Gallagher's Third-Quarter Revenue Rises 18% to $3.93 Billion and Adjusted EPS Climbs to $3.00, With Organic Brokerage Growth of 5%

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., the Illinois-based insurance broker and risk manager, has published its results for the third quarter of 2026. All figures below come from the company's own earnings release for the quarter. The release describes non-GAAP (adjusted) measures that the company defines itself, so the adjusted numbers should be read as management's presentation and not as audited accounting results. This article uses only figures stated in the release, and where it does simple arithmetic of its own, it says so.

The headline numbers

Total revenues before reimbursements were $3,930 million, compared with $3,325 million in the third quarter of 2025. The brokerage segment contributed $3,473 million, against $2,922 million a year earlier, and the risk management segment, which handles claims administration and loss control for clients that self-insure, contributed $457 million, against $402 million. A simple division of those rounded figures gives total revenue growth of about 18%, brokerage growth of about 19% and risk management growth of about 14%. That is arithmetic performed for this article, not a figure quoted from the release, although the chief executive's own summary also refers to revenue growth of 18%.

Net earnings were $406 million, or $1.55 per diluted share, up from $273 million, or $1.04 per share. The company also reports adjusted net earnings, which remove items such as acquisition-related costs and amortization. On that basis, adjusted net earnings were $782 million, or $3.00 per diluted share, compared with $604 million, or $2.31 per share. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and change in estimated acquisition earnout payables, known as EBITDAC, were $1,048 million, against $812 million. Adjusted EBITDAC was $1,253 million, against $1,013 million. Within that, adjusted EBITDAC for brokerage was $1,222 million, against $975 million, and for risk management was $104 million, against $89 million.

Organic growth

Organic growth strips out the effect of acquisitions, disposals and currency, and it is the measure analysts watch most closely for a broker because it shows how much of the growth comes from selling more to existing clients. Gallagher reported brokerage organic growth of 5% for the quarter, with base commissions and fees growing 4%. The risk management segment reported organic fee growth of 10%. The release does not give a forecast for organic growth, and it contains no formal guidance for 2026. A 4% to 5% organic rate is lower than the double-digit organic growth that large brokers reported in the hard market of recent years, which is consistent with the cooling of property and casualty pricing that other insurers' results this season have described. The release itself does not draw that link, so it is offered here as context, not as the company's explanation.

Margins

The adjusted brokerage EBITDAC margin was 35.3%, up from 33.3% a year earlier, and the adjusted risk management margin was 22.8%, up from 21.9%. Margins matter because a broker's costs, mainly people, are largely fixed in the short run, so revenue growth that outpaces cost growth widens the margin. The release reports the improvement but does not break down how much came from cost control and how much from revenue mix.

Nine-month figures

For the first nine months of 2026, revenues were $12,601 million, against $10,192 million, which is about 24% higher by simple division. Net earnings were $1,553 million, or $5.97 per diluted share, against $1,350 million, or $5.16 per share. Adjusted earnings per share were $10.32, against $8.35. Adjusted EBITDAC was $4,204 million, against $3,454 million. The nine-month adjusted brokerage margin was 36.5%, below the 37.9% of the same period a year earlier, while the risk management adjusted margin rose to 22.4% from 21.1%. The nine-month brokerage margin is therefore lower than a year ago even though the third-quarter margin improved, a reminder that the quarterly and year-to-date pictures are not identical.

Acquisitions have slowed

Gallagher built much of its recent growth through acquisitions. In the third quarter of 2026 it completed five brokerage mergers with about $102 million of estimated annualized revenue. In the third quarter of 2025 it completed six, with about $3,036 million of annualized revenue, a figure dominated by one very large deal, the AssuredPartners acquisition. Over nine months, it completed 19 brokerage acquisitions with about $209 million of annualized revenue, against 25 with about $3,390 million. The release also notes that the third quarter of 2025 brokerage results included about $76 million of interest income related to the financing of the AssuredPartners deal, which affects year-over-year comparisons. Revenue growth of 18% therefore reflects, in part, a full quarter of acquired businesses that were not owned for the whole of the prior-year period, and not only underlying demand.

What management said

The chief executive, J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., said in the release that the company delivered another excellent quarter. He pointed to the 26th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in adjusted EBITDAC, with revenue up 18% and adjusted EBITDAC up 25%. A division of the rounded adjusted EBITDAC figures in the release ($1,253 million over $1,013 million) gives about 24%, so the 25% he cites may reflect unrounded amounts or a different basis; readers wanting the exact figure should check the company's reconciliation tables. These are the company's own characterizations.

What to watch

Three questions follow from the release. First, whether organic growth holds at 4% to 5% as commercial property pricing continues to soften, since lower premiums reduce the commission base even when clients buy more cover. Second, whether acquisition activity returns to a larger scale or stays at the smaller pace shown this year. Third, whether the margin gains seen in the third quarter can persist when the nine-month brokerage margin is still below the prior year.

Limits

This article summarizes a company earnings release and does not include independent analysis, analyst estimates or share-price reaction. Adjusted figures are non-GAAP measures defined by the company. It is general information, not investment advice.