It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Voya Financial (VOYA). Shares have added about 2% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.
But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Voya due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent drivers for Voya Financial, Inc. before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late.
Voya Financial Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues & Premiums Rise Y/Y
Voya Financial, Inc. reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted operating earnings of $2.26 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.8%. The bottom line increased 13% year over year. The increase was driven by higher earnings across all segments, led by strong Employee Benefits and Investment Management performance and improved investment income. However, higher corporate expenses and relatively muted growth in the Retirement segment weighed on overall profitability
Behind the Headlines
Adjusted operating revenues amounted to $2 billion, which increased 3.1% year over year. Net investment income increased 1.6% year over year to $569 million. Meanwhile, fee income of $604 million increased 6% year over year. Premiums totaled $744 million, up 1% from the year-ago quarter. Total benefits and expenses were $1.8 billion, up 0.3% from the year-ago quarter. As of March 31, 2026, VOYA’s assets under management, and assets under administration and advisement totaled $1.1 trillion.
Q1 Segmental Update
Retirement recorded pre-tax adjusted operating earnings of $209 million, which grew slightly from $207 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was driven by higher assets, contributions from the OneAmerica acquisition and favorable capital market performance. Total client assets as of March 31, 2026, were $780 billion, up 12% year over year.
Employee Benefits reported a pre-tax adjusted operating earnings of $63 million, which increased 37% year over year. The improvement was driven by higher net underwriting and increased fee-based revenues. Annualized in-force premiums and fees were $3.6 billion, relatively consistent year over year.
Investment Management posted pre-tax adjusted operating earnings, excluding noncontrolling interest, of $46 million, which increased 12% year over year. The increase was primarily driven by higher fee-based revenues, benefiting from strong business momentum and positive capital markets. Investment Management generated net inflows of $65 million (excluding divested businesses) during the quarter
Corporate incurred pre-tax adjusted operating losses, excluding noncontrolling interest, of $61 million, slightly narrower than the loss of $62 million incurred in the year-ago quarter.
VOYA’s Financial Update
Voya Financial exited the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $969 million, which decreased 21.2% from the 2025-end level. Total investments were to $38.1 billion, down 1.2% from the 2025-end level.
Long-term debt at quarter-end was $1.9 billion, which increased 26% from the 2025-end level. The financial leverage ratio, excluding AOCI, deteriorated 220 basis points year over year to 29.7%.
As of March 31, 2026, book value per share (excluding AOCI) was $66.09, which increased 6.8% year over year. For the first quarter of 2026, Voya Financial had approximately $200 million of excess capital.
VOYA’s Capital Deployment
As of March 31, 2026, Voya Financial's excess capital position was approximately $0.65 billion. Voya Financial returned $150 million and $44 million of excess capital to shareholders through share repurchases and common stock dividends, respectively, in the reported quarter. As of March 31, 2025, VOYA had a remaining share repurchase authorization of $413 million. Voya Financial entered into a $150 million share repurchase agreement for the second quarter of 2026.
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?
It turns out, estimates revision have trended downward during the past month.
VGM Scores
At this time, Voya has a poor Growth Score of F, a grade with the same score on the momentum front. However, the stock was allocated a grade of B on the value side, putting it in the second quintile for this investment strategy.
Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of D. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.
Outlook
Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Notably, Voya has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.
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Voya Financial, Inc. (VOYA): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).