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Is it Wise to Retain Macerich Stock in Your Portfolio Now?
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Key Takeaways
Macerich benefits from premium shopping centers in affluent U.S. markets with strong tenant rosters.
The company advances omnichannel strategies, redevelopments and capital recycling to fuel growth.
High leverage and retailer bankruptcies weigh on Macerich despite recent share price gains.
The Macerich Company (MAC - Free Report) is well-poised to gain from its portfolio of premium shopping centers in vibrant markets. Its focus on omnichannel retailing and developing mixed-use assets is likely to support its long-term growth.
However, growing e-commerce adoption by consumers raises concerns for the company. Macerich also has a substantially leveraged balance sheet, and this remains a headwind.
What’s Aiding MAC?
Macerich, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), has a high concentration of premium malls in vibrant U.S. markets. These properties are located in densely populated areas, where affluent consumers with significant disposable incomes live and play, offering the company a solid scope to generate decent cash flows. Macerich’s decent number of well-capitalized retailers in its tenant roster and well-laddered lease maturity schedule help it navigate well through challenging times. We expect the company’s total revenues to increase by 11.4% in 2025.
Macerich has been making efforts to enhance its asset quality and customer relationships by increasing the adoption of the omni-channel model. This is going to play well for the company. Further, the shift toward re-use and mixed-use properties through recapturing and repositioning of anchor tenants remains a key emphasis. Bringing brands to new markets at its mall is also likely to attract shoppers.
Macerich has been focusing on an aggressive capital-recycling program. This involves the divestiture of non-core and slower-growth assets and the usage of the proceeds to increase its presence in core markets and invest in higher-growth properties through acquisitions, developments and redevelopment initiatives and lower its leverage.
It is currently under contract to sell Lakewood and Valley Mall, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions. In July 2025, the company’s JV closed on the sale of Atlas Park for $72 million. In June 2025, Macerich announced the buyout of Crabtree Mall, a Class A retail center spanning roughly 1.3 million square feet in Raleigh, NC, for $290 million.
Macerich is redeveloping the northeast quadrant of Green Acres Mall, a 2.1 million square foot regional retail center in Valley Stream, NY, anticipated to open in 2026.
Over the past three months, the company's shares have gained 10.1% compared with the industry's 0.2% growth.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
What’s Hurting MAC?
Although mall traffic rebounded significantly following the pandemic, given the convenience of online shopping, it is a popular choice among customers. Consequently, this adversely impacts the market share for brick-and-mortar stores.
Macerich’s performance in the upcoming quarters is expected to be negatively impacted by the bankruptcy of Forever 21 (filed in the first quarter of 2025), Express (in 2024) and others. From the beginning of the year through Aug. 11, 2025, the company witnessed five bankruptcy filings from its tenants, including the bankruptcies of Forever 21 and Claire.
Macerich has a substantially leveraged balance sheet. As of June 30, 2025, its total pro-rata share of debt was approximately $6.88 billion and net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 7.93X. This leveraged balance sheet limits its ability to withstand any credit crisis and unexpected negative externalities in the future.
Image: Shutterstock
Is it Wise to Retain Macerich Stock in Your Portfolio Now?
Key Takeaways
The Macerich Company (MAC - Free Report) is well-poised to gain from its portfolio of premium shopping centers in vibrant markets. Its focus on omnichannel retailing and developing mixed-use assets is likely to support its long-term growth.
However, growing e-commerce adoption by consumers raises concerns for the company. Macerich also has a substantially leveraged balance sheet, and this remains a headwind.
What’s Aiding MAC?
Macerich, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), has a high concentration of premium malls in vibrant U.S. markets. These properties are located in densely populated areas, where affluent consumers with significant disposable incomes live and play, offering the company a solid scope to generate decent cash flows. Macerich’s decent number of well-capitalized retailers in its tenant roster and well-laddered lease maturity schedule help it navigate well through challenging times. We expect the company’s total revenues to increase by 11.4% in 2025.
Macerich has been making efforts to enhance its asset quality and customer relationships by increasing the adoption of the omni-channel model. This is going to play well for the company. Further, the shift toward re-use and mixed-use properties through recapturing and repositioning of anchor tenants remains a key emphasis. Bringing brands to new markets at its mall is also likely to attract shoppers.
Macerich has been focusing on an aggressive capital-recycling program. This involves the divestiture of non-core and slower-growth assets and the usage of the proceeds to increase its presence in core markets and invest in higher-growth properties through acquisitions, developments and redevelopment initiatives and lower its leverage.
It is currently under contract to sell Lakewood and Valley Mall, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions. In July 2025, the company’s JV closed on the sale of Atlas Park for $72 million. In June 2025, Macerich announced the buyout of Crabtree Mall, a Class A retail center spanning roughly 1.3 million square feet in Raleigh, NC, for $290 million.
Macerich is redeveloping the northeast quadrant of Green Acres Mall, a 2.1 million square foot regional retail center in Valley Stream, NY, anticipated to open in 2026.
Over the past three months, the company's shares have gained 10.1% compared with the industry's 0.2% growth.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
What’s Hurting MAC?
Although mall traffic rebounded significantly following the pandemic, given the convenience of online shopping, it is a popular choice among customers. Consequently, this adversely impacts the market share for brick-and-mortar stores.
Macerich’s performance in the upcoming quarters is expected to be negatively impacted by the bankruptcy of Forever 21 (filed in the first quarter of 2025), Express (in 2024) and others. From the beginning of the year through Aug. 11, 2025, the company witnessed five bankruptcy filings from its tenants, including the bankruptcies of Forever 21 and Claire.
Macerich has a substantially leveraged balance sheet. As of June 30, 2025, its total pro-rata share of debt was approximately $6.88 billion and net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 7.93X. This leveraged balance sheet limits its ability to withstand any credit crisis and unexpected negative externalities in the future.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the retail REIT sector are Philips Edison & Company (PECO - Free Report) and Urban Edge Properties (UE - Free Report) , each currently carrying 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 PECO’s 2025 FFO per share has moved three cents northward to $2.58 over the past two months.
The consensus estimate for UE’s 2025 FFO per share has moved 2 cents upward to $1.40 over the past two months.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.