Equitable Holdings stock price target lowered to $63 by Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI and Wells Fargo have both lowered their price targets for Equitable Holdings Inc (EQH) to $63.00, while maintaining Outperform and Overweight ratings, respectively. This follows EQH's mixed Q2 2025 earnings, which saw an EPS beat but a significant revenue miss. Evercore's revision specifically cites anticipated slower growth and modest margin compression in the Individual Retirement segment as higher-margined older business rolls off, alongside a more conservative capital deployment strategy, indicating a nuanced outlook for EQH's near-term profitability and capital allocation.

Analysis

Two sell-side firms, Evercore ISI and Wells Fargo, have lowered their price targets on Equitable Holdings (EQH) to $63.00, though both maintain bullish ratings of Outperform and Overweight, respectively. The revisions follow the company's mixed second-quarter 2025 results, which featured an adjusted non-GAAP EPS beat of $1.41 versus a $1.33 consensus, but a significant revenue miss of 26.93% ($2.36 billion reported vs. $3.23 billion projected). Evercore's analysis, which reduced 2026 estimates by approximately 2%, points to a specific headwind: anticipated margin compression in the Individual Retirement (IR) segment as a higher-margined, older block of business (about 15% of in-force) rolls off. This weakness was partially offset by stronger performance in the Wealth and AB segments. Furthermore, the company's more conservative capital deployment plan for excess capital from the RGA deal—a 50/50 split between debt reduction and share repurchases—is expected to modestly reduce 2026 EPS estimates. Despite these headwinds and a high P/E ratio of 37.4x, InvestingPro data indicates the company maintains strong overall financial health.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Investors should monitor near-term margin performance in the Individual Retirement segment, as the roll-off of higher-margined business is a key headwind impacting 2025-2026 growth estimates.
• Consider the company's conservative capital allocation strategy, which prioritizes balance sheet health through debt reduction but may temper near-term EPS growth compared to a more aggressive share repurchase plan.
• Given the substantial revenue miss against a modest EPS beat, focus on future revenue growth and the ability of the Wealth and AB segments to continue offsetting weakness in the core retirement business.
• Evaluate if the current P/E of 37.4x adequately reflects the identified growth headwinds, even with analysts maintaining long-term positive ratings.