Reinsurance provider RenaissanceRe (NYSE: RNR) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street’s expectations in Q2 CY2025, with sales up 13.4% year on year to $3.21 billion. Its GAAP profit of $17.20 per share was 51% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

Born in Bermuda after the devastating Hurricane Andrew created a crisis in the catastrophe insurance market, RenaissanceRe (NYSE: RNR) provides property, casualty, and specialty reinsurance and insurance solutions to customers worldwide, primarily through intermediaries.

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.

Over the last five years, RenaissanceRe grew its revenue at an incredible 23% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth beat the average insurance company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a helpful starting point for our analysis.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. RenaissanceRe’s annualized revenue growth of 32.5% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand was strong and recently accelerated. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, RenaissanceRe reported year-on-year revenue growth of 13.4%, and its $3.21 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 8.7%.

Net premiums earned made up 89.4% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning RenaissanceRe barely relies on non-insurance activities to drive its overall growth.

While insurers generate revenue from multiple sources, investors view net premiums earned as the cornerstone - its direct link to core operations stands in sharp contrast to the unpredictability of investment returns and fees.

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Book Value Per Share (BVPS)

Insurers are balance sheet businesses, collecting premiums upfront and paying out claims over time. Premiums collected but not yet paid out, often referred to as the float, are invested and create 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. While other (and more commonly known) per-share metrics like EPS can sometimes be lumpy due to reserve releases or one-time items and can be managed or skewed while still following accounting rules, BVPS reflects long-term capital growth and is harder to manipulate.

RenaissanceRe’s BVPS grew at a solid 9.6% annual clip over the last five years. BVPS growth has also accelerated recently, growing by 27.8% annually over the last two years from $129.98 to $212.15 per share.

Key Takeaways from RenaissanceRe’s Q2 Results

We were impressed by how significantly RenaissanceRe blew past analysts’ revenue and EPS expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its net premiums earned missed. Zooming out, we think this was a good print with some key areas of upside. The stock traded up 2.8% to $244 immediately following the results.

Sure, RenaissanceRe had a solid quarter, but if we look at the bigger picture, is this stock a buy? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free.