Why Welltower Inc (WELL) Is Surging In 2025

We recently published a list of Why These 15 Real Estate Stocks Are Surging In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL) stands against other real estate stocks that are surging in 2025.

For years, real estate stocks have been a source of anxiety for investors due to the scars of the Great Recession. That crisis has led to lingering skepticism, and many see real estate as a no-go zone today due to GDP growth turning negative quarter-over-quarter and expectations of a recession. Investors fear that a recession could drag these stocks down once more.

However, these companies have learned from the Great Recession, and some of them have delivered stellar gains so far. It is a good idea to keep an eye on the winners, as they could outperform during market downturns.

Even during bear markets, there are pockets of the market that perform exceptionally well. For example, I identified 15 Healthcare Stocks that are up the Most in 2025 in another article

Methodology

For this article, I screened the best-performing real estate stocks year-to-date.

I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 44

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL) is a leading real estate investment trust specializing in residential wellness and healthcare infrastructure, with a portfolio of over 1,500 seniors and wellness housing communities and outpatient medical buildings across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

The stock is up significantly so far in 2025, chiefly driven by robust first-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations and prompted management to raise its 2025 financial guidance. Welltower reported normalized funds from operations per share of $1.20 in Q1, with substantial growth in its senior housing segment, and now expects full-year FFO per share between $4.90 and $5.04, well above prior projections.

The consensus price target of $156.46 implies 3.35% upside.

WELL stock is up 20.73% year-to-date.

Overall, WELL ranks 7th on our list of real estate stocks that are surging in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of WELL, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WELL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.