Abacus Global Management riding wave of life settlements growth after Q1 earnings beat

Abacus Global Management (NASDAQ:ABL) is quickly proving its mettle in the alternative asset management space, delivering strong first-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations and showcased the firm’s growing dominance in life settlements and adjacent financial services.

The company posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.18 for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, beating consensus estimates of $0.16 and driven by record capital deployment and strong performance in its Life Solutions and Asset Management businesses.

“Abacus reported a core beat driven by revenues and adjusted EBITDA highlighted by a record in capital deployed,” wrote Piper Sandler analysts, who raised their 2025 and 2026 EPS estimates and increased their price target to $12 from $11.50.

Adjusted EBITDA reached $24.5 million with a 56% margin, well ahead of both Street and internal expectations.

TD Cowen noted that the EPS beat was largely “driven by higher life solutions revenue and EBITDA margins,” pointing to strong new business trends including a 22% quarter-over-quarter increase in ABL Tech lives tracked and more than double the year-over-year growth in capital deployed.

That capital deployment was the star of the quarter. Abacus invested a record $125 million into life insurance policy originations, up from $97 million in the prior quarter and just $55 million a year ago. “This was a record level of activity following Abacus raising equity and debt capital in late 2024,” analysts at Piper Sandler noted. “Management was bullish on its prospects on continuing to be active given demand and its ability to recycle capital into new opportunities.”

Revenue surged 105% year-over-year to $44.1 million, while adjusted EBITDA jumped 111%. Annualized return on invested capital (ROIC) rose to 16.7% from 11% in the fourth quarter, and return on equity climbed to 16% from 13%.

Diversifying revenue streams

Abacus maintained its full-year adjusted net income guidance of $70 million to $78 million, a figure most analysts now see as conservative. “We expect meaningfully positive consensus estimate increases on the back of this,” said Autonomous Research, citing “a big Life Solutions beat” and the first full quarter of Asset Management revenue.

Indeed, asset management is quickly becoming a significant part of the company’s story. “This was ABL’s first full quarter with a proper asset management line item, and it did not disappoint, with revenue beating consensus by (nearly) 50% at $7.8 million versus consensus at only $5.2 million,” Autonomous wrote. Net inflows of $151 million in the quarter translated to an annualized organic growth rate of 21%.

Abacus, which operates across four segments—Life Solutions, Asset Management, Abacus Wealth Advisors, and ABL Tech—has emphasized the importance of diversifying revenue. “We believe diversification of its revenue streams over time will continue to make the company unique in the alternative asset management space,” wrote Northland Capital.

Piper Sandler analysts noted that management is “bullish on prospects into the rest of 2025,” particularly with the potential for new carrier buyback programs and continued asset management expansion. “We believe there could be upside to the guide if the company announces new carrier buyback programs and if it continues to grow its asset management business.”

Even in a volatile market, analysts praised Abacus’ ability to adapt. “We remain bullish on the outlook for life and reinsurance company partnerships to acquire life insurance policies from Abacus,” wrote B. Riley, calling the firm one of its top picks.

With a fresh $15 million share repurchase program announced and $43.8 million in cash on hand, the company has firepower to support growth and return capital to shareholders.

“All said, we would not be surprised if the repurchase in Q2 is higher than expected,” Autonomous added.

After a foundational 2024 focused on platform scale and capital formation, analysts say the momentum is now firmly in Abacus’ favor.