Earnings

Ventas Lifts 2026 Profit Outlook A Second Time As Senior Housing Buying Spree Pays Off

Normalized FFO per share rose 10% to $0.99 in the third quarter, while net income per share slipped to $0.13 from $0.14.

Matteo Parrino Jonathan Ponciano

Matteo Parrino, Jonathan Ponciano

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Ventas Lifts 2026 Profit Outlook A Second Time As Senior Housing Buying Spree Pays Off

Ventas, the healthcare real estate company built around senior housing, raised its full-year earnings forecast after normalized funds from operations — a standard REIT profit measure — climbed 10% to $0.99 per share in the third quarter, the company said Tuesday. Net income per share moved the other way, slipping 7% to $0.13.

Raised guidance, split earnings

Ventas now expects 2026 normalized FFO of $3.87 to $3.90 per share, up from $3.85 to $3.90 in its July outlook. The midpoint moves to $3.89 from $3.88. Expected net income per share rises to $0.64 to $0.67 from $0.58 to $0.63.

The company said the increase comes mainly from senior housing investments made this year, partly offset by interest rates and foreign exchange. CEO Debra A. Cafaro said Ventas is "again raising our full year earnings guidance primarily because of our 2026 investment activity."

Nareit FFO, the industry-defined version of the measure, rose 15% to $1.01 per share from $0.88. Net income attributable to common stockholders was $0.13 per share, against $0.14 a year earlier.

Senior housing does the work

Ventas, which owns senior housing communities, medical office and lab buildings, and triple-net leased healthcare properties across North America and the United Kingdom, leans on its senior housing operating portfolio. Same-store cash net operating income there grew 16% from a year earlier, led by 17% in the U.S.

Revenue per occupied room rose 5%, and average occupancy gained 290 basis points, or 2.9 percentage points. U.S. occupancy gained 320 basis points to exceed 90%. Total company same-store cash net operating income rose 11%.

The company closed $1.2 billion of senior housing investments in the third quarter and $5.2 billion so far this year. Its July guidance had assumed $4.5 billion for the full year.

Equity funded, leverage down

To pay for the deals, Ventas settled 47.3 million shares under equity forward sales agreements through September 30, for gross proceeds of $3.9 billion. Another $0.8 billion remained unsettled, for $4.7 billion in equity capital in all.

Net debt to further adjusted EBITDA, a leverage gauge, fell to 4.4 times from 5.3 times a year earlier. Liquidity was $4.5 billion at September 30.

Management says its pipeline of senior housing deals is active, and it will discuss results on a conference call Wednesday, October 28, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

Cafaro pointed to a wave of Baby Boomers turning 80 over the coming decade as the demand behind the strategy.

Sources

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