Verisk expands residential insurance push with $2.4 billion AccuLynx deal
The all-cash deal could allow Verisk to simplify interactions between insurers and contractors, which it says will speed up claims and lower expenses for policyholders.
The deal also highlights growing interest in home repair companies, as severe weather and rising repair costs pressure both insurers and homeowners. Roofing is one of the most expensive components of property insurance.
The acquisition, scheduled to close by the end of the third quarter, is expected to add to Verisk's adjusted earnings per share by the end of 2026. Its shares rose 2% before the open.
Goldman Sachs and PJT Partners are serving as financial advisers to Verisk, while William Blair advised AccuLynx.
Verisk also reported better-than-expected profit for the second quarter on Wednesday, driven by strong demand from property and casualty insurers for its underwriting risk assessment tools.
Adverse weather has prompted P&C insurers to spend more on analytics to better assess policy risks.
On an adjusted basis, Verisk earned $1.88 per share in the second quarter, beating analysts' estimates of $1.77, according to data compiled by LSEG.
On reported basis, the company's underwriting revenue increased 8.3% in the quarter, while claims revenue climbed 6.6%.
New Jersey-based Verisk now expects adjusted earnings per share between $6.80 and $7.00 for 2025, a slightly narrower range compared with $6.80 to $7.10 it had expected earlier.
But the company raised its full-year revenue forecast to between $3.09 billion and $3.13 billion, up from $3.03 billion to $3.08 billion earlier.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
23 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump, Carney to speak in coming days, Canadian official says
WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely talk "over the next number of days" after the U.S. imposed a 35% tariff on goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a Canadian official said on Sunday. Dominic LeBlanc, the federal cabinet minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade, also told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he was "encouraged" by recent discussions and believed a deal to bring down tariffs remained an option. "We're encouraged by the conversations with Secretary Lutnick and Ambassador Greer, but we're not yet where we need to go to get the deal that's in the best interest of the two economies," LeBlanc said, referring to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The trade minister said he expected Carney and Trump to speak "over the next number of days." "We think there is an option of striking a deal that will bring down some of these tariffs provide greater certainty to investment," LeBlanc said. Washington linked Friday's tariff announcement in part to what it said was Canada's failure to stop fentanyl smuggling. It was the latest blow in a months-long tariff war which Trump initiated shortly after returning to power this year. Carney says Canada accounts for just 1% of U.S. fentanyl imports and has been working intensively to further reduce the volumes.
Daily Mail
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Walmart bosses crack down on workers' infuriating habit
Walmart bosses have issued a blunt new rule banning headphones on the shop floor, but staff are fighting back. The habit, described by shoppers as 'infuriating' and 'rude', has also become a growing frustration for store managers. 'Everyone, no earbuds period. Stop wearing them,' one manager wrote on a break room whiteboard. 'Store leads will periodically come back here to check if anyone has them,' it added The warning, a photo of which was posted on Reddit, told staff they would be reprimanded, then if caught a second time would have to 'be coached'. On a third offense, the message joked darkly: 'You will be taken out back and executed (bullet between the eyes Old Yeller style).' Despite the tough talk, many employees pushed back. 'Be thankful I give customers a smile and am genuinely helping them than worry I'm not paying attention,' one Walmart employee wrote under the post. 'I can hear the customer service phone ring across the entire store. I can hear most people trying to get my attention,' they explained. 'I'm a cart pusher and my coach is hounding me every 20 minutes to make sure I'm not wearing them,' another lamented. 'I can't wait till it's cold so I can just wear them under a ski mask.' 'I've had one in every shift for about 8 years now and nothing bad has happened because of them. Thankfully my management team doesn't care,' another agreed. However, customers have long complained that it prevents them from being heard on the shop floor and creates an air of distance. 'Wearing noise cancelling headphones reduces your spatial awareness and is inconsiderate to others when in tight confined aisles,' one shopper moaned. 'It gets quite annoying when wanting to speak to an associate and they keep replying with "huh" or "can you say that again?"' another agreed. 'I find it really rude,' a third added succinctly. Walmart has recently engaged in mass layoffs this year Walmart did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment. Walmart has been conducting mass firings at a number of its locations in recent weeks. The cuts are being made in compliance with a sweeping Supreme Court decision that allowed the Trump administration to revoke work protections for half a million migrant employees. It comes on top of official layoffs of around 1,500 jobs at the grocery chain as part of a restructuring plan to cut expenses and simplify operations. The layoffs will hit employees who work in its global technology operations, e-commerce fulfillment, and its ad sales division Walmart Connect.
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
White House officials defend firing of labor official as critics warn of trust erosion
WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Top White House economic advisers on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, pushing back against criticism that Trump's action could undermine confidence in official U.S. economic data. U.S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CBS that Trump had "real concerns" about the data, while Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said the president "is right to call for new leadership." Hassett said on Fox News the main concern was Friday's BLS report of net downward revisions showing 258,000 fewer jobs had been created in May and June than previously reported. Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of faking the jobs numbers without providing any evidence of data manipulation. The BLS compiles the closely watched employment report as well as consumer and producer price data. The BLS gave no reason for the revised data but noted that "monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors." McEntarfer's firing added to growing concerns about the quality of U.S. economic data published by the federal government and came on the heels of a raft of new U.S. tariffs on dozens of trading partners, sending global stock markets tumbling as Trump presses ahead with plans to reorder the global economy. "I think what we need is a fresh set of eyes at the BLS, somebody who can clean this thing up," Hassett said on "Fox News Sunday." In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation," Greer acknowledged there were always revisions of job numbers, "but sometimes you see these revisions go in really extreme ways." Critics, including former leaders of the BLS, slammed, opens new tab Trump's move and called on Congress to investigate McEntarfer's removal, saying it would undermine trust in a respected statistical agency. There was no way a commissioner could rig the jobs numbers, said William Beach, a former BLS commissioner and co-chair of the group Friends of the BLS. "Every year we've revised the numbers. When I was commissioner, we had a 500,000 job revision during President Trump's first term," Beach said on CNN's "State of the Union. "And why do we do that? Because firms are created or firms go out of business, and we don't really know that during the course of our of the year, until we reconcile against a real full count of all the businesses." Democrats and at least two Republican senators also criticized the firing. "This is a preposterous charge. These numbers are put together by teams of literally hundreds of people following detailed procedures that are in manuals," former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "What does a bad leader do when they get bad news? Shoot the messenger," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor on Friday. The firing came amid a flurry of economic upheaval last week. Just hours before the tariff deadline on Friday, Trump signed an executive order imposing duties on U.S. imports from countries including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan, in his latest round of levies as countries attempted to seek ways to reach better deals. Greer and Hassett said on Sunday the bulk of those tariffs are likely to stay in place rather than be cut as part of continuing negotiations. India pushed back on Trump's threats of an additional penalty if it kept purchasing oil from Russia, two Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday. Trump imposed a new 25% tariff on Indian goods.
