Earnings drive stock price appreciation. If a company's forward outlook is weaker than analysts forecast, positive earnings rarely increase a stock. Prologis Inc. (NYSE:PLD) investors learned this after its shares plummeted after the company said that while core FFO met projections, full-year 2024 core FFO was lower. A week later, Prologis lost roughly 10%.
When buying or selling stocks, investors must consider forward guidance and previous quarter earnings. Consider three REITs that upped full-year 2024 forward guidance.
Honolulu-based diversified REIT Alexander & Baldwin Inc. (Hawaii) (NYSE:ALEX) exclusively invests in Hawaii commercial real estate. Alexander & Baldwin manages 3.9 million square feet of 22 retail, 13 industrial, and four office properties. It includes 142 acres of ground leases. Leased occupancy was 94% on March 31. The company is 154 years old.
Alexander released its first-quarter 2024 operating results on April 25. The expectation was $0.26, but FFO of $0.35 exceeded $0.29 in the first quarter of 2023. Revenue of $61.2 million exceeded predictions of $49.25 million and $50.4 million in first-quarter 2023.
More importantly, Alexander & Baldwin boosted its full-year 2024 AFFO guidance from $0.80-$0.90 to $0.89-$1.00. Alexander Goldfarb of Piper Sandler maintained a Neutral rating and $17 price target on Alexander & Baldwin. It closed at $15.83 but opened 3% higher the morning after the earnings and forecast call.
Healthpeak Properties Inc. (NYSE:DOC), an El Segundo, California-based diversified healthcare REIT, owns and manages private-pay life science centers, medical offices, and continuing care retirement homes. It has properties nationwide, but most are in San Francisco, San Diego, and Boston. Healthpeak joined the S&P 500 in 2008 after its 1985 IPO. It has 774 $20 billion properties.
Healthpeak merged with Physicians Realty Trust all-stock-for-stock on March 1. Physicians Realty Trust's PEAK symbol became DOC. Joshua Dennerlein of Bank of America Securities upgraded Healthpeak Properties from Underperform to Buy and boosted the price objective 38.8% to $25 from $18.
Healthpeak released their first-quarter 2024 operating results on April 25. FFO of $0.45 per share was a penny over the average expectation and 7.14% more than the first quarter of 2023's $0.42. Revenue rose 15.39% to $606.56 million from $525.678 million in the first quarter of 2023, beating the consensus forecast of $588.284 million. Healthpeak raised its full-year 2024 diluted AFFO projection from $1.50-$1.56 to $1.53-$1.57. The morning after its earnings and projection announcement, Healthpeak surged over 2% on investor enthusiasm.
Los Angeles-based industrial REIT Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. (NYSE:REXR) owns or manages 422 properties totaling 49 million square feet in Southern California's high-growth locations. S&P 400 member Rexford Industrial was created in 2001. Rexford's first-quarter occupancy was 96.8%. On April 16, Truist Securities analyst Anthony Hau maintained a Buy recommendation on Rexford Industrial Realty but cut the price objective from $57 to $53.
Rexford Industrial Realty published first-quarter 2024 operating results on April 17. FFO of $0.58 per share exceeded analyst consensus of $0.57. Revenue of $210.99 million missed the consensus forecast of $211.56 million and rose 13.95% from $185.16 million in Q1 2023. Rexford adjusted its full-year 2024 core FFO from $2.27-$2.30 per share to $2.31-$2.34, unlike Prologis. Rexford's share price originally lost ground due to sympathy selling of industrial REITs like Prologis, but it has been rising in recent days.