Lincoln Financial

LNC · NYSE · Financials · Financials, fiscal 2016 to 2025

LNC · Last close · November 6, 2026

$40.05

Lincoln Financial's revenue fell 1.2% to $18.2 billion in fiscal 2025. Its net margin was 6.5%, down from 17.8% a year earlier. It paid out $325 million in dividends and buybacks. The diluted share count rose 7.5%.

LINCOLN NATIONAL CORPORATION Latest fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 10-K filed February 19, 2026 · 0000059558-26-000016 Updated November 5, 2026

Revenue

$18.2B

1.2%

Net margin

6.5%

11.3 pts

Net income

$1.2B

64.1%

Free cash flow

—

Return on equity

—

Market cap

$7.9B

Nov 6 close

P/E

2.4x

On $16.35 EPS, 4 qtrs

Net margin is net income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on equity is net income as a share of shareholders' equity. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.

Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.

What Lincoln Financial does

Lincoln National is a holding company whose subsidiaries sell insurance and retirement products in the United States under the marketing name Lincoln Financial. It reports four segments: Annuities, Life Insurance, Group Protection and Retirement Plan Services. A fifth group, Other Operations, holds activities not tied to those segments.

Annuities sells variable, fixed (including indexed) and registered index-linked annuities, which give customers tax-deferred growth and income for life. Life Insurance sells individual life policies and also corporate-owned and bank-owned life policies. Group Protection sells insurance through employers. Retirement Plan Services sells retirement plan products and services.

Its wholesale distributor, Lincoln Financial Distributors, sells the individual life, annuity and retirement products through consultants, brokers, planners, agents, financial advisers and other intermediaries. It had about 450 internal and external wholesalers at the end of 2025. Group Protection sells mainly through employee benefit brokers. Lincoln sold its wealth management business in 2024.

Its biggest risks, as it describes them

Weak capital markets and a weak economy.
Changes in interest rates, both low rates that squeeze spreads and high rates that cause withdrawals and surrenders.
Equity market moves that affect products with guaranteed benefits, and hedges that may not offset them.
Heavy regulation that may raise capital needs or cut profit.
Rules on the use of artificial intelligence that could raise compliance costs.

From Lincoln Financial's annual report on Form 10-K, filed February 19, 2026, in our words; the 10-K has the full description and every risk factor. Updated with each new annual report.

Income statement

Revenue and net income

US$ billions, fiscal years; net losses in red. Revenue on the left axis, net income on the right; zero is the same line on both.

Revenue (left axis)Net income (right axis)

Gross profit, R&D and operating income

US$ billions, fiscal years. Gross profit is revenue minus the cost of what was sold; research and development is one of the costs paid from it; what remains after all operating costs is operating income. Losses in red.

Gross profitResearch and developmentOperating income

Margins

Percent of revenue

GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow

From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 1.7% a year and net income fell 0.1% a year, as buybacks cut the share count by 21%.

Diluted earnings per share

US$ per share, fiscal years, restated for any stock splits; loss years in red.

Returns on capital

Return on capital and on equity

Percent. Return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business (debt plus equity, minus cash); return on equity is net income over shareholders' equity. Both use the average of opening and closing balances.

Return on capitalReturn on equity

Balance sheet

Cash and debt

US$ billions, at each fiscal year end. Debt includes finance leases.

Cash and short-term investmentsDebt

Assets, liabilities and equity

US$ billions, at each fiscal year end. Assets equal liabilities plus equity; negative equity in red.

Total assetsTotal liabilitiesShareholders' equity

Debt and liquidity ratios

Times. Debt to equity, current assets over current liabilities, and net debt over EBITDA (a full year's).

Debt to equityCurrent ratioNet debt to EBITDA

Five years at a glance

Fiscal year end	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Cash and short-term investments	2,612	3,343	3,365	5,801	9,502
Debt incl. finance leases	6,506	6,437	5,858	6,081	6,262
Net debt (negative means net cash)	3,894	3,094	2,493	280	−3,240
Net debt to EBITDA	—	—	—	—	—
Debt to equity	0.3x	—	—	—	—
Interest coverage	18.2x	7.1x	−2.5x	13.0x	6.9x
Current ratio	—	—	—	—	—
Quick ratio	—	—	—	—	—

US$ millions unless stated, at each fiscal year end. Net debt to EBITDA is debt minus cash, divided by operating income before depreciation and amortization: roughly how many years of those earnings the net debt equals. Debt to equity is debt as a multiple of shareholders' equity. Interest coverage is operating income divided by interest expense. The current ratio is current assets over current liabilities; the quick ratio leaves out inventory.

Cash flow

Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital expenditure. The SEC's structured data for Lincoln Financial's filings doesn't give both for any year, so free cash flow is left out.

Stock-based compensation and buybacks

US$ billions, fiscal years. Shares paid to employees (stock-based compensation, a cost that uses no cash) against cash spent buying shares back. Buybacks that only match it leave the share count roughly where it was.

Stock-based compensationShare buybacks

Dividends and buybacks

US$ billions, cash paid in each fiscal year

DividendsShare buybacks

Diluted share count

Weighted-average diluted shares, millions

Projections

Project Lincoln Financial's revenue, net income and earnings per share five years ahead in a bull, a base and a bear case with your own figures, and see the share prices your P/E estimates give them, or value it with a discounted cash flow model. Every projected figure is yours: it is not a forecast of ours.

Open Lincoln Financial's projections

Insider trades

Over the 12 months between November 7, 2025 and November 6, 2026, 2 insiders bought $94,123 of Lincoln Financial shares on the open market, and 5 insiders sold $3.7 million.

Buys and sells by month

US$ millions, open-market purchases (up) and sales (down) by officers, directors and 10% owners in each month.

BoughtSold

Date	Insider	Trade	Shares	Price	Value	Filing
Aug 17, 2026	Sean WoodroffeEVP, Ch Ppl Comms Ent Srvc Off	Sold	11,000	$45.28	$498,080	Form 4
Aug 12, 2026	Gary C KellyDirector	Sold	15,007	$26.50	$397,674	Form 4
Jun 5, 2026	CraigT T BeazerEVP & General Counsel	Sold	30,000	$34.45	$1.0 million	Form 4
Jun 1, 2026	Sean WoodroffeEVP, Ch Ppl Comms Ent Srvc Off	Sold	25,000	$34.75	$868,750	Form 4
Mar 13, 2026	Jennifer ChartersEVP, Chief Information Officer	Bought	300	$32.61	$9,783	Form 4
Mar 9, 2026	Sean WoodroffeEVP, Ch Ppl Comms Ent Srvc Off	Sold	8,000	$32.74	$261,920	Form 4
Mar 2, 2026	Sean WoodroffeEVP, Ch Ppl Comms Ent Srvc Off	Sold	10,000	$34.46	$344,600	Form 4
Feb 18, 2026	James Waltman ReidEVP Workplace Solutions	Sold	3,050	$41.81	$127,520	Form 4
Dec 10, 2025	John Christopher KennedyEVP, Chief Dist. & Brand Off	Sold	3,519	$44.15	$155,364	Form 4
Nov 12, 2025	Owen RyanDirector	Bought	2,000	$42.17	$84,340	Form 4

Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from their Form 4 filings with the SEC: one row per person, day and filing, at the day's average price. Grants, option exercises and shares withheld for tax aren't counted. Insiders buy and sell for many reasons, such as taxes, spreading their savings or a plan set up months earlier, so a trade on its own says little about where a company is heading. For information only, not investment advice. Insider trades at all companies

Indicators

Four widely used measures, worked out from the company's filings. The cutoffs are the ones their authors or users go by, not a verdict of ours.

Indicator	FY23	FY24	FY25
Piotroski F-score	—	—	—
Rule of 40	—	—	—
Altman Z''	—	—	—
Accruals ratio	0.4%	1.4%	0.3%

Piotroski F-score: how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency the company passed in the year (Piotroski, 2000); 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Rule of 40: revenue growth plus free cash flow margin; software investors treat 40% or more as the bar. Altman Z'': working capital, retained earnings, operating income and equity weighed against assets and liabilities (Altman, 1995); Altman puts above 2.6 in the safe zone and below 1.1 in the distress zone. Accruals ratio: net income minus cash from operations, over average total assets; lower means profit is backed by cash.

The nine F-score tests

Test	FY23	FY24	FY25
Net income is positive	Fail	Pass	Pass
Cash from operations is positive	Fail	Fail	Fail
Return on assets rose	Fail	Pass	Fail
Cash from operations exceeds net income	Fail	Fail	Fail
Debt fell relative to assets	Pass	Pass	Pass
Current ratio rose	—	—	—
Share count didn't rise	Pass	Fail	Fail
Gross margin rose	—	—	—
Revenue rose relative to assets	Fail	Pass	Fail
F-score	—	—	—

Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.

Compare

Put Lincoln Financial side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.

Similar companies

Company	Year	Revenue growth	Operating margin	Free cash flow margin	Return on capital	Net debt to EBITDA	F-score	Compare
Lincoln Financial	FY25	−1.2%	—	—	—	—	—
Aflac	FY25	−9.3%	—	—	13.0%	0.4x	—	Compare
Principal Financial Group	FY25	−3.1%	—	—	—	−0.2x	—	Compare
Unum	FY25	1.5%	—	4.2%	7.6%	0.5x	—	Compare
Brighthouse Financial	FY25	43.2%	—	—	—	—	—	Compare

Each company's latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so the periods don't line up exactly. Free cash flow margin is free cash flow as a share of revenue. Net debt to EBITDA is explained under the balance sheet, and the F-score under Indicators.

10 years of figures

Fiscal year	FY16	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Income statement
Revenue	13,330	14,257	16,424	17,258	17,439	17,715	18,810	11,645	18,442	18,212
Revenue growth	−1.8%	7.0%	15.2%	5.1%	1.1%	1.6%	6.2%	−38.1%	58.4%	−1.2%
Gross profit	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Research and development	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Operating income	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Net income	1,192	2,079	1,641	886	499	3,778	1,358	−752	3,275	1,177
Diluted EPS (US$)	5.03	9.22	7.40	4.38	2.56	19.96	7.78	−4.92	18.41	5.83
Diluted shares (millions)	237	226	220	202	194	190	173	171	173	186
Cash flow
Cash from operations	1,272	788	1,943	−2,686	534	−217	3,609	−2,074	−2,007	−167
Capital expenditure	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Free cash flow	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Dividends paid	238	262	289	303	311	319	310	305	307	325
Share buybacks	879	725	900	550	275	1,105	550	0	0	0
Acquisitions	0	0	1,410	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stock-based compensation	46	50	52	62	51	61	51	61	64	78
Balance sheet at fiscal year end
Cash and short-term investments	2,722	1,628	2,345	2,563	1,708	2,612	3,343	3,365	5,801	9,502
Debt incl. finance leases	5,123	5,123	5,686	6,408	6,565	6,506	6,437	5,858	6,081	6,262
Total assets	261,627	281,763	298,147	334,761	365,948	386,945	334,331	372,413	390,831	417,204
Total liabilities	247,149	264,441	283,797	315,072	343,249	366,191	329,229	365,520	382,562	406,298
Shareholders' equity	14,478	17,322	14,350	19,689	22,699	19,915	5,102	6,893	8,269	10,906
Margins and ratios
Gross margin	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Operating margin	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Net margin	8.9%	14.6%	10.0%	5.1%	2.9%	21.3%	7.2%	−6.5%	17.8%	6.5%
Free cash flow margin	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Rule of 40 (growth + FCF margin)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Return on capital	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Return on equity	8.5%	13.1%	10.4%	5.2%	2.4%	17.7%	—	—	—	—
Return on assets	0.5%	0.8%	0.6%	0.3%	0.1%	1.0%	0.4%	−0.2%	0.9%	0.3%
Net debt to EBITDA	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

US$ millions unless stated. Where a later 10-K restated a year, the latest filed figure is shown. Download all figures (CSV, US$ millions)

Source: Lincoln Financial's Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR. For information only, not investment advice. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with Lincoln Financial.