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Real Estate Stocks Rise: Realty Income (O) & Simon Property (SPG) Lead Last Week’s Winners
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Simon Property Group (SPG) and Realty Income (O) were two of the standout performers in the real estate sector last week. Both stocks gained around 1.8%. Realty Income rose 19% year-to-date as the 10-year Treasury yield stabilized at 4.08% from its 4.58% peak. Simon’s has returned a little more than 9% year-to-date. A recent study identified one single habit that doubled Americans’ retirement savings and moved retirement from dream, to reality. Read more here. Markets have started the week on rocky footing. The Dow Jones is off 1.3% as of 1:45 p.m. ET in Monday trading, but real estate stocks are holding in relatively well. Looking at last week, real estate stocks had a quietly constructive week while the broader market barely moved. The S&P 500, as tracked by SPY, gained just 0.15% for the week ending February 20, and the Nasdaq 100 via QQQ was essentially flat, slipping 0.06%. REITs found modest footing, with several names outpacing the index on strong recent earnings and a stable interest rate environment. The 10-year Treasury yield, the single most important variable for REIT valuations, ticked up just 4 basis points over the week, settling at 4.08% - well below the May 2025 peak of 4.58%. The relative stability gave income-oriented real estate names room to breathe. The yield curve remains positively sloped, with the 10Y-2Y spread at 0.60%. Ticker Company Subsector Weekly Change Current Price SPG Simon Property Group Retail REIT +1.85% $200.48 O Realty Income Net Lease REIT +1.79% $66.84 PLD Prologis Industrial REIT +1.04% $140.42 WELL Welltower Healthcare REIT -0.35% $209.99 AMT American Tower Communications Infrastructure REIT -0.68% $190.79 Simon Property was the week's top performer, adding nearly 1.9% to push above $200 per share. The catalyst traces back to Q4 2025 earnings reported on February 2, 2026, which the market has been digesting ever since. Simon posted record full-year Real Estate FFO of $4.8 billion in 2025 and returned $3.5 billion to shareholders. For 2026, management guided to Real Estate FFO of $13.00 to $13.25 per diluted share. CEO David Simon was direct: In 2025, we generated record Real Estate Funds From Operations of $4.8 billion and returned a remarkable $3.5 billion to our shareholders. — David Simon, CEO, Simon Property Group Simon declared a Q1 2026 dividend of $2.20 per share, a 4.8% increase year-over-year, payable March 31, 2026. Domestic property NOI rose 4.8% and portfolio NOI grew 5.1%, signaling premium mall traffic is holding up. The company also completed 23 significant redevelopment projects in 2025. Shares are up a little more than 9% year-to-date. Realty Income added about 1.8% on the week, continuing a recovery that has the stock up roughly 19% year-to-date after spending much of 2025 under pressure from elevated rates. The most recent earnings data covers Q3 2025, filed November 3, 2025 — Q4 2025 results have not yet been reported. In Q3, revenue came in at $1.47 billion, beating estimates of $1.40 billion, with AFFO of $1.08 per share. CEO Sumit Roy guided full-year 2025 AFFO to $4.25 to $4.27 per share. However, investors won't have to wait long for Realy Income's next earnings report. The company's Q4 earnings will be announced tomorrow after the bell. Wall Street expects rental revenue of $1.392 billion. Overall, GAAP earnings are expected to hit $1.22 for 2025, a solid jump form 2024's $.98 in EPS. With the 10-year yield stabilizing near 4.08% after peaking at 4.29% in early February, net lease REITs like Realty Income benefit directly — they trade almost like long-duration bonds. The monthly dividend stands at $0.807 per share. Q4 2025 earnings remain the next major catalyst. Welltower slipped less than 0.4% this week — a breather after a strong run. The stock is up more than 13% year-to-date. Welltower reported Q4 2025 earnings on February 10, 2026, posting normalized FFO of $1.45 per share, a 28.3% increase year-over-year. The seniors housing operating portfolio posted same-store NOI growth of 20.4%. For 2026, management guided to normalized FFO of $6.09 to $6.25 per share and blended SSNOI growth of 11.25% to 15.75%. Both S&P and Moody's upgraded Welltower's credit rating alongside that report — S&P to A- and Moody's to A3. The company raised its quarterly dividend 10.4% to $0.74 per share, with an ex-dividend date of February 25, 2026. Analysts carry a consensus target of $223 on the stock. Looking ahead, the key watch items are Realty Income's pending Q4 2025 earnings and any Federal Reserve commentary that could shift rate expectations. For now, the REIT sector appears to have found stable footing: rates have pulled back from early-February highs, earnings have been strong, and dividend growth remains a consistent theme. Most Americans drastically underestimate how much they need to retire and overestimate how prepared they are. But data shows that people with one habit have more than double the savings of those who don’t. And no, it’s got nothing to do with increasing your income, savings, clipping coupons, or even cutting back on your lifestyle. It’s much more straightforward (and powerful) than any of that. Frankly, it’s shocking more people don’t adopt the habit given how easy it is.