Aflac Q2 2026: A Weak Yen and Rising Claims Drive a Rare Miss
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on August 6, 2026.
A yen averaging 159.45 against the dollar took $0.05 off adjusted EPS and helped push Aflac to a rare miss on both lines. Rising group disability claims squeezed the U.S. pretax margin to 20.9% from 22.5%, and management now sees U.S. premium growth landing just below its 3% to 6% range for the year, even as a $0.61 payout and $983 million of buybacks kept cash returns running.
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Aflac reported adjusted EPS of $1.75 for Q2 2026, just under the $1.76 consensus estimate, as a yen that averaged 159.45 to the dollar clipped $0.05 off the bottom line. Revenue came in at $4.117 billion, roughly 3% below the $4.245 billion Wall Street had penciled in, making this a miss on both the top and bottom lines — an unusual outcome for a company that had beaten EPS estimates in four of the prior six quarters.
The bigger operational story was in the U.S. segment, where a pickup in group disability claims pushed the pretax profit margin down to 20.9% from 22.5% a year earlier. Management also trimmed its domestic premium growth outlook, now guiding for a result that lands just below the company's stated 3%-to-6% target range for the full year — a sign that the claims pressure is expected to linger rather than reverse quickly.
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Despite the earnings shortfall, Aflac kept its capital return program running at a brisk pace, paying out a $0.61 dividend per share and repurchasing $983 million of stock during the quarter. Those figures will be the ones investors watch most closely alongside any updated commentary on yen hedging, given how heavily currency moves have swung quarterly results over the past several periods.
Mentioned: AFL