Aflac stock is trading lower after the company released first-quarter 2026 results on April 29, 2026, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.75 versus expectations around $1.80. The miss is pressuring the shares even as headline GAAP earnings surged year over year, a swing driven largely by investment-market-related items rather than a clean beat on core operating metrics.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, Aflac reported net earnings of $1.019 billion, or $1.98 per diluted share, compared with $29 million, or $0.05 per share, a year ago. Aflac said net investment gains were $49 million ($0.10 per diluted share) versus net investment losses of $963 million ($1.76 per diluted share) in the prior-year quarter, highlighting why GAAP profit improved dramatically while the market’s focus stayed on adjusted EPS performance.

Within the company’s “corporate and other” results, Aflac reported breakeven pretax adjusted earnings versus a $43 million gain a year earlier, citing lower net investment income from reduced hedge benefits, higher interest expense and operating costs, and runoff impacts from closed blocks of business. The same section showed total adjusted revenues down 10.4% year over year and adjusted net investment income down 13.5%, adding to concerns that non-operating and financing lines can create quarter-to-quarter volatility even when insurance operations hold up.

Aflac is scheduled to host its quarterly conference call at 8:00 a.m. ET on April 30, 2026, where investors will look for updated full-year commentary, including assumptions around investment results, hedging impacts, and segment-level momentum in Japan and the U.S. With the stock reacting negatively to an adjusted EPS miss, the next leg for the shares likely hinges on whether management can frame the quarter as a timing/investment-noise issue or a signal of pressure on underlying earnings power.