# First American (FAF.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/FAF

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:28:27.082Z. Financial observations: FY2015–FY2025.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: pass; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $63.43 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $60.57 per share, central $66.63 per share, high $74.03 per share. Buy at or below the central value $66.63 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:28:27.082Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 10.5% at the stated quote. About 10.5% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; US 10-year bond 5.1% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: pass

- Financial history: 10 years

- Profitable years in the last ten: 10

- Required profitable years: 8

- Return on common equity variation (informational): 0.48×

Chart: Net income; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: $343M

- FY2017: $423M

- FY2018: $474M

- FY2019: $707M

- FY2020: $696M

- FY2021: $1.2B

- FY2022: $263M

- FY2023: $217M

- FY2024: $131M

- FY2025: $622M

### moat: pass

- Common book per share

- Bank / P&C ROTE, median of available years: 11.8%

- Required median return: 10.0%

- Return uses tangible common equity: No

- Bank ROTE, second-lowest year: 4.5%

- Years with reported combined ratio: 0

Chart: Return on common equity; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 11.4%

- FY2017: 12.2%

- FY2018: 12.7%

- FY2019: 16.0%

- FY2020: 14.2%

- FY2021: 21.5%

- FY2022: 5.6%

- FY2023: 4.5%

- FY2024: 2.7%

- FY2025: 11.3%

### economics: fail

- Common book per share

- nonpositive book value in the compounding window

- Book return interval: 10 years

- Starting book value per share: -$0.11

- Ending book value per share: $53.03

### management: pass

- Common book per share

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: -0.6%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: -1.7%

- Share growth excluding flagged crisis recapitalisations: -0.6%

- Five-year share growth excluding flagged crisis recapitalisations: -1.7%

- Flagged crisis recapitalisations: 0

- Book created / earnings retained after dividends and buybacks: 2.72×

- Book value created per share: $53.14

- Earnings retained per share after dividends and buybacks: $19.52

Chart: Shares (first year = 100); fiscal year observations.

- FY2015: 100

- FY2016: 101

- FY2017: 102

- FY2018: 103

- FY2019: 104

- FY2020: 103

- FY2021: 101

- FY2022: 98

- FY2023: 95

- FY2024: 95

- FY2025: 94

### accounting: pass

- Financial accounting warning count: 0

- Deposits, annualized growth: 7.0%

- Known restatement years: 0

## Holders

- [John Rogers](https://gigainvestors.com/AI): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

The price assumes profits shrink 0.5% a year forever · "First American's Housing Business Faces High Mortgage-Rate Pressure" (finance.yahoo.com, Sep 2026) · net income +374.3%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:44.254Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

The price assumes profits shrink 0.5% a year forever

- 2026-01-03: First American Financial (FAF) to Benefit From Mortgage Insurance Growth ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-american-financial-faf-benefit-060215101.html))

- 2026-02-12: FAF Q4 Deep Dive: Commercial Strength and New Technology Drive Outperformance ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/faf-q4-deep-dive-commercial-171048403.html))

- 2026-07-23: FAF Q2 Earnings Top Estimates on Title Strength, Investment Income ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/faf-q2-earnings-top-estimates-171600836.html))

### Net income · FY2025

net income +374.3%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1472787/000119312526055516/faf-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-18.

- FY2016: $343M 

- FY2017: $423M 

- FY2018: $474M 

- FY2019: $707M 

- FY2020: $696M 

- FY2021: $1.2B 

- FY2022: $263M 

- FY2023: $217M 

- FY2024: $131M 

- FY2025: $622M 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in insurance specialty; annual sales are USD 7.5 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1472787/000119312526055516/faf-20251231.htm#000119312526055516 (filed 2026-02-18); FY2025: revenue 7452200000.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); FAF.US: First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Home Warranty segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services internationally. This segment also provides closing and/or escrow services; products, services, and solutions to mitigate risk or otherwise facilitate real estate transactions; appraisals and other valuation-related products and services; lien release, document custodial, and default-related products and services; document generation services; warehouse lending services; and subservices mortgage loans; as well as banking, trust, and wealth management services. In addition, it accommodates tax-deferred exchanges of real estate; and maintains, manages, and provides access to title plant data and records. This segment offers its products through a network of direct operations and agents in various states and in the District of Columbia, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and internationally. The Home Warranty segment provides home warranty products, including residential service contracts that cover residential systems, such as heating and air conditioning systems, and certain appliances against failures that occur as the result of normal usage during the coverage period. This segment operates in various states and the District of Columbia. First American Financial Corporation was founded in 1889 and is based in Santa Ana, California.

### Why customers stay

It earns 11.8% on shareholders’ money, excluding intangible assets.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); 10-year return on tangible equity observations [[2016,0.11402014308324072],[2017,0.12156737658963981],[2018,0.12680681186814866],[2019,0.16002998766650892],[2020,0.141838900203666],[2021,0.21518987341772153],[2022,0.05646442526514663],[2023,0.04471854953486933],[2024,0.026708770500152797],[2025,0.1130648240749159]]; median 0.11779375983644028. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 10 of 10 years; bought back USD 122.3 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); Dividend observations: [[2016,131541000],[2017,159284000],[2018,178487000],[2019,188440000],[2020,198663000],[2021,213000000],[2022,217000000],[2023,216600000],[2024,220700000],[2025,223000000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1472787/000119312526055516/faf-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-18); FY2025: cash repurchases 122300000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 3.5% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); FAF.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 3.527 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price assumes profits shrink 0.5% a year forever.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-18); Price 63.43; FX 1; original perpetual distributable cash 6.662586493992529; discount 0.1; growth -0.00503841232843337. Same book-value model and 4× ceiling; no ten-year operating fade applies. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $39.06 per share

- 2016-11: $37.74 per share

- 2016-12: $36.63 per share

- 2017-01: $37.58 per share

- 2017-02: $39.07 per share

- 2017-03: $39.28 per share

- 2017-04: $43.41 per share

- 2017-05: $43.52 per share

- 2017-06: $44.69 per share

- 2017-07: $48.41 per share

- 2017-08: $49.06 per share

- 2017-09: $49.97 per share

- 2017-10: $54.42 per share

- 2017-11: $55.59 per share

- 2017-12: $56.04 per share

- 2018-01: $59.07 per share

- 2018-02: $58.03 per share

- 2018-03: $58.68 per share

- 2018-04: $51.11 per share

- 2018-05: $52.08 per share

- 2018-06: $51.72 per share

- 2018-07: $56.00 per share

- 2018-08: $56.86 per share

- 2018-09: $51.59 per share

- 2018-10: $44.33 per share

- 2018-11: $48.33 per share

- 2018-12: $44.64 per share

- 2019-01: $50.08 per share

- 2019-02: $50.79 per share

- 2019-03: $51.50 per share

- 2019-04: $57.06 per share

- 2019-05: $51.65 per share

- 2019-06: $53.70 per share

- 2019-07: $57.82 per share

- 2019-08: $58.45 per share

- 2019-09: $59.01 per share

- 2019-10: $61.78 per share

- 2019-11: $63.62 per share

- 2019-12: $58.32 per share

- 2020-01: $61.98 per share

- 2020-02: $57.10 per share

- 2020-03: $42.41 per share

- 2020-04: $46.12 per share

- 2020-05: $50.49 per share

- 2020-06: $48.02 per share

- 2020-07: $51.01 per share

- 2020-08: $52.57 per share

- 2020-09: $50.91 per share

- 2020-10: $44.59 per share

- 2020-11: $48.44 per share

- 2020-12: $51.63 per share

- 2021-01: $52.29 per share

- 2021-02: $52.54 per share

- 2021-03: $56.65 per share

- 2021-04: $64.50 per share

- 2021-05: $64.31 per share

- 2021-06: $62.35 per share

- 2021-07: $67.31 per share

- 2021-08: $70.53 per share

- 2021-09: $67.05 per share

- 2021-10: $73.14 per share

- 2021-11: $74.18 per share

- 2021-12: $78.23 per share

- 2022-01: $74.51 per share

- 2022-02: $67.04 per share

- 2022-03: $64.82 per share

- 2022-04: $58.31 per share

- 2022-05: $60.59 per share

- 2022-06: $52.92 per share

- 2022-07: $58.00 per share

- 2022-08: $53.50 per share

- 2022-09: $46.10 per share

- 2022-10: $50.40 per share

- 2022-11: $54.65 per share

- 2022-12: $52.34 per share

- 2023-01: $61.87 per share

- 2023-02: $56.78 per share

- 2023-03: $55.66 per share

- 2023-04: $57.61 per share

- 2023-05: $54.93 per share

- 2023-06: $57.02 per share

- 2023-07: $63.38 per share

- 2023-08: $61.68 per share

- 2023-09: $56.49 per share

- 2023-10: $51.44 per share

- 2023-11: $59.60 per share

- 2023-12: $64.44 per share

- 2024-01: $60.35 per share

- 2024-02: $58.41 per share

- 2024-03: $61.05 per share

- 2024-04: $53.57 per share

- 2024-05: $55.58 per share

- 2024-06: $53.95 per share

- 2024-07: $60.58 per share

- 2024-08: $63.80 per share

- 2024-09: $66.01 per share

- 2024-10: $64.15 per share

- 2024-11: $70.15 per share

- 2024-12: $62.44 per share

- 2025-01: $63.22 per share

- 2025-02: $65.69 per share

- 2025-03: $65.63 per share

- 2025-04: $60.81 per share

- 2025-05: $55.81 per share

- 2025-06: $61.39 per share

- 2025-07: $60.05 per share

- 2025-08: $66.00 per share

- 2025-09: $64.24 per share

- 2025-10: $62.51 per share

- 2025-11: $65.76 per share

- 2025-12: $61.44 per share

- 2026-01: $63.18 per share

- 2026-02: $70.11 per share

- 2026-03: $60.29 per share

- 2026-04: $70.13 per share

- 2026-05: $66.23 per share

- 2026-06: $68.59 per share

- 2026-07: $74.99 per share

- 2026-08: $73.92 per share

- 2026-09: $60.74 per share

- 2026-10: $63.43 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2016: low $19.92 per share, central $24.91 per share, high $33.21 per share

- FY2017: low $30.12 per share, central $37.65 per share, high $50.20 per share

- FY2018: low $43.01 per share, central $53.76 per share, high $71.68 per share

- FY2019: low $62.94 per share, central $78.68 per share, high $104.90 per share

- FY2020: low $72.65 per share, central $90.81 per share, high $121.08 per share

- FY2021: low $91.49 per share, central $114.37 per share, high $152.49 per share

- FY2022: low $61.12 per share, central $76.40 per share, high $101.87 per share

- FY2023: low $45.92 per share, central $50.51 per share, high $56.12 per share

- FY2024: low $47.52 per share, central $52.27 per share, high $58.08 per share

- FY2025: low $57.44 per share, central $63.18 per share, high $70.20 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1472787/000119312526055516/faf-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-18.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.