Why Residential REIT Equity Residential Shares Are Up Today

Equity Residential EQR shares are surging premarket today after it released fourth-quarter FY23 results yesterday.

The rental income of $727.5 million beat the consensus of $725.0 million. Same-store revenue increased 3.9% Y/Y, driven by strong demand.

The company’s apartment achieved a physical occupancy of 95.8% in the fourth quarter (flat Y/Y).

The residential REIT reported a normalized FFO per share of $1.00, up 6.4% Y/Y and in line with Street view.

In the quarter, the company sold three properties in West Coast markets (San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles), comprising 499 apartment units, for about $184.5 million.

Share Buyback: In Q4, the company bought back shares worth around $49.1 million. 

Following this repurchase activity, the Board of Trustees approved share repurchase program authorization back to its original 13.0 million shares.

Outlook: The company expects same-store revenue growth of 2.0% and 3.0% and normalized FFO per share of $3.80 to $3.90 in FY24 (consensus $3.87).

For its first quarter, Equity Residential projects normalized FFO per share of $0.88 to $0.92 (consensus $0.91).

Mark J. Parrell, Equity Residential’s President and CEO. “We enter 2024 well-positioned to post solid results on the operations side despite expectations of a slowing economy with continuing high employment levels in our target affluent renter demographic and a manageable apartment supply backdrop in our existing predominantly coastal footprint versus oversupplied Sunbelt markets. We are optimistic that in 2024 we will see a variety of favorable opportunities to deploy capital and have a team and a balance sheet well-prepared to do so.”

Also Read: Millennials Should Consider This Investment Strategy Amidst Homeownership Challenges

Price Action: EQR shares are up 4.55% at $62.00 premarket on the last check Wednesday.