Jul 29, 2026 earnings call — AI products and Synergy Studio launch
Verisk reaffirmed 2026 revenue range of $3.19 billion to $3.24 billion.
Revenue $0.8B (est $0.8B) · EPS $1.98 (est $1.93) · Next-quarter revenue outlook $3.2B–$3.2B
Key quotes
"In our conversations with clients, AI remains one of the most important topics, and Verisk has partnered with the industry to help them move from experimentation into production deployments and ultimately to scaled adoption when the industry is ready."
"Verisk Synergy Studio, our cloud-native platform is designed to help clients make better decisions in an increasingly complex Risk environment."
"Subscription revenues, which comprised 83% of total revenue in the quarter, grew 8% on an OCC basis, compounding the 9.3% growth in the prior year period."
Analyst Q&A 15
growth in soft market periods
Q (Toni Kaplan · Morgan Stanley): The analyst asked how growth usually behaves in soft markets and whether new products and upselling can offset slower pricing. They wanted to know if growth might settle at the lower end of the company’s range for a few years.
A: Management said historically they still grew in soft markets and that data and AI tools increase their ability to add client value. They noted client engagement on AI pricing and products like Premium Audit AI and XactAI as evidence of incremental opportunity despite softer market pricing.
"Our experience has been in soft markets that we've generally grown at approximately 6.8% organic constant currency growth rate." — Lee Shavel (CEO)
weather assumptions in guidance
Q (Andrew Steinerman · JPMorgan): The analyst asked whether the 2026 revenue guidance assumes a low or typical hurricane season and whether El Nino could boost revenue for climate and catastrophe products.
A: Management said the guidance assumes a base case and an average year of hurricane activity. They added that if weather is lighter it would be a Risk on transactional revenue, and noted their catastrophe team is talking with clients about El Nino and they acquired McKenzie Intelligence Services for geospatial event insights.
"Yes, our guidance, as we typically do, the range still considers in the base case and average year of weather activity and of hurricane activity." — Elizabeth Mann (CFO)
AI partnerships and model co-development
Q (Kelsey Zhu · Autonomous): The analyst asked about partnering with frontier AI companies for distribution and model co-development and which areas they'd join on. They wanted specifics on processes or products.
A: Management said they are engaged with key frontier model companies and have announced Claude connectors and an MCP solution for underwriting and claims as proof points. They said clients want usable products now, there is appetite to expand these connectors, and their industry connections help place models into workflows where they add real return.
"Tangibly, you saw our announcement of the Claude connectors and MCP solution that had 2 applications, one to underwriting and one to claims that were starting points in demonstrating what our datasets could do by pairing them with natural language capabilities of the model." — Lee Shavel (CEO)
lower commercial property volumes
Q (Scott Wurtzel · Wolfe): The analyst asked why commercial property volumes were lower and why those lower volumes might continue in the second half.
A: Management said soft pricing in commercial property is cyclical and is causing clients to quote fewer opportunities and spend less on underwriting data and analytics, which hits transactional revenue. They stressed that subscription business remains healthy and underlying demand is strong.
"So those impacts are being felt in our transactional part of our business." — Saurabh Khemka
data protection and AI access
Q (Charles Peters · Raymond James): The analyst asked if customer attitudes toward LLM access are shifting and how Verisk keeps its unique data safe as AI spreads.
A: Management emphasized data security is core to their DNA, guided by long-standing data and AI policies, and they control client data use in model instances so it cannot train models. They said clients are interested in applying AI to data, and the company is proceeding with careful governance and client discussions.
"We have had a data policy and an AI policy for many years, and that serves as a great guide for us to make certain that we are protecting that data." — Lee Shavel (CEO)
AI monetization paths
Q (Manav Patnaik · Barclays): The analyst asked how MCP Connector and XactAI are monetized, whether they replace legacy systems, and how XactAI’s growth contributes to revenue over time.
A: Management said they focus on proving incremental client value and see three monetization paths: improved pricing renewals on subscriptions, possible initial transactional pricing for pilots, and license fees for agentic AI platforms. They noted premium audit and Xactware are early places realizing value and expect migration toward stable subscription revenue over time.
"One most immediately, and while this at a scale level is not significant for us yet, but I think has -- clearly has the potential to support ongoing growth is simply improving the value of our pricing renewals upon subscription." — Lee Shavel (CEO)
auto business update
Q (Faiza Alwy · Deutsche Bank): The analyst asked for an update on the Auto business and the status of new data sets and solutions expected this year.
A: Management said they are making progress in Auto amid robust competition and are focusing on differentiated platforms like Lightspeed and new analytic objects in their coverage verify business. They reported good adoption of Lightspeed and strong engagement with differentiated analytics.
"So we continue to focus on that strategy as we go forward." — Saurabh Khemka
MCP monetization details
Q (Henry Hayden · Rothschild): The analyst asked whether MCP charging is volumetric or subscription, and how to think about incremental margins and adoption pace as more clients roll it out.
A: Management said MCP connections are included in the client subscription and clients cover their own Claude token costs, so Verisk does not bear those token expenses. They said governance on AI spending is strong, monetization will build gradually, and adoption will be steady as clients work through governance and security concerns.
"On the -- specifically on the MCP connections, it is included in the client base subscription." — Elizabeth Mann (CFO)
drivers of back-half growth confidence
Q (Thomas Roesch · William Blair): The analyst asked what supports management’s confidence in accelerating organic growth in H2, given softer transactional results early in the year.
A: Management pointed to subscription growth, which is 83% of the business and provides visibility, and noted a federal government contract work stoppage was lifted so that work resumed for a one-year term. They cautioned transactional revenue may be weaker in Q3 and expect more acceleration into Q4.
"One is the subscription growth rate, again, that's 83% of our business is where we have some visibility into that." — Elizabeth Mann (CFO)
Synergy Studio product and pricing
Q (Jeffrey Meuler · Baird): The analyst asked if Synergy Studio has an upgrade fee or if monetization comes from upsells, and what makes its next-gen models different versus competitors.
A: Management described Synergy Studio as enabling more physics-based, sophisticated catastrophe models, faster and larger simulations, easier model updates, and a consistent economic framework across models for portfolio risk assessment. They said there is no specific platform upgrade fee, and some customers pay for hosting which adds revenue; all of this fits into long-term Catastrophe guidance.
"Synergy Studio as a platform enables our ability, one, to increase the capacity of our clients to run larger simulations over longer periods, which adds value to them and do that more quickly." — Lee Shavel (CEO)
Catastrophe and Risk growth
Q (Curtis Nagle · BofA): The analyst asked about growth in Catastrophe and Risk in the quarter and expectations for the back half, especially with Synergy Studio launching.
A: Management said they do not provide specific ongoing disclosure for that business but described it as a strong contributor. They added second-quarter securitization activity benefited transactional revenue and performance is in line with long-term guidance.
"We don't give specific disclosure on that business on an ongoing basis." — Elizabeth Mann (CFO)
AI pushing into workflow software
Q (Jason Haas · Wells Fargo): The analyst asked whether AI creates an opportunity to move more into workflow software versus being mainly a data company, and how XactAI fits in.
A: Management said they can integrate data and insights into client AI solutions or existing workflows and have been asked to develop software or AI platforms that integrate workflows. They noted XactAI sits in Xactware serving claims professionals and said they have multiple paths to deliver data integration, automation, and connectivity in partnership with clients or model companies.
"And as you also referenced XactAI is something that is still into our Xactware platform that services the needs of a wide range of claims companies and professionals." — Lee Shavel (CEO)
sales cycles and customers building LLMs
Q (Ashish Sabadra · RBC): The analyst asked if sales cycles are still elongated by AI concerns and whether insurers building industry LLMs risk moving processes in-house.
A: Management said some clients are building their own LLMs, but that increases opportunity because Verisk’s standardized, cleansed, proprietary data and semantic/RAG technology remain valuable to those clients. They also said sales-cycle elongation remains due to data usage and protection legal discussions, which they view as a competitive differentiator because of their governance and long history of trust.
"And yes, there are clients that are developing their own LLMs." — Lee Shavel (CEO)
quarterly EBITDA margin drivers
Q (BMO): The analyst asked what drove EBITDA margin strength in the quarter beyond FX comps and whether expenses will ramp in H2.
A: Management said Q2 was a strong margin quarter and the prior year had a 120 basis point FX headwind, so the current expansion is real; trailing 12-month margin is 56.3%. They cited Q2 seasonality and ILS transactional revenue, strong expense discipline, and said margins may compress in H2 due to seasonality, timing of expenses, and potential investments behind new products.
"Yes, it was a strong margin quarter for us." — Elizabeth Mann (CFO)
quantifying AI’s impact on growth
Q (Keen Fai Tong · Goldman Sachs): The analyst asked whether AI’s benefit to organic growth is small (tens of basis points) or already meaningful to growth.
A: Management said it is early and they cannot yet quantify AI’s current impact, but they believe AI is additive and should lift organic growth to some degree. They reported increasing client engagement and value from integrating data with AI models, but gave no numeric contribution.
"We're still at an early stage, so I don't think that we are able to quantify certainly its current impact." — Lee Shavel (CEO)