MetLife (MET) Shares Plunge 2.74% to 2025 Low on Earnings Miss, Sector Selloff

MetLife Inc. (MET) shares plunged 2.74% on September 5, 2025, marking their lowest level since August 2025, with an intraday drop of 4.23%. The selloff reflected a confluence of sector-wide pressures and company-specific challenges, including earnings shortfalls and regulatory concerns.

The decline followed MetLife’s second-quarter earnings report, which fell short of expectations at $2.02 per share against a projected $2.32. The revenue decline underscored broader profitability risks, fueling investor skepticism about the company’s ability to navigate economic uncertainties. This underperformance aligned with a broader Financial Services sector selloff, where peers dropped 3.23% amid macroeconomic anxieties such as interest rate volatility and inflationary pressures.

Analysts highlighted a softening reinsurance market as a critical headwind. Reduced premiums and heightened competition in reinsurance eroded profit margins, compounding concerns about MetLife’s pricing power. Regulatory scrutiny further intensified, with evolving compliance demands around risk management and capital adequacy raising operational costs and capital constraints. These factors collectively weakened investor confidence in the company’s long-term resilience.

Following the earnings miss, major banks like JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley downgraded their price targets for MET, reflecting diminished growth expectations. The downgrades underscored sector-specific challenges, including rising catastrophe bond issuance and pricing moderation, which increased competition and squeezed insurance margins. Additionally, MetLife faced criticism for lacking a clear competitive edge in risk management, particularly in addressing emerging threats like climate-related catastrophes.

While technical indicators suggested a potential short-term rebound, bearish options activity and macroeconomic uncertainties—such as Federal Reserve rate policy ambiguity—created conflicting signals. The insurance sector’s sensitivity to interest rates further amplified volatility, as MetLife’s reliance on fixed-income investments exposed it to shifting monetary conditions. Despite some institutional investor activity earlier in July, recent developments overshadowed earlier cautious optimism, leaving the stock vulnerable to ongoing market pressures.