Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q1 CY2026, with sales falling 3% year on year to $297.1 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.76 per share was 2.4% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

Is now the time to buy MGIC Investment? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free.

Tim Mattke, CEO of MTG and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation ("MGIC") said, "We had a strong start to the year, successfully executing on our business strategies and generating solid first quarter results.

Company Overview

Founded in 1957 when the modern mortgage insurance industry was in its infancy, MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) provides private mortgage insurance that protects lenders when homebuyers default on their loans, enabling borrowers to purchase homes with smaller down payments.

Revenue Growth

Insurance companies earn revenue from three primary sources: 1) The core insurance business itself, often called underwriting and represented in the income statement as premiums 2) Income from investing the “float” (premiums collected upfront not yet paid out as claims) in assets such as fixed-income assets and equities 3) Fees from various sources such as policy administration, annuities, or other value-added services. Unfortunately, MGIC Investment struggled to consistently increase demand as its $1.20 billion of revenue for the trailing 12 months was close to its revenue five years ago. This was below our standards and suggests it’s a lower quality business.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. MGIC Investment’s annualized revenue growth of 1.7% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, which is encouraging. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, MGIC Investment missed Wall Street’s estimates and reported a rather uninspiring 3% year-on-year revenue decline, generating $297.1 million of revenue.

Net premiums earned made up 82.4% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning MGIC Investment barely relies on non-insurance activities to drive its overall growth.

Net premiums earned commands greater market attention due to its reliability and consistency, whereas investment and fee income are often seen as more volatile revenue streams that fluctuate with market conditions.

ONE MORE THING: 3 Hidden Platforms Growing 3X Faster than Amazon, Google, and PayPal. Amazon, Google, and Meta all followed the same playbook: Dominate an ignored market. Build an unbeatable moat. Scale until you’re unstoppable.

These three platforms are running that exact playbook right now. The early investors in Amazon made fortunes. The early investors in these could do the same. Get All 3 Stocks Here for FREE.

Book Value Per Share (BVPS)

Insurance companies are balance sheet businesses, collecting premiums upfront and paying out claims over time. The float–premiums collected but not yet paid out–are invested, creating an asset base supported by a liability structure. Book value per share (BVPS) captures this dynamic by measuring these assets (investment portfolio, cash, reinsurance recoverables) less liabilities (claim reserves, debt, future policy benefits). BVPS is essentially the residual value for shareholders.

We therefore consider BVPS very important to track for insurers and a metric that sheds light on business quality. While other (and more commonly known) per-share metrics like EPS can sometimes be lumpy due to reserve releases or one-time items and can be managed or skewed while still following accounting rules, BVPS reflects long-term capital growth and is harder to manipulate.

MGIC Investment’s BVPS grew at an impressive 11.1% annual clip over the last five years. The last two years show a similar trajectory as BVPS grew by 11.6% annually from $18.97 to $23.63 per share.

Key Takeaways from MGIC Investment’s Q1 Results

We struggled to find many positives in these results. Its revenue slightly missed and its EPS slightly exceeded Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this quarter could have been better. The stock remained flat at $29.12 immediately after reporting.

Is MGIC Investment an attractive investment opportunity right now? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).