Realty Income's $8B Growth Plan: Can Global Push Power Steady Growth?

Realty Income O is leaning hard on acquisitions and strategic investments as it enters 2026. The company generated $6.3 billion (pro-rata share was $6.2 billion) of total investment volume in 2025, with $2.4 billion (pro-rata share was $2.3 billion) deployed in just the fourth quarter at an initial weighted average cash yield of about 7.1%. For 2026, it guided to approximately $8.0 billion in investment activity, underscoring how central deal flow is to its growth outlook. 

The company’s portfolio now spans more than 15,500 properties across all 50 U.S. states, along with the U.K. and eight additional European countries. Realty Income is increasingly turning to diversified capital to support expansion beyond traditional markets. A new U.S. Open-End Core Plus Fund secured $1.5 billion in commitments, while a strategic partnership with global investor GIC established roughly $1.5 billion of build-to-suit industrial capacity. 

Geographic reach also broadened with the company’s first major investment in Mexico, committing $200 million for a long-term leased industrial portfolio. This move reflects a push to capture returns in markets where net-lease demand remains strong and competition for core U.S. assets has compressed yields. 

Realty Income’s underwriting focus appears clear. Its target acquisitions with yields that support spread over its capital costs. Last year’s weighted average initial cash yield was roughly 7.3%, and management has emphasized maintaining disciplined underwriting even as deal volume increases. 

To fund this investment cadence without overleveraging traditional balance sheet debt, the REIT deployed equity through its ATM program, settling 14 million shares for $818 million in the fourth quarter, and raised over $2.4 billion through ATM proceeds over the full year.

How Are Simon Property and Federal Realty Investing?

Simon Property Group SPG, in its latest earnings materials, highlighted the completion of more than 20 significant redevelopment projects in 2025 and the opening of Jakarta Premium Outlets. SPG also closed acquisitions, including luxury outlet centers in Italy and interests in Taubman assets, underscoring continued reinvestment and portfolio densification efforts.

Federal Realty Investment Trust FRT, based on its official press releases, completed acquisitions such as Village Pointe and Annapolis Town Center while advancing mixed-use development, including the 258-unit Lot 12 residential project at Santana Row. FRT also executed asset sales as part of capital recycling to fund redevelopment within core markets.

O’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of Realty Income have risen 16.6% over the past three months, outperforming the industry’s growth of 15.8%.

From a valuation standpoint, O trades at a forward 12-month price-to-FFO of 14.97, below the industry but ahead of its one-year median of 13.24. It carries a Value Score of D.

Over the past seven days, estimates for O’s 2026 FFO have been revised modestly downward, while those for 2027 FFO per share have remained unchanged.

At present, Realty Income carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (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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