Answer
Based on the brief news excerpt you providedââAmbac Reports Second Quarter 2025 Resultsâ (symbolâŻAMB, earnings release onâŻ2025â08â07)âthere are no specific financial figures or operating metrics (e.g., revenue, net income, combined ratio, investmentâgrade rating changes, cashâflow highlights, etc.) disclosed in the text.
Because of that, I cannot directly measure Ambacâs Q2âŻ2025 performance against its main competitors in the insuranceâguarantee and financialâguarantee sector. However, I can outline a practical framework you can use once the detailed results are available, and point out who the typical peers are in this space so you know what to look for.
1. What information is needed for a meaningful comparison?
Metric | Why it matters | Typical source for Ambac | Typical source for peers |
---|---|---|---|
Revenue (or premium) growth | Shows market demand and pricing power. | Q2âŻ2025 net premium written, net earned premium, total revenue. | Sameâquarter figures for S&P Global Ratings, Moodyâs Investors Service, Fitch Ratings, and other monoline guarantors (e.g., Assured Guaranty). |
Net income / loss | Bottomâline profitability, impact of investment earnings and claim expenses. | Net income (or loss) after taxes and extraordinary items. | Peer net income reported in their earnings releases. |
Combined ratio (claimsâŻ+âŻexpensesâŻĂ·âŻearned premium) | Core insurance efficiency metric; <âŻ100âŻ% indicates underwriting profit. | Usually disclosed in monoline guarantor filings. | Many competitors publish a combined ratio in their quarterly or annual reports. |
Loss ratio (claimsâŻĂ·âŻearned premium) | Direct view of claim cost trends. | Loss ratio for Q2âŻ2025. | Same for peers. |
Investmentâgrade rating changes | Impacts the cost of capital and market perception. | Any rating upgrades/downgrades by Moodyâs, S&P, Fitch. | Competitorsâ rating actions in the same period. |
Capital & liquidity ratios (e.g., solvency, riskâbased capital) | Indicates financial resilience. | Capital adequacy ratio, TierâŻ1 capital. | Peer capital ratios from regulatory filings (e.g., NAIC, EIOPA). |
Cashâflow from operations | Ability to meet shortâterm obligations and fund new guarantees. | Operating cash flow for the quarter. | Peer cashâflow statements. |
Guidance vs. actual | Shows managementâs forecasting accuracy. | Managementâs Q2âŻ2025 outlook vs. actual results. | Peer guidance updates. |
If the Business Wire release includes a pressârelease PDF or a âResultsâ table, those numbers will populate the âAmbacâ column above.
2. Who are Ambacâs main competitors in the monoline/financialâguarantee space?
Company | Ticker | Core Business | Typical Metrics Reported |
---|---|---|---|
S&P Global Ratings (S&P Global Inc.) | S&P Global (SPGI) | Creditârating agency, monoline guarantor, structuredâfinance. | Net premium, combined ratio, rating actions. |
Moodyâs Investors Service (Moodyâs Corp.) | Moodyâs (MCO) | Creditârating, financialâguarantee, analytics. | Same as above. |
Fitch Ratings (Fitch Group) | Private (no ticker) | Creditârating, monoline guarantees. | Quarterly premium, loss ratio. |
Assured Guaranty Ltd. | AGG (NYSE) | Insuranceâguarantee, structuredâfinance. | Net premium, combined ratio, capital ratios. |
RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. | RNR (NYSE) | Reinsurance and financialâguarantee. | Net written premium, loss ratio, combined ratio. |
Markel Corp. | MKL (NYSE) | Specialty insurer with financialâguarantee lines. | Net premium, combined ratio, underwriting results. |
These peers are the most comparable because they all issue financialâguarantee products, write monoline insurance, and are evaluated on similar underwriting and rating metrics.
3. How to Conduct the Comparison Once the Data Is Available
- Collect the Q2âŻ2025 figures for Ambac from the Business Wire release (or the accompanying SEC filing/pressârelease PDF).
- Gather the sameâquarter data for each competitorâmost publiclyâtraded peers publish quarterly results on their investorârelations sites; private rating agencies often issue a âQuarterly Performance Summaryâ to clients or through press releases.
- Standardize the metrics (e.g., express all premium numbers in millions of USD, convert loss ratios to percentages).
- Create a sideâbyâside table (as shown above) to highlight where Ambac is above, equal to, or below the peer average.
- Add context:
- Note any oneâoff events (e.g., large claim settlements, portfolio reâbalancing, rating actions).
- Compare trend lines (e.g., YoY Q2 growth, 4âquarter rolling averages).
- Factor in macroâeconomic influences (interestârate environment, creditâmarket stress) that affect all guarantors.
- Note any oneâoff events (e.g., large claim settlements, portfolio reâbalancing, rating actions).
- Interpret the results:
- If Ambacâs combined ratio is lower than peers, it suggests stronger underwriting discipline.
- If its net income growth outpaces peers, it may reflect better investmentâportfolio performance or costâcontrol.
- Rating upgrades/downgrades relative to peers can signal market confidence shifts.
- If Ambacâs combined ratio is lower than peers, it suggests stronger underwriting discipline.
4. What to Do Next
- Locate the full Ambac Q2âŻ2025 results â the Business Wire headline often links to a PDF or an SEC FormâŻ10âQ.
- Download the earnings releases of the competitors for the same quarter (e.g., S&P Globalâs âQ2âŻ2025 Resultsâ filed around early AugustâŻ2025).
- Populate the comparison table using the framework above.
- If you need a quick snapshot without digging into each filing, many financialâdata platforms (Bloomberg, Refinitiv, S&P Capital IQ) already aggregate these metrics and can generate a âpeerâgroupâ view for âMonoline Guarantorsâ or âFinancialâGuarantee Insurers.â
Bottom Line
- From the information you provided alone, a direct performance comparison isnât possible because the release contains no quantitative details.
- Once the detailed figures are obtained, you can evaluate Ambac against its main competitors by looking at revenue/premium growth, profitability (net income, combined ratio), loss ratios, rating actions, and capital adequacy.
- The standard set of peers includes S&P Global, Moodyâs, Fitch, Assured Guaranty, RenaissanceRe, and Markelâcompanies that operate in the same financialâguarantee niche.
If you can share the actual numbers from Ambacâs Q2âŻ2025 release (or a link to the full press release), I can immediately build a comparative table and highlight the key takeâaways versus the sector. Otherwise, the steps above will guide you in performing the analysis yourself.