3 Reasons Investors Love Ryan Specialty (RYAN)

The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who not so much). Let’s take a look at how insurance brokers stocks fared in Q3, starting with Baldwin Insurance Group .

The insurance brokerage industry, while influenced by insurance pricing cycles, benefits from durable secular tailwinds as rising risk complexity (climate, data privacy), regulatory scrutiny, and insurance pricing inflation. These increase demand for professional risk-management advice. Brokers operate models that rely on commissions and fees tied to premium volumes and growing contributions from recurring advisory, benefits, and compliance services. Scale is a key advantage, enabling better carrier access, stronger data and benchmarking, and efficient deployment of technology and compliance investments, which in turn supports ongoing industry consolidation. The headwinds are labor intensity and wage inflation for producers, regulatory complexity (this cuts both ways, as you can see), and execution risk when integrating new digital tools into legacy workflows.

The 5 insurance brokers stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.1%.

In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady. On average, they are relatively unchanged since the latest earnings results.

Baldwin Insurance Group

Rebranded from BRP Group in May 2024, Baldwin Insurance Group is an independent insurance distribution company that provides tailored insurance, risk management, and employee benefits solutions to businesses and individuals.

Baldwin Insurance Group reported revenues of $365.4 million, up 7.8% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 0.9%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with a narrow beat of analysts’ revenue estimates but organic revenue in line with analysts’ estimates.

“Our third quarter results reflect our ability to execute in a dynamic operating environment. Overall organic growth was 5% for the quarter, bringing year-to-date organic growth to 9%,” said Trevor Baldwin, Chief Executive Officer of The Baldwin Group.

Baldwin Insurance Group delivered the slowest revenue growth of the whole group. Interestingly, the stock is up 10.4% since reporting and currently trades at $26.15.

Best Q3: Brown & Brown

With roots dating back to 1939 and operations spanning 44 U.S. states and 14 countries, Brown & Brown is an insurance brokerage and risk management firm that markets and sells insurance products across property, casualty, and employee benefits sectors.

Brown & Brown reported revenues of $1.61 billion, up 35.4% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3.9%. The business had a very strong quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

Brown & Brown delivered the biggest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 9.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $79.75.

Weakest Q3: Arthur J. Gallagher

Founded in 1927 and operating in approximately 130 countries through direct operations and correspondent networks, Arthur J. Gallagher provides insurance brokerage, reinsurance, consulting, and third-party claims settlement services to businesses and individuals worldwide.

Arthur J. Gallagher reported revenues of $3.37 billion, up 21.2% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 2.6%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

Arthur J. Gallagher delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. As expected, the stock is down 2.4% since the results and currently trades at $255.77.

Read our full analysis of Arthur J. Gallagher’s results here.

Ryan Specialty

Founded in 2010 by insurance industry veteran Patrick Ryan, Ryan Specialty is a wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager that helps retail brokers place complex or hard-to-place risks with insurance carriers.

Ryan Specialty reported revenues of $754.6 million, up 24.8% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 2.9%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter as it also recorded a solid beat of analysts’ organic revenue estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

The stock is flat since reporting and currently trades at $51.18.

Read our full, actionable report on Ryan Specialty here, it’s free.

Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC)

With roots dating back to 1871 and a presence in over 130 countries, Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC) is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk, strategy, and workforce challenges through its four specialized businesses.

Marsh & McLennan reported revenues of $6.35 billion, up 11.5% year on year. This print met analysts’ expectations. It was a satisfactory quarter as it also produced a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is down 2.1% since reporting and currently trades at $182.60.

Read our full, actionable report on Marsh & McLennan here, it’s free.

Quarterly earnings results are a good time to check in on a company’s progress, especially compared to its peers in the same sector. Today we are looking at Brown & Brown and the best and worst performers in the insurance brokers industry.

The insurance brokerage industry, while influenced by insurance pricing cycles, benefits from durable secular tailwinds as rising risk complexity (climate, data privacy), regulatory scrutiny, and insurance pricing inflation. These increase demand for professional risk-management advice. Brokers operate models that rely on commissions and fees tied to premium volumes and growing contributions from recurring advisory, benefits, and compliance services. Scale is a key advantage, enabling better carrier access, stronger data and benchmarking, and efficient deployment of technology and compliance investments, which in turn supports ongoing industry consolidation. The headwinds are labor intensity and wage inflation for producers, regulatory complexity (this cuts both ways, as you can see), and execution risk when integrating new digital tools into legacy workflows.

The 5 insurance brokers stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.1%.

In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady. On average, they are relatively unchanged since the latest earnings results.

Best Q3: Brown & Brown

With roots dating back to 1939 and operations spanning 44 U.S. states and 14 countries, Brown & Brown is an insurance brokerage and risk management firm that markets and sells insurance products across property, casualty, and employee benefits sectors.

Brown & Brown reported revenues of $1.61 billion, up 35.4% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 3.9%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with a beat of analysts’ EPS and revenue estimates.

Brown & Brown pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth of the whole group. Investor expectations, however, were likely higher than Wall Street’s published projections, leaving some wishing for even better results (analysts’ consensus estimates are those published by big banks and advisory firms, not the investors who make buy and sell decisions). The stock is down 9.1% since reporting and currently trades at $79.75.

Read why we think that Brown & Brown is one of the best insurance brokers stocks, our full report is free.

Ryan Specialty

Founded in 2010 by insurance industry veteran Patrick Ryan, Ryan Specialty is a wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager that helps retail brokers place complex or hard-to-place risks with insurance carriers.

Ryan Specialty reported revenues of $754.6 million, up 24.8% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.9%. The business had a very strong quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ organic revenue estimates.

However, the results were likely priced into the stock as it’s traded sideways since reporting. Shares currently sit at $51.18.

Weakest Q3: Arthur J. Gallagher

Founded in 1927 and operating in approximately 130 countries through direct operations and correspondent networks, Arthur J. Gallagher provides insurance brokerage, reinsurance, consulting, and third-party claims settlement services to businesses and individuals worldwide.

Arthur J. Gallagher reported revenues of $3.37 billion, up 21.2% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 2.6%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

Arthur J. Gallagher delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. As expected, the stock is down 2.4% since the results and currently trades at $255.77.

Read our full analysis of Arthur J. Gallagher’s results here.

Baldwin Insurance Group

Rebranded from BRP Group in May 2024, Baldwin Insurance Group is an independent insurance distribution company that provides tailored insurance, risk management, and employee benefits solutions to businesses and individuals.

Baldwin Insurance Group reported revenues of $365.4 million, up 7.8% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 0.9%. Aside from that, it was a mixed quarter as it also produced a narrow beat of analysts’ revenue estimates but organic revenue in line with analysts’ estimates.

Baldwin Insurance Group had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is up 10.4% since reporting and currently trades at $26.15.

Read our full, actionable report on Baldwin Insurance Group here, it’s free.

Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC)

With roots dating back to 1871 and a presence in over 130 countries, Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC) is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk, strategy, and workforce challenges through its four specialized businesses.

Marsh & McLennan reported revenues of $6.35 billion, up 11.5% year on year. This print met analysts’ expectations. It was a satisfactory quarter as it also produced a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is down 2.1% since reporting and currently trades at $182.60.

Read our full, actionable report on Marsh & McLennan here, it’s free.

As the Q3 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the insurance brokers industry, including Ryan Specialty and its peers.

The insurance brokerage industry, while influenced by insurance pricing cycles, benefits from durable secular tailwinds as rising risk complexity (climate, data privacy), regulatory scrutiny, and insurance pricing inflation. These increase demand for professional risk-management advice. Brokers operate models that rely on commissions and fees tied to premium volumes and growing contributions from recurring advisory, benefits, and compliance services. Scale is a key advantage, enabling better carrier access, stronger data and benchmarking, and efficient deployment of technology and compliance investments, which in turn supports ongoing industry consolidation. The headwinds are labor intensity and wage inflation for producers, regulatory complexity (this cuts both ways, as you can see), and execution risk when integrating new digital tools into legacy workflows.

The 5 insurance brokers stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.1%.

While some insurance brokers stocks have fared somewhat better than others, they have collectively declined. On average, share prices are down 1.2% since the latest earnings results.

Ryan Specialty

Founded in 2010 by insurance industry veteran Patrick Ryan, Ryan Specialty is a wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager that helps retail brokers place complex or hard-to-place risks with insurance carriers.

Ryan Specialty reported revenues of $754.6 million, up 24.8% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 2.9%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ organic revenue estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

Interestingly, the stock is up 2% since reporting and currently trades at $51.72.

Read why we think that Ryan Specialty is one of the best insurance brokers stocks, our full report is free.

Best Q3: Brown & Brown

With roots dating back to 1939 and operations spanning 44 U.S. states and 14 countries, Brown & Brown is an insurance brokerage and risk management firm that markets and sells insurance products across property, casualty, and employee benefits sectors.

Brown & Brown reported revenues of $1.61 billion, up 35.4% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3.9%. The business had a very strong quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS and revenue estimates.

Brown & Brown delivered the biggest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 8.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $80.70.

Weakest Q3: Arthur J. Gallagher

Founded in 1927 and operating in approximately 130 countries through direct operations and correspondent networks, Arthur J. Gallagher provides insurance brokerage, reinsurance, consulting, and third-party claims settlement services to businesses and individuals worldwide.

Arthur J. Gallagher reported revenues of $3.37 billion, up 21.2% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 2.6%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

Arthur J. Gallagher delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. As expected, the stock is down 1.3% since the results and currently trades at $258.63.

Read our full analysis of Arthur J. Gallagher’s results here.

Baldwin Insurance Group

Rebranded from BRP Group in May 2024, Baldwin Insurance Group is an independent insurance distribution company that provides tailored insurance, risk management, and employee benefits solutions to businesses and individuals.

Baldwin Insurance Group reported revenues of $365.4 million, up 7.8% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 0.9%. Taking a step back, it was a mixed quarter as it also logged a narrow beat of analysts’ revenue estimates but a slight miss of analysts’ organic revenue estimates.

Baldwin Insurance Group had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is up 1.6% since reporting and currently trades at $24.07.

Read our full, actionable report on Baldwin Insurance Group here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Marsh & McLennan

With roots dating back to 1871 and a presence in over 130 countries, Marsh & McLennan is a global professional services firm that helps organizations manage risk, strategy, and workforce challenges through its four specialized businesses.

Marsh & McLennan reported revenues of $6.35 billion, up 11.5% year on year. This print met analysts’ expectations. It was a satisfactory quarter as it also produced a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is flat since reporting and currently trades at $185.72.

Read our full, actionable report on Marsh & McLennan here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Insurance specialty broker Ryan Specialty beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q3 CY2025, with sales up 24.8% year on year to $754.6 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.47 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.

Ryan Specialty (RYAN) Q3 CY2025 Highlights:

• Revenue: $754.6 million vs analyst estimates of $733.5 million (24.8% year-on-year growth, 2.9% beat)
• Adjusted EPS: $0.47 vs analyst estimates of $0.47 (in line)
• Adjusted EBITDA: $235.5 million vs analyst estimates of $232.8 million (31.2% margin, 1.2% beat)
• Operating Margin: 14.7%, up from 13.5% in the same quarter last year
• Free Cash Flow Margin: 20.6%, up from 15.5% in the same quarter last year
• Organic Revenue rose 15% year on year vs analyst estimates of 10.4% growth (460 basis point beat)
• Market Capitalization: $6.7 billion

Company Overview

Founded in 2010 by insurance industry veteran Patrick Ryan, Ryan Specialty is a wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager that helps retail brokers place complex or hard-to-place risks with insurance carriers.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years.

With $2.96 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Ryan Specialty is a mid-sized business services company, which sometimes brings disadvantages compared to larger competitors benefiting from better economies of scale. On the bright side, it can still flex high growth rates because it’s working from a smaller revenue base.

As you can see below, Ryan Specialty grew its sales at an incredible 26.6% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This is a great starting point for our analysis because it shows Ryan Specialty’s demand was higher than many business services companies.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within business services, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. Ryan Specialty’s annualized revenue growth of 22.3% over the last two years is below its five-year trend, but we still think the results suggest healthy demand.

We can dig further into the company’s sales dynamics by analyzing its organic revenue, which strips out one-time events like acquisitions and currency fluctuations that don’t accurately reflect its fundamentals. Over the last two years, Ryan Specialty’s organic revenue averaged 12.8% year-on-year growth. Because this number is lower than its two-year revenue growth, we can see that some mixture of acquisitions and foreign exchange rates boosted its headline results.

This quarter, Ryan Specialty reported robust year-on-year revenue growth of 24.8%, and its $754.6 million of revenue topped Wall Street estimates by 2.9%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 16.5% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. Still, this projection is commendable and indicates the market sees success for its products and services.

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Adjusted Operating Margin

Adjusted operating margin is one of the best measures of profitability because it tells us how much money a company takes home after subtracting all core expenses, like marketing and R&D. It also removes various one-time costs to paint a better picture of normalized profits.

Ryan Specialty has been an efficient company over the last five years. It was one of the more profitable businesses in the business services sector, boasting an average adjusted operating margin of 16.5%.

Looking at the trend in its profitability, Ryan Specialty’s adjusted operating margin rose by 4.2 percentage points over the last five years, as its sales growth gave it operating leverage.

This quarter, Ryan Specialty generated an adjusted operating margin profit margin of 14.7%, up 1.2 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Ryan Specialty’s full-year EPS grew at an astounding 17.4% compounded annual growth rate over the last four years, better than the broader business services sector.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a shorter period to see if we are missing a change in the business.

Ryan Specialty’s astounding 23.1% annual EPS growth over the last two years aligns with its revenue trend. This tells us it maintained its per-share profitability as it expanded.

In Q3, Ryan Specialty reported adjusted EPS of $0.47, up from $0.41 in the same quarter last year. This print was close to analysts’ estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Ryan Specialty’s full-year EPS of $1.97 to grow 17.4%.

Key Takeaways from Ryan Specialty’s Q3 Results

We were impressed by how significantly Ryan Specialty blew past analysts’ organic revenue expectations this quarter. We were also glad its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, we think this was a solid quarter with some key areas of upside. The stock remained flat at $51.86 immediately after reporting.

Should you buy the stock or not? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.