MAA Posts $2.10 in Core FFO Per Share, Cuts Full-Year Outlook to $8.43–$8.55
Key Facts
Mid-America Apartment Communities, known by its ticker MAA, said diluted Core FFO was $2.10 per share in the third quarter of 2026, compared with $2.16 in the same period last year, while diluted FFO was $2.11 versus $2.14. The figures were within the company’s expectations, but came alongside a cut to its full-year Core FFO range to $8.43–$8.55 per share. The company also lowered its estimate for same-store revenue growth for the year to a range of contraction between 0.40% and 0.10%. Rental and other property revenue was $560.130 million, up from $554.373 million a year earlier, while diluted earnings per share fell to $0.72 from $0.84. The results show a divergence between growth in total property revenue and same-store performance, where operating revenue and net operating income declined during the quarter.
In the same-store portfolio, revenue fell 0.4% year over year, while expenses rose 2.0%, reducing net operating income by 1.8%. Blended effective rent growth was 0.4%, up 10 basis points from a year earlier, following the company’s correction to the year-over-year index comparison. But pricing components moved in different directions: new lease pricing fell 6.0%, while renewal lease pricing rose 5.3%. Chief Executive Brad Hill said renewal rates increased 80 basis points year over year to 5.3%. The divergence means stronger renewals did not prevent weakness in new lease pricing from weighing on the portfolio’s blended rent growth.
Management attributed the roughly one-quarter delay in improvement in pricing for new residents from the timing it had expected to higher interest rates. The delay, along with interest rate conditions, affected the company’s outlook for same-store revenue, which shifted from a previous range of a decline of 0.20% to growth of 0.40% to a contraction between 0.40% and 0.10% for 2026. On operating metrics, average effective occupancy in the same-store portfolio was 95.3%, and resident turnover reached 39.6% through the end of September. These indicators come as renewal rates remained stronger than new lease rates, while blended effective rent posted limited growth. Management linked its outlook revision to delayed pricing and higher interest rates, the two factors Hill cited in explaining the quarter’s trajectory.
A more recent sign of pricing improvement emerged in October: Hill said pricing for new resident leases improved compared with September, and blended pricing accelerated by more than 100 basis points year over year. That follows a roughly one-quarter delay in improvement in pricing for new residents from the expected timing, according to management. The company did not identify a realized financial impact from October’s improvement on third-quarter results, which ended in September. On financing, the operating partnership borrowed an additional $250 million during the quarter under a delayed-draw term loan facility. The outstanding balance under the facility was $350 million as of September 30.
Alongside its full-year Core FFO outlook, MAA set a diluted earnings-per-share range of $3.61 to $3.73 for 2026 and a Core AFFO range of $7.40 to $7.52 per share. For the fourth quarter, it forecast Core FFO of $2.12 to $2.24 per diluted share, with a midpoint of $2.18. The company had scheduled a call to discuss third-quarter results for October 29, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Central Time. In the stock’s movement around the announcement, EL7 data showed it closed at $118.75 on October 27, then at $116.75 on October 28. Those prices put the decline recorded on the announcement day in the context of results in which FFO measures were below year-earlier levels, alongside lower full-year revenue and Core FFO outlooks.