First American Financial Inches Ahead Despite Rising Rates

If you need a mortgage, you'll almost certainly need title insurance, and First American Financial (NYSE: FAF) specializes in offering title coverage and related services to those buying residential and commercial real estate. That's been a high-growth industry in recent years, thanks to the renewed boom in real estate following the financial crisis. More recently, though, rising interest rates have led some to worry that the housing market could be in danger of a pullback, and title insurers have seen a drop in business from those seeking to refinance their mortgages because of the lack of cheaper financing options.

Coming into Thursday's third-quarter financial report, First American investors were prepared for the challenges that the company faces, but they still wanted to see some signs of stability even as the market environment grows more volatile. First American's results were solid, but many focused on the slowdown in key areas of its business that could point to longer-term adverse trends. Let's look more closely at First American Financial to see what its performance can tell us about the stock's prospects.

Image source: First American Financial.

Source: Fool.com