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Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) Up 4% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Continue?

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A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE - Free Report) . Shares have added about 4% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Alexandria Real Estate Equities due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.

Alexandria's Q3 FFO In Line, Rental Rates Rise Y/Y

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. delivered third-quarter 2020 FFO as adjusted of $1.83 per share, up 4.6% from the year-ago quarter’s $1.75.  The reported figure is in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

This improvement resulted from year-over-year top-line growth of 39.6% to $545 million. The company witnessed continued strong leasing activity and rental rate growth during the third quarter.

Alexandria also updated its full-year outlook in light of the continuation of the pandemic and the prevailing market conditions.

Moreover, the company noted that as of Oct 23, 2020, it collected 99.7% of October rents and tenant recoveries and 99.7% of third-quarter rents and tenant recoveries. Also, as of Sep 30, 2020, the company’s tenant receivables balance was $7.6 million.

Behind the Headline Numbers

Alexandria’s total leasing activity aggregated to 1.2 million RSF of space during the September-end quarter. Lease renewals and re-leasing of space amounted to 605,765 RSF.

On a year-over-year basis, same-property NOI was up 2.9%. It climbed 4.9% on a cash basis. Occupancy of operating properties in North America remained high at 97.7%. The company registered decent rental rate growth of 39.9% in the reported quarter. On a cash basis, rental rate increased 30.9%.

As of third-quarter 2020, investment-grade or publicly-traded large-cap tenants accounted for 54% of annual rental revenues in effect. Furthermore, 73% of the annual rental revenues are from Class A properties in AAA locations. Weighted-average remaining lease term of all tenants is 7.7 years. For the company’s top 20 tenants, it is 11 years.

During the July-September period, the company completed the acquisitions of 24 properties for a total of $1.3 billion. These acquisitions comprise 2.2 million RSF space of Alexandria Center for Life Science – Durham, and 1.5 million RSF of future value-creation opportunities.

Liquidity

Alexandria exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $446.3 million, up from the $189.7 million reported at the end of December 2019. The company had $3.9 billion of liquidity as of the end of the reported quarter. Also, it has minimal debt maturing prior to 2024.

Guidance

The company has revised its FFO per share guidance for 2020 to $7.29-$7.31 from $7.26-$7.34.

The company’s current-year guidance is backed by expectations for occupancy in North America in the band of 94.8-95.4%, rental rate increases for lease renewals, and re-leasing of space of 30.5-33.5%, and same-property NOI growth of 1-3%.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

It turns out, fresh estimates flatlined during the past month.

VGM Scores

Currently, Alexandria Real Estate Equities has an average Growth Score of C, however its Momentum Score is doing a bit better with a B. However, the stock was allocated a grade of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of C. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.


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