Verisk beats quarterly revenue estimates on demand for analytics products

Verisk Analytics

30/10/2024 13:05

Oct 30 (Reuters) - Verisk  VRSK.O  beat Wall Street
estimates for third-quarter revenue on Wednesday, driven by
higher demand for its data analytics products primarily used by
property and casualty (P&C) insurers to assess policy risks.  

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
    P&C insurers have been facing higher losses due to claims
triggered by extreme weather events around the world, prompting
them to use analytics that help evaluate underwriting risks.
    This has boosted demand for the services provided by
companies such as Verisk in the recent quarters.
    Analysts in October said Hurricane Milton could cause losses
of up to $100 billion for the global insurance industry.
    Meanwhile, auto insurer Progressive Corp  PGR.N  said it
expects its vehicle business to incur catastrophe losses of
nearly $325 million in October due to the hurricane.
    
CONTEXT
        New Jersey-based Verisk offers predictive analytics and
decision support solutions to clients in various fields,
including rating, underwriting, claims, catastrophe and weather
risk, among others.
  
    The company's products largely cater to P&C insurers in the
United States across personal and commercial lines of business,
which account for a substantial portion of its revenue.
    
BY THE NUMBERS
    Verisk's consolidated third-quarter revenue rose 7% to $725
million from a year earlier, beating analysts' average estimate
of $722 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
    The company earned $1.67 per share on an adjusted basis in
the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $1.52 a year ago. 
    Underwriting revenue increased 6.7% to $507 million in the
third quarter, while claims revenue climbed 7.9% as demand for
its anti-fraud and property estimating solutions grew.
    
MARKET REACTION
    Verisk's shares were up 2.22% in premarket trading on
Wednesday.
    The data analytics firm's stocks have risen nearly 10.3%
this year, compared with a 22.29% gain in the benchmark S&P 500
index  .SPX .

 (Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shreya Biswas)
 ((Prakhar.srivastava2@thomsonreuters.com;))