October 29, 2026 by dialing (800) 839-5241 (USA) or (402) 220-2698 (International).

About Stewart

Stewart (NYSE-STC) is a global real estate services company, offering products and services through our direct operations, network of Stewart Trusted Providers™ and family of companies. From residential and commercial title insurance and closing and settlement services to specialized offerings for the mortgage and real estate industries, we offer the comprehensive service, deep expertise and solutions our customers need for any real estate transaction. At Stewart, we are dedicated to becoming the premier title services company and we are committed to doing so by partnering with our customers to create mutual success. Learn more at stewart.com.

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements. Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements", including statements related to Stewart's future business plans and expectations, including our plans to achieve market growth and our expectations regarding challenging industry conditions. Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially. Such risks and uncertainties include the volatility of general economic conditions, including economic changes that may result from new or increased tariffs, trade restrictions or geopolitical tensions, and adverse changes in the level of real estate activity, as well as a number of other risks and uncertainties discussed in detail in our documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and if applicable, as supplemented by any risk factors contained in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed subsequently. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update, amend or clarify any forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date hereof, except as may be required by applicable law.

ST-IR

Appendix A

Non-GAAP Adjustments

Management uses a variety of financial and operational measurements other than its financial statements prepared in accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to analyze its performance. These include: (1) adjusted revenues, which are reported revenues adjusted for net realized and unrealized gains and losses and (2) adjusted pretax income and adjusted net income, which are reported pretax income and reported net income after earnings from noncontrolling interests, respectively, adjusted for net realized and unrealized gains and losses, acquisition-related intangible asset amortization, acquisition and integration expenses (related to third-party acquisition consulting fees and integration of the recent MCS acquisition), and severance and office closure expenses. Adjusted diluted earnings per share (adjusted diluted EPS) is calculated using adjusted net income divided by the diluted average weighted outstanding shares. Adjusted pretax margin is calculated using adjusted pretax income divided by adjusted total revenues. Management views these measures as important performance measures of core profitability for its operations and as key components of its internal financial reporting. Management believes investors benefit from having access to the same financial measures that management uses.

Below are reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures used by management to the most directly comparable GAAP measures for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025 (dollars in millions, except shares, per share amounts and pretax margins, and amounts may not add as presented due to rounding).

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stewart-reports-third-quarter-2026-results-302915936.html

SOURCE Stewart Information Services Corporation