Earnings

WTW Adjusted Operating Margin Reaches 21.9%

The Tip Desk · October 30, 2026 · 3 min read

Organic revenue growth slowed to 4% in the third quarter as adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 18% to $3.63.

Willis Towers Watson (WTW), a global advisory, broking and solutions company, reported third-quarter revenue of $2.46 billion, up 8% from a year earlier, as organic growth slowed to 4% after 5% in the second quarter.

Adjusted operating margin widened 150 basis points year over year to 21.9%, a faster expansion than the 100-basis-point increase to 19.5% in the second quarter. Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 18% to $3.63. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $3.24, up 4%.

Income from operations was $429 million. GAAP operating margin was 17.4%, down 90 basis points from the year-ago quarter. Net income was $309 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $577 million, or 23.5% of revenue.

Health, Wealth & Career generated $1.35 billion of revenue, up 7% as reported and 4% organically. Operating income was $398 million and the segment’s operating margin was 29.5%, up 90 basis points. The company said the margin increase was driven primarily by improved operating leverage and expense discipline. Health delivered organic growth with positive contributions from all regions, driven by new business and strong renewals. Wealth organic growth was supported by Retirement work outside North America and new client wins. Career organic growth was primarily from higher compensation survey sales and a return to typical survey timing, along with increased communications project work. Benefits Delivery & Outsourcing organic revenue declined, with new-client, project and regulatory-driven Outsourcing growth more than offset by lower commissions in Individual Marketplace.

Risk & Broking revenue was $1.09 billion, up 8% as reported and 5% organically. Operating income was $216 million and operating margin was 19.8%, up 100 basis points. Corporate Risk & Broking organic growth was driven by strong new business in North America and International and higher book-of-business settlement activity, partially offset by a strong prior-year comparable that included multi-year project-based placements. Insurance Consulting and Technology delivered organic growth primarily from software sales in the Technology practice, partially offset by lower Consulting revenue. The company said the R&B margin increase was driven primarily by higher book-of-business settlement activity alongside disciplined expense management.

On July 28, 2026, the board approved Propel, an AI acceleration plan that will extend through December 31, 2028. From commencement through September 30, 2026, costs consisted of $14 million in restructuring costs and $7 million in transaction and program expenses, with $18 million of annualized run-rate savings achieved. The company expects to invest about $625 million of cash and incur about $25 million in non-cash charges to generate about $400 million in run-rate savings. After reinvesting about $50 million, it expects about $350 million in net run-rate savings and about 30% adjusted operating margin in 2028.

For 2026, the company expects enterprise organic revenue growth of mid-single digits, with HWC at low-single to mid-single digits (Health high-single, Wealth low-single, Career low-single, BD&O flat) and R&B at mid-single digits (CRB mid-single, ICT low-single). The Willis Re joint venture is expected to be a headwind of about $0.30 on adjusted diluted EPS. Newfront is expected to be about $0.10 dilutive to adjusted EPS, with about $250 million of post-close revenue and an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 26%.

Cash flows from operating activities were $1.2 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026. Free cash flow for the nine months was $1.1 billion, up $226 million from $838 million a year earlier, which the company said was primarily driven by operating margin expansion. During the quarter ended September 30, 2026, WTW repurchased 687,386 shares for $220 million. The company expects share repurchases in excess of $1.0 billion in 2026, subject to market conditions.

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