Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Alexandria (ARE) Q1 FFO Beats Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y

Read MoreHide Full Article

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2022 adjusted funds from operations (FFO) per share of $2.05, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.00. The reported FFO per share also compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s $1.91.

Alexandria witnessed continued healthy leasing activity and rental rate growth during the quarter.

Rental revenues in the quarter were $615.1 million. Also, rental revenues climbed 28.2% from the prior-year quarter’s $479.8 million.

Behind the Headlines

Reflecting robust demand for its high-quality office/laboratory space, Alexandria’s total leasing activity aggregated 2.5 million rentable square feet (RSF) of space during the first quarter. Lease renewals and re-leasing of space amounted to 0.8 million RSF. The leasing of development and redevelopment space was 1.4 million RSF.

Alexandria registered rental rate growth of 32.2% during the reported quarter. On a cash basis, the rental rate increased 16.5%.

On a year-over-year basis, same-property NOI was up 7.6%. It climbed 7.3% on a cash basis. Occupancy of operating properties in North America remained high at 94.7%.

During first-quarter 2022, investment-grade or publicly-traded large-cap tenants accounted for 50% of the annual rental revenues in effect. Weighted-average remaining lease term of all tenants is 7.3 years. For Alexandria’s top 20 tenants, it is 10.5 years.
As of Mar 31, 2022, the tenant receivables balance was $7.6 million.


During the first quarter, Alexandria completed acquisitions in its key life-science cluster submarkets totaling 7.3 million SF, comprising 6.9 million RSF of future development and redevelopment opportunities and 451,760 RSF of operating space for a total price of $1.8 billion. Also, Alexandria placed into service development and redevelopment projects totaling 566,665 RSF across multiple submarkets.

Additionally, ARE executed a long-term lease with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY - Free Report) for 426,927 RSF. The lease with Bristol Myers seeks to develop an innovative research hub focused on cancer, immune-mediated and neurodegenerative diseases at the Alexandria Point mega campus in San Diego.

Liquidity

Alexandria exited first-quarter 2022 with cash and cash equivalents of $775.06 million, up from $361.34 million witnessed at the end of 2021. ARE had $5.7 billion of liquidity at the end of the reported quarter. The net debt and preferred stock to adjusted EBITDA was 5.5X, and the fixed-charge coverage was 5.1X in the first quarter on an annualized basis. As of Apr 25, 2022, ARE had no debt maturities before 2025, and its weighted-average remaining term of debt as of Mar 31, 2022, was 13.8 years.

Outlook

Alexandria also issued 2022 guidance, projecting the adjusted FFO per share in the range of $8.33 to $8.43, with the mid-point being $8.38. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is currently pegged at $8.40.
Alexandria’s current-year expectations are backed by anticipations for occupancy in North America (as of Dec 31, 2022) in the band of 95.2-95.8%, rental rate increases for lease renewals, re-leasing of space of 30-35% and same-property NOI growth of 5.9-7.9%.

Alexandria currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
 

 

Upcoming Earnings Releases

We now look forward to the earnings releases of other REITs like Equinix (EQIX - Free Report) and Duke Realty slated to report on Apr 27.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Equinix’s first-quarter 2022 FFO per share is pegged at $7.19, suggesting an increase of 3.01% from the prior-year period’s reported figure. EQIX currently has a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Duke Realty’s first-quarter 2022 FFO per share is pegged at 44 cents, implying an increase of 12.8% from the year-earlier quarter’s reported figure. DRE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

 


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMY) - free report >>

Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) - free report >>

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE) - free report >>

Published in