Loews (L) Q2 EPS Jumps 12%

Key Points

• GAAP earnings per share grew 12% to $1.87 in Q2 2025 versus Q2 2024. Net income attributable to Loews (GAAP) increased to $391 million in Q2 2025.

• Boardwalk Pipelines posted a 25.7% increase in GAAP net income in Q2 2025 versus Q2 2024, buoyed by new projects and higher rates.

• CNA Financial reported improved core operating results (non-GAAP) in Q2 2025 but faced ongoing reserve challenges in its insurance business.

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Loews (NYSE:L), a diversified holding company active in insurance, energy, and hospitality, released its second quarter 2025 results on August 4, 2025. The company delivered GAAP earnings per share of $1.87 in Q2 2025, up 12% versus Q2 2024. Net income attributable to Loews rose 6% to $391 million (GAAP) in Q2 2025 versus Q2 2024. Revenue (GAAP) reached $4.555 billion in Q2 2025, representing a 6.7% increase versus Q2 2024. These results highlighted resilient performance at Boardwalk Pipelines and incremental progress in book value, despite some pressure from legacy claims at its insurance subsidiary, CNA Financial Corporation. Without available analyst consensus, the company’s results can only be measured against its prior-year benchmarks. Overall, the quarter showed Loews’ continued ability to grow revenue and maintain capital discipline across its varied portfolio.

Understanding Loews: Business Overview & Strategic Focus

Loews is a sprawling holding company with major interests in the insurance industry, energy infrastructure, hotels and hospitality, and packaging. Its most important business driver is its large-scale insurance subsidiary, which underwrites a mix of commercial property, casualty, and specialty lines primarily via CNA Financial. The other key assets are Boardwalk Pipelines, which operates a network of natural gas pipelines and storage, and Loews Hotels, its hospitality platform focused on owned, joint venture, and managed properties largely in the United States.

The company’s recent strategy emphasizes operational efficiency within each business, capital discipline through share buybacks, and maximizing returns from major subsidiary investments. Key drivers for continued success include underwriting quality in insurance, regulatory compliance and project delivery in pipelines, and expanding hotel offerings while controlling costs. Leadership points to book value growth and ongoing repurchases as markers of how capital is allocated to support shareholder returns.

Quarter in Review: Segment Performance and Company Actions

Loews’ results are shaped primarily by the activities of CNA Financial, which contributed 81.7% of company GAAP revenue in Q2 2025. CNA’s net income attributable to Loews was $274 million (GAAP) in Q2 2025, down 5.8% versus Q2 2024. as prior-year loss reserves in mass tort claims weighed on headline profits. Core operating income at CNA, which focuses on profitability from the firm’s standard insurance business excluding investment results and unusual charges, grew 3% in Q2 2025, reflecting stronger premium growth and reduced catastrophe losses. The combined ratio, a commonly used insurance metric that reflects the relationship between claims and expenses to earned premiums, improved slightly to 94.1% (GAAP) in Q2 2025, indicating underwriting profitability before investments and taxes, but the overall progress was restrained by the persistence of legacy claims and some investment losses.

Boardwalk Pipelines, which handles natural gas transport and storage, continued its upward trajectory. Boardwalk Pipelines’ net income attributable to Loews climbed 26% in Q2 2025 versus Q2 2024. as higher network capacity and improved pricing contributed to better results. Growth projects recently completed helped push Boardwalk Pipelines revenue up approximately 10% in Q2 2025 versus Q2 2024. According to management, “increased transportation revenues from higher re-contracting rates and recently completed growth projects” supported the strong performance, with segment EBITDA—which is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, a non-GAAP measure—rising 14% in Q2 2025. This demonstrates that steady investment in infrastructure projects is yielding tangible financial results.

Even though adjusted EBITDA—a measure of hotel operating earnings before non-cash charges and certain nonrecurring items—rose 11% in Q2 2025, reflecting improved average daily rates and new openings at Universal Orlando Resort, profit levels came under pressure from rising operating expenses, high interest costs, and a temporary drag from property renovations in Miami Beach. This divergence between operating improvement and net profit performance highlights the near-term cost of expansion and renovation activities.

The company’s packaging business, Altium Packaging, appeared in disclosures only as a small equity result and was not discussed in detail for the period. Because of this, its direct contribution, performance trends, or new developments remain unclear from the information provided.

At the corporate level, Loews returned capital to shareholders by repurchasing 2.9 million shares for $251 million in Q2 2025. Book value per share was $84.42 as of June 30, 2025. Excluding the impact of changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI)—a metric designed to strip out unrealized gains and losses in some investments—book value per share reached $91.66 as of June 30, 2025, up 3.9% since December 31, 2024. The parent company’s balance sheet showed $3.4 billion in cash and investments and $1.8 billion in debt as of June 30, 2025.

Looking Ahead: Guidance and Key Watch Areas

Management did not provide forward guidance, projections, or a detailed financial outlook for fiscal 2025 in the earnings release. No explicit targets or segment results were discussed for upcoming quarters.

Given the absence of specific guidance from leadership, investors may want to monitor legacy loss reserve developments at CNA Financial, the continued cash flow generation from pipeline projects, and the maturity curve for new hotel openings at Loews Hotels. Any shifts in book value per share or capital management actions, such as further share repurchases, could also be key signals for future capital allocation priorities.

Revenue and net income presented using U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) unless otherwise noted.

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JesterAI is a Foolish AI, based on a variety of Large Language Models (LLMs) and proprietary Motley Fool systems. All articles published by JesterAI are reviewed by our editorial team, and The Motley Fool takes ultimate responsibility for the content of this article. JesterAI cannot own stocks and so it has no positions in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Loews. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.