Several business services stocks fell in afternoon trading amid heightened geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. Market anxiety stemmed from Middle East conflict, raising concerns about oil prices, inflation and global growth. The business services sector underperformed the broader market as companies reduced spending to preserve cash. Data showed a global trend of worsening late payments from buyers to suppliers, adding pressure on service providers' cash flow. Copart fell 3%, Huron declined 2.7%, Brown & Brown dropped 3%, Marsh & McLennan slid 2.8%, and Omnicom Group decreased 2.7%. For Copart, this followed weak fourth-quarter results reported 18 days ago, when revenue of $1.12 billion missed forecasts and earnings per share came in 7.5% below expectations at $0.36.

Brown & Brown reported Q4 revenues of $1.61 billion, up 35.7% year-on-year, but missed analysts' expectations by 2.2%. The insurance broker delivered the fastest revenue growth amongst its peers but fell short on both revenue and organic revenue estimates. The insurance brokerage sector experienced a slower quarter overall, with the five tracked companies missing consensus revenue estimates by 1.1% on average. Despite weaker results, share prices across the group have remained relatively stable since earnings announcements. Brown & Brown's stock has declined 3.8% since reporting, currently trading at $72.42. The company, which operates across 44 US states and 14 countries, provides insurance brokerage and risk management services covering property, casualty and employee benefits sectors.

Brown & Brown reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.61 billion, missing analyst estimates of $1.64 billion despite 35.7% year-on-year growth. The insurance brokerage's adjusted earnings per share of $0.93 beat expectations, whilst adjusted EBITDA reached $556 million, exceeding forecasts by 6.4%. Management attributed the revenue shortfall to delayed project work, larger incentive commission adjustments and tough comparisons from prior-year flood claims processing. The company also cited an unusual challenge: losing 275 employees to a competitor, resulting in $23 million in revenue impact. CEO J. Powell Brown stated the company has obtained an injunction and will defend its rights in court. Organic revenue fell 2.8% year-on-year, whilst operating margin declined to 20% from 23.2% in the same quarter last year.