Shares of Aflac experienced a significant decline on Thursday following the company’s release of lower-than-expected results for the latest quarter. The drop in performance can be attributed to a slowdown in Aflac’s Japan business.
At 11:45 a.m. ET, the stock had fallen by 10% to $75.77. This marks the largest percentage decline since March 18, 2020.
After the market closed on Wednesday, the Columbus, Ga.-based insurance company reported a fourth-quarter profit of $268 million, equivalent to 46 cents a share. This is compared to $185 million, or 31 cents a share, the previous year. However, analysts surveyed by FactSet had anticipated per-share earnings of $1.45.
When excluding one-time items, earnings per share amounted to $1.25, falling short of analysts’ predicted $1.45.
Furthermore, revenue saw a decrease of 4.3% from the prior year, totaling $3.8 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $4.3 billion.
Notably, Aflac faced an 8.5% decline in net earned premiums in its Japan segment during the same period.
It is evident that Aflac’s underperformance has impacted investor sentiment and resulted in a significant decrease in share value.