MetLife Beats Estimates, Shares Lower (MET)

MetLife MET reported better than expected earnings tonight, but shares are falling in after-hours after Wall Street digests the earnings report. The company reported earnings of $1.33 per share on revenues of $15.91 billion. This beat Wall Street estimates of $1.26 per share on revenues of $15.89 billion. "With record top-line performance and a 64% increase in operating earnings over the first quarter of 2010, MetLife delivered very strong results in the first quarter of 2011,” said Steven A. Kandarian, who became president & chief executive officer of MetLife, Inc. on May 1, 2011. “In addition to benefiting from the acquisition of Alico, we grew operating earnings in our U.S. Business by 15% while total net investment income increased 14% over the first quarter of 2010. I am pleased about the opportunities before us to extend our lead in the marketplace, and I look forward to working with our talented and dedicated associates and distribution partners to take MetLife to the next level of global growth. We remain focused on leveraging the many strengths of our recently expanded organization to achieve our vision of being the leading global life insurance and employee benefits company.” Shares are down in after-hours trading, down 5 cents to $46.05 in after-hours.