Why Equitable Holdings' latest earnings matter for shareholders

Equitable Holdings (EQH) just reported weaker Q4 2025 results, with lower revenue and profitability than a year earlier and below market expectations, after higher mortality claims and commission costs pressured performance.

Equitable Holdings' share price has been under pressure recently, with a 30 day share price return of a 4.65% decline and a year to date share price return of a 5.11% decline. The 1 year total shareholder return of a 13.34% decline contrasts with a 3 year total shareholder return of 54.33% and a 5 year total shareholder return of 88.28%. This suggests that longer term holders have still seen meaningful value creation even as sentiment has cooled around the latest earnings miss and capital reallocation moves.

If this earnings setback has you reassessing your watchlist, it could be a good moment to widen your search and check out 22 top founder-led companies as potential fresh ideas.

With the shares soft this year despite record US$1.1 trillion in assets under management and a sizeable discount to analyst targets, you have to ask: is Equitable quietly cheap, or is the market already factoring in its growth plans?

Most Popular Narrative: 26.6% Undervalued

Equitable Holdings' most followed narrative points to a fair value of $62 per share, versus the latest close at $45.52, so the core question is whether those long term cash flows stack up.

Demographic trends, particularly the steady increase in the U.S. aging population and rising retirement needs, are driving sustained organic demand for annuity and retirement solutions, as evidenced by record AUM ($1.1T, up 8% YoY) and robust net inflows across Retirement and Wealth Management segments. This is likely to translate into higher future revenue, ongoing client asset growth, and enhanced fee-based income.

Want to see what kind of revenue path and margin profile underpin that fair value? The narrative leans on rising fee income, tightening profitability, and a future earnings base that looks very different from today.

Result: Fair Value of $62 (UNDERVALUED)

However, if asset management outflows deepen or regulators tighten views on offshore reinsurance, the cash flow story behind that US$62 fair value could look very different.

Build Your Own Equitable Holdings Narrative

If you see the numbers differently or simply prefer to work from your own assumptions, you can pull the data together and build a custom view in just a few minutes, then Do it your way.

A great starting point for your Equitable Holdings research is our analysis highlighting 4 key rewards and 2 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.