Fidelity National Financial NYSE: FNF reported higher first-quarter earnings as its title insurance business benefited from stronger commercial, refinance and agency activity despite a still-muted residential purchase market.
Chief Executive Officer Mike Nolan said the company’s combined business “continued to deliver outstanding financial results” in the first quarter. In the title segment, adjusted pre-tax earnings rose 27% to $268 million from $211 million a year earlier. Adjusted pre-tax title margin increased to 13.1%, up from 11.7% in the first quarter of 2025.
“Our first quarter results reflect continued strong performance across the business, highlighted by strength in our direct commercial, refinance, and agency businesses,” Nolan said. He added that “disciplined expense management drove strong incremental margins.”
Title Business Shows Margin Expansion
FNF generated first-quarter total revenue of $3.2 billion. Excluding net recognized gains and losses, total revenue was $3.3 billion, compared with $3.0 billion in the prior-year quarter. Net earnings were $243 million, including net recognized losses of $78 million, compared with net earnings of $83 million, including net recognized losses of $287 million, in the first quarter of 2025.
Adjusted net earnings were $249 million, or $0.93 per diluted share, up from $213 million, or $0.78 per share, a year earlier. Chief Financial Officer Tony Park said the title segment contributed $197 million of adjusted net earnings, while F&G contributed $80 million.
Within the title segment, revenue excluding net recognized losses was $2.1 billion, compared with $1.8 billion a year earlier. Park said direct premiums rose 14%, agency premiums increased 16%, and escrow, title-related and other fees rose 12%. Personnel costs increased 11%, while other operating expenses rose 9%.
During the question-and-answer session, Park said margins improved across several parts of the title business. Direct operations posted roughly a 20% margin, agency had about a 7% margin on a gross basis, and FNF’s national commercial unit recorded a 27% margin, up from 24% in the prior-year period. ServiceLink, the company’s centralized refinance and default business, generated a 23% margin versus 18% a year earlier.
Nolan highlighted the operating leverage in ServiceLink, noting that the centralized refinance business had a 23% first-quarter margin compared with 9% in the prior-year quarter. “A little bit of extra volume can go a long way inside the efficient model that we’ve built for the centralized platform,” he said.
Commercial Activity Remains a Bright Spot
Commercial title activity continued to strengthen. Nolan said direct commercial revenue was $338 million in the first quarter, up 15% from $293 million a year earlier. National commercial revenue rose 22%, while local commercial revenue increased 8%.
Total commercial orders opened averaged 906 per day, up 5% from the first quarter of 2025 and 11% from the fourth quarter of 2025. Nolan said April commercial orders were up 9% from the prior year.
The company also reported a “strong inventory” of commercial deals expected to close, diversified across industrial, data centers, multifamily, affordable housing, retail and energy.
On the residential side, daily purchase orders opened were up 2% from the first quarter of 2025 and up 25% from the fourth quarter. April purchase orders were up 4% from the prior year. Nolan said existing home sales remain well below historical averages, but he described the company’s purchase order trend as encouraging.
Refinance activity remained sensitive to mortgage rates. Refinance orders opened averaged 2,000 per day in the first quarter as 30-year mortgage rates moved into the low 6% range, then moderated to 1,600 per day in April as rates moved higher. Refinance orders were up 52% from the first quarter of 2025 and up 13% in April from the prior year.
Management Reaffirms Title Margin Target
Nolan addressed the company’s long-term adjusted pre-tax title margin target of 15% to 20% annually, saying FNF remains confident it can operate within that range even if residential transaction volumes stay near current levels in the near term.
He noted that existing home sales have been near 4 million units for more than three consecutive years, among the lowest levels in three decades, while mortgage rates have remained elevated. Despite that backdrop, FNF delivered a full-year 2025 adjusted pre-tax title margin of 15.9%.
“That is the direct result of our scale, decades of investment in technology and automation, and our disciplined operating model,” Nolan said.
In response to an analyst question, Nolan said FNF expects artificial intelligence and other technology tools to support further margin improvement over time, even if the market remains flat. He declined to quantify the potential impact but said smaller AI-related gains could emerge during 2026, with larger benefits possible in 2027 as tools become more embedded in settlement workflows.
Nolan said more than half of FNF’s workforce is using AI tools regularly. He said the company is deploying customized AI solutions across title and escrow operations, ServiceLink, LoanCare, real estate technology companies, agency operations and software development. He also emphasized that FNF is implementing AI with governance, human oversight and risk controls.
F&G Assets and Sales Grow
FNF also provided an update on F&G, its annuities and life insurance business. F&G’s assets under management before reinsurance were $74.5 billion at March 31, up 11% from the prior year. Retained assets under management totaled $56.4 billion, up 3%.
F&G reported gross sales of $3.2 billion in the first quarter, compared with $2.9 billion a year earlier. That included $2.0 billion of core sales from indexed annuities, indexed life and pension risk transfer, as well as $1.2 billion from funding agreements and multi-year guaranteed annuities. Net sales were $2.2 billion.
Park said F&G’s adjusted net earnings contribution to FNF was $80 million, flat with the prior-year period, though FNF’s ownership stake declined to approximately 70% from about 84% a year earlier. F&G contributed 32% of FNF’s adjusted net earnings in the quarter, down from 38% in the first quarter of 2025.
Analysts asked about F&G’s returns and alternative investments. Chris Blunt, CEO of F&G, said the company was pleased with the quarter and that results were in line with expectations, but he pointed to a disconnect around how alternative investment returns are modeled. He said alternatives have underperformed and that industry practice is to normalize for them.
Conor Murphy, President and CFO of F&G, said there were temporary items in the quarter representing about 10 basis points that the company does not expect to continue, aside from the alternatives-related differential.
Capital Returns and Outlook
FNF returned approximately $222 million to shareholders in the first quarter, including $140 million in common stock dividends and $82 million of share repurchases. Park said the company remained active with repurchases in the second quarter and expects to continue buying back stock throughout the year, though he did not provide a specific full-year range.
The company ended the first quarter with $495 million in cash and short-term liquid investments at the holding company, down from $659 million at the end of 2025. Park said the first-quarter cash use included common dividends, $25 million of holding company interest expense and share repurchases, while also funding wage inflation and increased spending on risk and technology.
Management also discussed potential acquisitions. Park said FNF is seeing more opportunities, particularly among title agents, and expects more activity this year and next than in the past two years. Nolan said there are “more conversations” and “more opportunities,” while cautioning that deal outcomes remain uncertain.
In closing remarks, Nolan said FNF’s title segment is performing well in a low-transaction environment and capitalizing on stronger commercial activity. He said the company remains positioned to benefit from a recovery in residential volumes if mortgage rates decline.
About Fidelity National Financial NYSE: FNF
Fidelity National Financial NYSE: FNF is a leading provider of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. The company underwrites title insurance policies that protect property owners and lenders against title defects, liens, and other encumbrances. Alongside its core title insurance operations, FNF offers escrow and closing services, e-recording solutions, and real estate data and analytics through a network of agents and underwriters.
FNF operates through two primary segments: Title Insurance and Specialty Insurance and Services.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Fidelity National Financial, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Fidelity National Financial wasn't on the list.
While Fidelity National Financial currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Just getting into the stock market? These 10 simple stocks can help beginning investors build long-term wealth without knowing options, technicals, or other advanced strategies.
Get This Free Report
