Lincoln Financial reported third-quarter 2026 net income available to common shareholders of $1.3 billion, or $6.77 per diluted share, and adjusted operating income of $339 million, or $1.72 per share. The company also reported improved holding-company liquidity, resumed common-stock buybacks and retired preferred stock through tender offers.
The quarter’s results included unfavorable effects from Lincoln’s annual assumption review. The company said the large gap between net and adjusted income was primarily due to non-economic changes in market risk benefits.
Key details
-
Annual assumption review reduced both measures. It had a net unfavorable impact of $0.47 per diluted share on net income and $0.48 per share on adjusted operating income.
-
Capital flexibility increased. Holding-company available liquidity reached $1.0 billion, net of prefunding amounts, approximately $350 million above year-end 2025.
-
Capital returns resumed. Lincoln repurchased $50 million of common stock and retired $437 million of preferred stock through tender offers.
-
Results varied by business. Life Insurance and Retirement Plan Services delivered strong year-over-year earnings growth. In Annuities, return on average account balances improved for a second consecutive quarter, supported by growth in spread-based businesses.
-
Group Protection fell short of management’s expectations. The company cited continued normalization in disability incidence, compounded by volatility in claims severity, while saying underlying fundamentals remained solid.
-
A reinsurance transaction with Talcott closed in October. Lincoln described the transaction as further reducing balance-sheet risk and as one of the final milestones in a plan laid out in 2023.
Lincoln also made available a statistical supplement and an earnings presentation alongside its results. The figures above distinguish reported net income from adjusted operating income; the company attributed most of the difference to market-risk-benefit changes it characterized as non-economic.