W. P. Carey Hits a Record $2.1B in Investments: What Comes Next?

W. P. Carey Inc. WPC kicked off 2026 with the news that it has achieved a record full-year investment volume of $2.1 billion for 2025, underscoring the REIT’s strong deployment of capital into net-lease real estate in a challenging yield environment. This reflects the company’s ability to capitalize on attractive property opportunities while effectively recycling capital from non-core asset sales. 

The company’s strategy of selling non-core assets proved beneficial in funding these new investments. W. P. Carey disposed of 63 self-storage operating properties and other assets for $1.5 billion in gross proceeds, generating around 150 basis points of spread versus the cap rates at which it reinvested the proceeds. This disciplined capital recycling helped sustain returns and supported the firm’s strong investment activity. 

A significant portion of the new investments targeted single-tenant warehouse and industrial properties, accounting for about 68% of the 2025 volume, while retail represented roughly 22 %. Geographic diversification was also achieved with nearly 69% of the 2025 investments in the United States and 26% in Europe, illustrating a balanced approach across markets. The fourth quarter alone saw $625 million in new investments, including a $322 million portfolio of 10 fitness facilities leased to Life Time Fitness in Eastern and Central United States.

Capital markets activity also played a key role, with the company selling 6.3 million shares under its ATM program subject to forward sale agreements in 2025 for gross proceeds of approximately $423 million available for settlement. Meanwhile, tenant credit losses were contained at around $6 million for the year, below prior expectations, suggesting resilient portfolio performance.

Wrapping Up on WPC

W. P. Carey’s record investment volume in 2025 and strategic asset recycling position the company well for continued growth in 2026. By focusing on core industrial and warehouse net-lease properties and maintaining disciplined capital deployment, the REIT has fortified its income profile and diversification. With substantial equity available and further planned dispositions, W. P. Carey appears poised to sustain its investment momentum and potentially enhance shareholder returns in the coming year.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have gained 2% over the past month against the industry’s decline of 0.9%.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Prologis PLD and First Industrial Realty Trust FR. Both Prologis and First Industrial Realty Trust also carry a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Prologis’ 2025 FFO per share is pegged at $5.80, which indicates year-over-year growth of 4.32%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for First Industrial Realty Trust’s 2025 FFO per share stands at $2.96, which calls for an increase of 11.70% from the year-ago period. 

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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