American Equity Investment Life Holding Company AEL reported second-quarter 2020 adjusted net earnings of $1.01 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.15. The bottom line decreased 7.3% on a year-over-year basis.Net loss came in at $2.76 per share against earnings of 20 cents in the year-ago quarter. The decline was attributed to tightening of American Equity's own credit spread with improving market conditions; thereby reducing the discount rate used for policyholder liabilities.Operational UpdateTotal revenues were $919.9 million, up 30.2% year over year.Premiums and other considerations more than doubled. Annuity product charges increased 1.5% while net investment income declined 4.7%, all on a year-over-year basis.Annuity sales of $559 million decreased 63% year over year. Sequentially, gross sales at American Equity Life and Eagle Life declined 18% and 34%, respectivelyTotal benefits and expenses were $1.2 billion, up 80.9% year over year.Investment spread was 2.39%, down from 2.63% in the year-ago quarter.Policyholder funds under management of $53.1 billion at quarter end were down 0.4% from first quarter end.American Equity Investment Life Holding Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise American Equity Investment Life Holding Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | American Equity Investment Life Holding Company QuoteFinancial UpdateCash and cash equivalents were $2.4 billion as on Jun 30, 2020, compared with $2.3 billion as on Dec 31, 2019. Total investments were $55.8 billion, down from $56.9 billion at 2019 end.Note payable totaled $495.4 million, slightly up from $495.1 million at 2019 end.Book value per common share excluding AOCI was $28.85, down 1.6% from 2019 end.Total debt / total capitalization was 14.7% at second quarter end, improving 300 basis points.Operating return on equity excluding average AOCI was 23.8%.Pro forma estimated risk-based capital ratio was 389%,.Zacks RankAmerican Equity currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Performance of Other Life InsurersOf the life insurance industry players that have reported second-quarter results so far, Reinsurance Group of America RGA and Voya Financial VOYA beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings while Lincoln National Corporation LNC missed expectations.More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2021.Click here for the 6 trades >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Lincoln National Corporation (LNC): Free Stock Analysis Report American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (AEL): Free Stock Analysis Report Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA): Free Stock Analysis Report Voya Financial, Inc. (VOYA): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research