FNF

Fidelity National Financial is the largest US title insurer, paired with the F&G annuities/insurance business that has swelled its balance sheet to $109B in assets (+14.4%). FY2025 results show the cyclicality clearly: net income fell 52.6% to $602M and diluted EPS dropped 52.5% to $2.21, a sharp reversal from FY2024's $1.27B. Title earnings depend directly on real-estate transaction volume, which the 10-K notes is tied to interest-rate levels — and elevated mortgage rates have suppressed home sales, compressing the high-incremental-margin title business.

Underlying durability is still there. Net margin remained a healthy 28.7%, operating cash flow was a robust $5.83B (down 14.5% but still large), and the company maintained shareholder returns with $546M of dividends (+2.6%) and $251M of buybacks while modestly shrinking the share count. Long-term debt of $4.40B is entirely fixed-rate, insulating interest expense, and the title-claims reserve is just 1.7% of liabilities. ROE of 8.1% is subdued, consistent with a trough in the housing cycle.