EL7.AI
StocksMedium•2 November 2026•
4 min read

Federal Realty and Ventas Raise 2026 Operating Earnings Outlook After Quarterly Growth

Key Facts

1Federal Realty’s Nareit FFO and Core FFO were each about $1.87 per diluted share, up 5.6% year over year in the third quarter of 2026.
2Federal Realty raised its 2026 Nareit FFO outlook to a range of $7.54–$7.58 per share, from $7.48–$7.56.
3Ventas raised its 2026 Nareit FFO outlook to $3.83–$3.86 per share, from $3.76–$3.81.
4FFO for U.S. listed REITs totaled $22.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 12.4% year over year.

U.S. real estate investment trusts Federal Realty and Ventas raised their annual operating earnings outlooks after reporting growth in third-quarter 2026 results, signaling improved performance in parts of the sector. Federal Realty said Nareit FFO and Core FFO were both $1.87 per diluted share, up 5.6% from the third quarter of 2025. In its filing, the company showed the year-earlier comparable figure was $1.77 per share. Ventas reported normalized FFO of $0.99 per share, up 10% year over year. The results reflect operating gains at both companies, with different growth drivers cited by each.

Federal Realty raised its 2026 Nareit FFO guidance range to $7.54–$7.58 per diluted share, compared with the previous range of $7.48–$7.56. The revision lifted both the lower and upper ends of its annual outlook, according to the guidance table published by the company. Ventas also raised its Nareit FFO per-share guidance range to $3.83–$3.86 on October 27, from $3.76–$3.81 in its July 29 outlook. At both companies, the revisions show quarterly results improving alongside updated expectations for the rest of the year. But the filings offer company-specific reasons and do not, on their own, establish a uniform trend across all real estate investment trusts.

At Federal Realty’s comparable properties, operating income grew 2.5%, rising to 4.0% when adjusted income was included, in the third quarter. At quarter-end, occupancy across its portfolio was 93.8%, unchanged from the previous quarter and the same period a year earlier. The leasing rate reached 96.5%, up 40 basis points from the previous quarter and 110 basis points year over year. These figures point to improvement in leased space despite steady occupancy, as the leasing rate includes leased space under the company’s definition. Federal Realty thus provided property income and leasing indicators alongside per-share FFO growth.

Ventas reported stronger operating results on the net operating income measures it cited: total NOI grew 18% year over year in the third quarter, while same-store cash NOI rose 11%. The company said its raised outlook was driven mainly by senior housing investments during 2026. It added that the impact of those investments was partly offset by pressure from interest rates and foreign exchange. In its filing, the chief executive said the company was “raising full-year earnings guidance again, primarily due to our 2026 investment activity.” This explanation puts senior housing investment at the forefront of the drivers cited by Ventas, with interest rates and foreign exchange remaining headwinds.

Nareit data for the second quarter show that operating improvement was not limited to the two companies: FFO for U.S. listed REITs totaled $22.4 billion, up 12.4% year over year. NOI rose 6.8% to $32.7 billion in the same period. More than 70% of REITs posted positive year-over-year FFO growth, while about 80% recorded positive NOI growth. These indicators provide industry context for the third-quarter results reported by Federal Realty and Ventas, while the time periods differ. They also reflect the breadth of operating earnings growth in the second quarter across a large number of trusts, though not all of them.

Market performance varied across the periods and indices reported by Nareit. Through August 20, the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index posted a total return of 16.9%, outperforming the Russell 1000 by 4.4 percentage points. But the real estate index fell 5.7% in September, lagging broader equity markets on a monthly and year-to-date basis, according to Nareit. The FTSE Nareit All Equity Index’s year-to-date total return was about 11.6% through September 21, while mortgage REITs recorded a loss of 5.0%. These figures highlight how performance varied by REIT type and time period, and do not support a direct comparison with the S&P 500 for the period cited in the previous draft.

At Federal Realty’s next announced payment date, the company will pay its quarterly cash dividend on January 15, 2027, to shareholders of record on January 4, 2027. The payment date follows the release of third-quarter results and the increase in annual Nareit FFO guidance. The available facts did not include another later date related to earnings expectations. The upcoming dividend remains tied to the schedule set by the company for shareholders of record on the stated date. The two companies’ filings combine operating earnings growth with updated guidance, while market data show that REIT performance varied by period and category.