Specialty insurance provider Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE: KNSL) fell short of the market’s revenue expectations in Q1 CY2026, but sales rose 10.2% year on year to $466.7 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $5.11 per share was 9.3% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is now the time to buy Kinsale Capital Group? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free.
Kinsale Capital Group (KNSL) Q1 CY2026 Highlights:
- Net Premiums Earned: $406.9 million vs analyst estimates of $404.9 million (11.2% year-on-year growth, in line)
- Revenue: $466.7 million vs analyst estimates of $471.6 million (10.2% year-on-year growth, 1% miss)
- Combined Ratio: 77.4% vs analyst estimates of 80.1% (273.3 basis point beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $5.11 vs analyst estimates of $4.68 (9.3% beat)
- Book Value per Share: $85.31 vs analyst estimates of $88.29 (25.6% year-on-year growth, 3.4% miss)
- Market Capitalization: $8.06 billion
Company Overview
Founded in 2009 during the aftermath of the financial crisis when many insurers were retreating from riskier markets, Kinsale Capital Group (NYSE: KNSL) is an insurance company that specializes in writing policies for hard-to-place, unusual, or high-risk businesses that standard insurers typically avoid.
Revenue Growth
In general, insurance companies earn revenue from three primary sources. The first is the core insurance business itself, often called underwriting and represented in the income statement as premiums earned. The second source is investment income from investing the “float” (premiums collected upfront not yet paid out as claims) in assets such as fixed-income assets and equities. The third is fees from various sources such as policy administration, annuities, or other value-added services. Over the last five years, Kinsale Capital Group grew its revenue at an incredible 29.9% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth surpassed the average insurance company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a great starting point for our analysis.
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. Kinsale Capital Group’s annualized revenue growth of 19.9% over the last two years is below its five-year trend, but we still think the results suggest healthy demand. 
This quarter, Kinsale Capital Group’s revenue grew by 10.2% year on year to $466.7 million but fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.
Net premiums earned made up 87.2% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning Kinsale Capital Group 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)
Insurers are balance sheet businesses, collecting premiums upfront and paying out claims over time. Premiums collected but not yet paid out, often referred to as the float, are invested and create 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 because it reflects long-term capital growth and is harder to manipulate than more commonly-used metrics like EPS.
Kinsale Capital Group’s BVPS grew at an incredible 27.1% annual clip over the last five years. BVPS growth has also accelerated recently, growing by 30.2% annually over the last two years from $50.31 to $85.31 per share.
Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for Kinsale Capital Group’s BVPS to grow by 18.6% to $88.29, elite growth rate.
Key Takeaways from Kinsale Capital Group’s Q1 Results
It was good to see Kinsale Capital Group beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also happy its net premiums earned was in line with Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its book value per share missed and its revenue fell slightly short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a mixed quarter. The stock remained flat at $345.00 immediately following the results.
Kinsale Capital Group didn’t show it’s best hand this quarter, but does that create an opportunity to buy the stock right now? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
