W. R. Berkley Corp (WRB)
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Trading Day
Key levels of the most recently completed trading day — not a live quote.
52-Week Range
Current price 72.50 $ — 60% of the range above the low.
Lowest and highest closing price over the last 52 weeks. The marker shows where the current price sits within that range: close to the high speaks for strength, close to the low for weakness.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 08/03/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
Uses AIW. R. Berkley setzt künstliche Intelligenz als internes Werkzeug ein und benennt im Geschäftsbericht 10-K für 2025 ausdrücklich „significant investments in AI and related technology“ — verkauft aber selbst kein KI-Produkt; das Geschäft bleibt Erst- und Rückversicherung in 60 eigenständigen Einheiten.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„As we make significant investments in AI and related technology and increasingly rely on the use of AI by third parties, we may not achieve the expected operational and other benefits, or such benefits may take longer than anticipated, and our competitors may adopt AI technologies more effectively or efficiently than we do, which may adversely affect our market position and results of operations."
Während wir erhebliche Investitionen in KI und verwandte Technik tätigen und uns zunehmend auf den Einsatz von KI durch Dritte stützen, erreichen wir den erwarteten betrieblichen und sonstigen Nutzen möglicherweise nicht, oder er stellt sich später ein als erwartet; zudem könnten unsere Wettbewerber KI-Technologien wirksamer oder effizienter einsetzen als wir, was unsere Marktstellung und unser Ergebnis beeinträchtigen kann.
„In December 2023, the NAIC adopted the Model Bulletin on the Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers (the “AI Bulletin”). The AI Bulletin has been adopted and issued by approximately half of U.S. states."
Im Dezember 2023 verabschiedete die NAIC das Musterrundschreiben zum Einsatz von Systemen künstlicher Intelligenz durch Versicherer (das „KI-Rundschreiben“). Rund die Hälfte der US-Bundesstaaten hat das KI-Rundschreiben übernommen und herausgegeben.
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-05-01 · 10-K 2026-02-27 · 10-K 2025-02-24 · 10-K 2023-02-24 · 8-K 2026-07-20 · 8-K 2026-06-10 · 8-K 2025-03-28 · SCHEDULE 13D/A 2026-07-21
Rated on July 28, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
What the Earnings Calls Reveal
Red flags growth target missedAcross all ten reviewed calls W. R. Berkley delivers strong numbers: return on equity ranged from roughly 19 to 24 percent every quarter, the expense ratio stayed below 30 percent as promised, and investment income rose clearly in trend, from 320 million dollars in 2024-Q1 to 419 million in 2026-Q2, albeit with setbacks in 2024-Q3 and 2025-Q4. Living up to its own statements is a more mixed picture: the 10 to 15 percent growth expectation issued in 2024 was walked back in several steps into the low single digits, and the repeatedly announced margin improvement is not visible in the reported ratios through 2026-Q2. On top of that, detailed questions on reserve development were pushed to post-call conversations almost every time over two and a half years.
10 calls reviewed, 2024-Q1 through 2026-Q2 · As of August 2, 2026
Growth band of 10 to 15 percent retired in three steps
On the 2024-Q1 call CEO Rob Berkley named 10 to 15 percent premium growth as the expectation for the foreseeable future, but called the band a rough guesstimate individual quarters could deviate from. He repeated it in 2024-Q2 and 2024-Q3. In 2024-Q4 he no longer named it when asked directly, speaking only of double digit growth for 2025 and explicitly allowing for 9 percent. Full year 2024 net premiums written grew 9.3 percent. In 2025-Q2 he cut the band to 8 to 12 percent in answer to an analyst question, in 2025-Q3 he confirmed, again on a question, that mid single digits were possible too, and said the company had once given guidance in an attempt to be helpful. For the fourth quarter of 2025 he described October and November as roughly flat, while pointing to 7 percent gross growth in December. In 2026-Q1 and 2026-Q2 the insurance segment grew net premiums by 3.2 and 3.7 percent while the reinsurance segment shrank. Every downgrade came in answer to an analyst question, none in the prepared remarks.
Reversal from rate discipline to growth
Through 2025-Q3 the message was unchanged: underwriting margin ranks above top line, and rate integrity would not be sacrificed just to write premium. From 2025-Q4 the tone shifted to no longer feeling the same across the board pressure to push rate, and in 2026-Q1 management explicitly announced it would ease off the rate pedal and lean harder into exposure growth. In 2026-Q2 the rate increase excluding workers compensation dropped from 7.2 percent in the prior quarter to 3.8 percent, close to a halving within one quarter. That step had been announced two quarters earlier, and in 2026-Q2 management explicitly pointed out it was doing exactly what it had said it would do. The reversal is justified by the view that recent accident year loss picks hold more room than originally assumed. Asked directly in 2025-Q4 whether that more favourable view had been reflected in the 2025 loss picks, the answer was that they had not been touched. The pricing decision therefore rests on an assessment the company has not yet put in its own books, which it presents as deliberate caution.
Announced margin improvement does not show up in the ratios
From 2024-Q1 to 2024-Q4 management repeated that the rate achieved comfortably exceeded loss trend and that the underwriting margin would improve from here, or at a minimum not deteriorate. The reported current accident year combined ratio excluding catastrophes was 87.7 percent in 2024-Q1 and 88.1 percent in 2026-Q2, and stayed between 87.2 and 88.4 percent throughout. The underlying loss ratio moved within the narrow band of 59.1 to 59.9 percent across all ten quarters, peaking in 2025-Q2 and 2025-Q3. Every upward move was explained in almost identical words as business mix, in 2024-Q1, 2024-Q4, 2025-Q1, 2025-Q2, 2025-Q3 and 2026-Q1. After two and a half years of seven to eight percent annual rate increases the promised improvement remains an assertion that outsiders cannot verify from the figures.
Reserve detail deferred for ten calls running
In each of the ten reviewed calls analysts asked how prior year development split across segments, lines or accident years. The breakdown by accident year and line was refused or deferred to the quarterly filing and to post-call conversations in all ten calls, among them 2024-Q3, 2024-Q4, 2025-Q1, 2025-Q4, 2026-Q1 and 2026-Q2. The plain segment split was given directly by the CFO only in 2024-Q2, 2024-Q3 and 2025-Q1; in 2024-Q1, 2024-Q4, 2025-Q3, 2025-Q4, 2026-Q1 and 2026-Q2 the answer amounted to not having the sheet at hand. The same pattern applies to two further standing questions: assumed loss trend by line and rate change by line have been withheld continuously since 2024-Q1, most recently in 2026-Q1 and 2026-Q2. The questioners changed over the years, the topic and the answer did not.
Two alleged commitments do not hold up
Two statements that read like broken commitments do not survive a close reading. In 2025-Q1 Rob Berkley was asked how hard tariffs could hit the loss ratio. He answered that a number would be premature and that he hoped to be able to deliver one in roughly 90 days. That is a hope, not a deadline. On the very next call in 2025-Q2 he answered in substance: nothing noteworthy was showing in claims. In 2025-Q3 he confirmed that again on a direct question. In 2025-Q4, 2026-Q1 and 2026-Q2 tariffs did not come up on the call at all, because no analyst raised the topic again. Second, in 2024-Q4 Executive Chairman Bill Berkley said of one disappointing private equity fund that in his view it was behind the company and that he would not expect a problem going forward. That was an expectation without a date. The 32 million dollar investment fund loss reported in 2025-Q4 was attributed on the call mainly to one fund in the financial category; the transcript does not say it was the same fund. What remains open is only that the flagged quantification of tariff effects never arrived as a figure through 2026-Q2.
The reliable side: costs, duration, investment income
There is a clearly reliable side. The 2024-Q1 commitment that the expense ratio would stay comfortably below 30 percent and permanently start with a two was met in all ten quarters, at values between 27.8 and 28.6 percent. The gradual extension of bond duration announced from 2024-Q1 onwards was executed as described, from 2.5 years in 2024-Q1 to 3.2 years in 2026-Q2. The rise in investment income flagged since 2024 also materialised, from 320 million dollars in 2024-Q1 to 419 million in 2026-Q2. One caveat belongs here: in 2025-Q2 the operating earnings metric was redefined to exclude foreign currency gains and losses, after currency losses of 25, 19 and 55 million dollars in 2024-Q3, 2025-Q1 and 2025-Q2. The change was explained openly, but it flatters precisely the quarters in which it was introduced.
Management promises
-
2024-Q1 kept
The expense ratio stays comfortably below 30 percent and starts with a two indefinitely.
Met in all ten quarters from 2024-Q1 to 2026-Q2, ranging from 27.8 to 28.6 percent.
-
2024-Q1 broken
The business should grow 10 to 15 percent on an annual basis for the foreseeable future, explicitly framed as a rough guesstimate rather than firm guidance.
Only 9.3 percent net in 2024, and 3.2 and 3.7 percent in the insurance segment in 2026-Q1 and 2026-Q2. The band was cut to 8 to 12 percent in 2025-Q2 and dropped entirely in 2025-Q3.
-
2024-Q3 broken
The growth dip in the auto book is a one-off headwind, and October data already show the market catching up.
In 2025-Q3 the picture was described as still choppy. In 2025-Q4 the CEO said the recovery signs in the auto book had proved to be a mirage, that the market kept finding new lows, and that a bottom was hoped for only towards the end of 2026.
-
2024-Q4 open
In the executive chairman's view the loss from one disappointing private equity fund is behind the company, and he does not expect a problem from it going forward.
In 2025-Q4 the company booked a 32 million dollar investment fund loss, attributed on the call mainly to one fund in the financial category. The transcripts do not show whether it was the same fund, and no deadline was attached to the statement.
-
2024-Q4 open
The underwriting margin will improve from here and at a minimum will not deteriorate.
The current accident year combined ratio excluding catastrophes was 87.7 percent in 2024-Q4 and 88.1 percent in 2026-Q2. No improvement is visible so far, and management points to deliberately cautious loss picks.
-
2025-Q1 open
The CEO hopes to be able to quantify the impact of tariffs on the loss ratio in roughly 90 days.
No figure had arrived through 2026-Q2. In 2025-Q2 and 2025-Q3 management answered in substance that nothing noteworthy was showing in claims. From 2025-Q4 the topic no longer came up on the calls because no analyst asked again.
-
2024-Q1 kept
Bond portfolio duration will be extended step by step whenever opportunities arise.
Executed as described, from 2.5 years in 2024-Q1 to 3.2 years in 2026-Q2, with no compromise on the AA minus credit quality.
Based on public earnings call transcripts. Reviewed: 10 transcripts 2024-Q1 through 2026-Q2.
Analysts & Price Target
The price target sits 4.4% below the current price.
- Consensus
- Sell
- Analyst Ratings
- 16
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 4.86 | 4.59 – 5.03 | 12,803 | 12.2% | 17 |
| 12/31/2027 | 4.83 | 4.38 – 5.10 | 13,303 | -0.6% | 18 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Next Reporting Date
- Expected Earnings per Share
- 1.11 $
Expected date of the next quarterly or annual figures. Dates do shift occasionally — only the invitation issued by the company is binding.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
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Source: fundamental data
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 1.44 | 47.00 | 3,668 | 13.90 | 15.70 | 810 | 796 |
| 2025: Q1 | 1.04 | -4.20 | 3,547 | 8.90 | 11.80 | 744 | 728 |
| 2025: Q2 | 1.00 | 8.80 | 3,671 | 10.80 | 10.90 | 704 | 683 |
| 2025: Q3 | 1.28 | 40.30 | 3,768 | 10.80 | 13.60 | 1,140 | 1,123 |
| 2025: Q4 | 1.13 | -21.60 | 3,719 | 1.40 | 12.10 | 1,013 | 896 |
| 2026: Q1 | 1.31 | 25.00 | 3,689 | 4.00 | 14.00 | 668 | 668 |
| 2026: Q2 | 1.15 | 15.00 | 3,716 | 1.20 | 12.20 | 800 | 800 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Annual Figures
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 7,654 | 896 | 602 | 1.39 | 848 | 5,047 | 23,365 |
| 2017 | 8,011 | 773 | 549 | 1.26 | 711 | 5,451 | 29,764 |
| 2018 | 7,692 | 812 | 641 | 1.48 | 620 | 5,438 | 24,896 |
| 2019 | 7,902 | 853 | 682 | 1.57 | 1,144 | 6,075 | 26,662 |
| 2020 | 8,099 | 705 | 531 | 1.25 | 1,617 | 6,311 | 28,607 |
| 2021 | 9,455 | 1,283 | 1,022 | 2.44 | 2,184 | 6,653 | 32,086 |
| 2022 | 11,167 | 1,720 | 1,381 | 3.29 | 2,569 | 6,748 | 33,861 |
| 2023 | 12,143 | 1,754 | 1,381 | 3.37 | 2,929 | 7,455 | 37,202 |
| 2024 | 13,639 | 2,264 | 1,756 | 4.36 | 3,678 | 8,395 | 40,567 |
| 2025 | 14,706 | 2,334 | 1,779 | 4.46 | 3,640 | 9,701 | 44,071 |
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
About the Company
W.R. Berkley
| Employees | 8,804 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Greenwich, CT |
| Address | 475 Steamboat Road, 06830 Greenwich, United States |
| Phone | 203 629 3000 |
| Website | berkley.com |
| IPO Date | 7. Sep 1984 |
| ISIN | US0844231029 |
| Stock Split | 3:2 on 07/11/2024 |
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| William Robert Berkley Jr. | President, CEO & Chairman | 1972 |
| Richard Mark Baio | Executive VP & CFO | 1969 |
| James Gerald Shiel | Executive Vice President of Investments | 1960 |
| Philip Stanley Welt CPA | Executive VP & Secretary | 1960 |
| Karen A. Horvath | Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
| Stephen Mark Kennedy | Senior VP & General Counsel | – |
| Scott Allen Bennett | Senior VP & Chief Compliance Officer | – |
| Jonathan M. Levine | VP & Chief Marketing Officer | – |
| Carol Josephine LaPunzina | Senior Vice President of Human Resources | 1962 |
| Edward F. Linekin | Senior Vice President of Investments | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 31, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.