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Prologis' Q4 FFO Beat Estimates, Rental Revenues Rise Y/Y

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Prologis, Inc. (PLD - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2024 core funds from operations (FFO) per share of $1.50, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.38. This compares favorably with the year-ago quarter’s figure of $1.26.

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Reflecting investors’ positive sentiments, shares of the company gained more than 3% during the initial hours of today’s trading session. The quarterly results reflect a rise in rental revenues and healthy leasing activity. However, high interest expenses are an undermining factor. In addition, this industrial REIT provided its 2025 outlook.

Prologis generated rental revenues of $1.94 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by just 0.09%. However, the figure increased from the $1.76 billion reported in the year-ago period. Total revenues were $2.2 billion, up from the year-ago quarter’s $1.89 billion.

Per Hamid R. Moghadam, the co-founder and CEO of the company, "Post-election leasing activity has been strong, and our ongoing conversations with customers support our expectation that the market is nearing an inflection point. Meanwhile, our platform is uniquely positioned to seize the opportunities created by favorable trends in our data center and energy businesses. The long-term outlook for Prologis is bright."

For 2024, the company reported a core FFO per share of $5.56, down 0.9% from the previous year. The figure also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.45. Rental revenues of $7.51 billion increased 10.2% year over year but missed the consensus mark of $7.52 billion.

PLD's Quarter in Detail

In the quarter under review, 46.5 million square feet of leases commenced in the company’s owned and managed portfolio. The retention level was 78.4% in the quarter.

The average occupancy level in Prologis’ owned and managed portfolio was 95.6% in the fourth quarter, down from 95.9% in the prior quarter and 97.1% in the year-ago period.

Prologis’ share of net effective rent change was 66.3% in the October-December quarter. In the reported quarter, the cash rent change was 40.1%. Cash same-store net operating income (NOI) grew 6.7% compared to 7.2% in the previous quarter.

The company’s share of building acquisitions amounted to $384 million, with a weighted average stabilized cap rate (excluding other real estate) of 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Development stabilization aggregated $827 million, with 54% being built to suit, while development starts totaled $375 million. PLD’s total dispositions and contributions were $1.955 billion, with a weighted average stabilized cap rate (excluding land and other real estate) of 4.4%.

However, during the reported quarter, interest expenses jumped 33.1% on a year-over-year basis to $232.2 million.

PLD's Liquidity

Prologis exited the fourth quarter of 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $1.32 billion, up from $780.9 million at the end of the third quarter of 2024. Total liquidity amounted to $7.38 billion at the end of the quarter.

Debt, as a percentage of the total market capitalization, was 25.6% as of Dec. 31, 2024. The company's weighted average interest rate on its share of the total debt was 3.1%, with a weighted average term of 9.2 years.

Prologis and its co-investment ventures issued an aggregate of $1.5 billion of debt in the reported quarter at a weighted average interest rate of 3.5% and a weighted average term of 7.1 years.

2025 Guidance

Prologis provided its 2025 core FFO per share guidance in the range of $5.65-$5.81. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is currently pegged at $5.79.

The company expects average occupancy to lie between 94.5% and 95.5%. Cash same-store NOI (Prologis share) is projected in the range of 4-5%.

The company has issued its outlook for capital deployment (Prologis share) on development starts of $2.25-$2.75 billion. Spending on acquisitions is projected to be $750 million-$1.25 billion. Dispositions are estimated at $1.00-$1.50 billion.

Prologis currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

 

Prologis, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Prologis, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Prologis, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Prologis, Inc. Quote

 

Upcoming Earnings Releases

We now look forward to the earnings releases of other REITs, such as SL Green Realty Corp. (SLG - Free Report) and BXP, Inc. (BXP - Free Report) , slated to report on Jan. 22 and Jan. 28, respectively.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SL Green’s fourth-quarter 2024 FFO per share is pegged at $1.53, which implies a significant year-over-year increase. SLG currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BXP’s fourth-quarter 2024 FFO per share is pegged at $1.79 cents, which suggests a year-over-year decrease of 1.7%. BXP currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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.


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