MKL NYSE Russell 1000 Earnings call
Markel (MKL) · Q2 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $1973.38 · 2026-11-11
Results Q2 2026 vs Q1 2026 · previous quarter · published 30 Jul 2026 and 29 Apr 2026
Net income turned to a profit from a loss last quarter. Management sounded restrained, in its script and in answers to analysts.
Only a basic analysis is available for this company at the moment.
1 · Numbers
Turned profit
Net income vs Q1 2026
Net income 1.17B vs -212.3M
Revenue +13.2%
2 · How management spoke
Restrained
Less upbeat than 69% of company calls
Answers to analysts: cautious, in line with the script.
Similar to last call.
3 · What stood out
Key theme
Adjusted operating income fell to $436 million for the quarter compared to $578 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Valuation
Is Markel undervalued?
Reverse DCF on net income from the last full fiscal year (no meaningful free cash flow: a bank, insurer or a year of negative cash flow) (2025-12-31), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 9.9% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $3956.47 a share — the stock trades 50% below it. Today's price assumes 0.4% growth a year.
Current price
$1973.38
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+0.4% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$3956.47
Buy below
$2967.35
Price vs fair value
Undervalued 50%
Price vs buy-below price
Undervalued 33%
Read between the lines
-
Figure
Average annual operating income for the last five years ending in June 2026 was $2.5 billion, compared to $1.2 billion.
Source quote
“For the last 5 years ending in June 2026, average annual operating income was $2.5 billion compared to $1.2 billion...”
-
Last period
Net investment losses increased to $728 million from $149 million in the first quarter of 2025, contributing to an operating income loss of $273 million.
Source quote
“Net investment losses were $728 million compared to net investment losses of $149 million in the first quarter of 2025. Operating income, which includes unrealized gains and losses, was a loss of $273 million compared to income of $283 million in Q1 2025. Adjusted operating income, which excludes net investment gains and amortization expenses, totaled $498 million, a 4% increase versus the first quarter of 2025, driven primarily...”
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q2 2026. Ring: Q1 2026.
Script and answers carried a similar tone, so the script's message held up under questioning.
Sentences that drove the tone
“For example, the reduction in time to have an initial risk assessment in front of an underwriter has fallen by between 50% and 90%, depending on the line of business...”
“In the second quarter of this year, our reorganized and refocused insurance business continued to improve profitability, aided by strong underwriting and favorable reserve development.”
“We are growing where we have earned the right to win and managing the cycle where rates and terms do not support long-term profitability.”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-06-30)
| Metric | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Q1 2026period end 2026-03-31 | Change | Q2 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 4.02B | 3.55B | +13.2% | 4.02B | −0.1% |
| Operating income | 1.56B | -273.3M | Turned profit | 1.11B | +40.9% |
| Net income | 1.17B | -212.3M | Turned profit | 657.1M | +77.9% |
| EPS | 92.76 | -18.90 | Turned profit | 49.67 | +86.8% |
| P/E today 9.5 | 10.8 | 13.8 | −3.0 | 12.0 | −1.2 |
Topics
Most discussed now
- New These 2 defining principles underpin every decision that has been made over the past 18 months.
- New Two simple principles sit at the core of everything Markel has done.
- The prior 2 quarters served as a good illustration of why Markel uses longer-term views of operating income performance as...
- For the first 6 months of 2026, net income to common shareholders was $957 million or $74 per diluted share...
- However, under the surface, the level of change that has been implemented to set Markel back on the path of...
Faded since Q1 2026
- Fading The good news is that Markel remains matched in currency and duration to its insurance liabilities...
- Fading If you take the equity portfolio and just normalized returns, let's say Markel is at 8% total return normal expectation that...
- Fading 6% of that would be the normal unrealized gain that would take place.
- Fading The first is to lower Markel's average limits quite significantly, probably north of 20%.
Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first.
- Director or officer change; Other events · SEC 8-K
- Current report · SEC 8-K
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Director or officer change; Articles or bylaws amended · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Articles or bylaws amended · SEC 8-K