Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. MAA reported second-quarter 2026 core funds from operations (FFO) per share of $2.08, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.10. The metric declined 3.3% from the year-ago quarter.

Rental and other property revenues increased 1% year over year to $555.13 million but missed the consensus mark of $555.97 million.

Same-store NOI fell 1%, though blended lease-rate growth improved to 0.7% amid steady demand.

MAA's Same-Store Portfolio Remains Under Pressure

Same-store revenues declined 0.3% year over year, while property operating expenses increased 0.8%. The combination drove a 1% decrease in same-store NOI. Same-store NOI totaled $316.22 million, down from $319.50 million a year earlier.

Average effective rent per unit slipped 0.2% to $1,688. Average physical occupancy was 95.3%, reflecting continued pressure from elevated apartment deliveries across several of MAA’s Sunbelt markets.

Mid-America Apartment Sees Better Leasing Trends

Leasing indicators showed sequential improvement despite the decline in property-level earnings. Effective blended lease-rate growth reached 0.7%, improving 20 basis points year over year and 100 basis points from the first quarter.

Effective new-lease pricing declined 5.3%, but that marked a 170-basis-point sequential improvement. Renewal lease rates increased 5.2%, helping offset weaker pricing on new leases.

Resident turnover remained historically low at 39.6%. Move-outs associated with residents purchasing single-family homes represented only 10.9% during the quarter, supporting occupancy and renewal demand.

Mid-America Apartment Advances Development Pipeline

MAA ended the quarter with six development projects totaling 1,749 units. Expected development costs were $597.50 million, of which $360.36 million had been funded, leaving $237.14 million of expected spending.

The company completed MAA Plaza Midwood in Charlotte, NC, and began construction of a 263-unit community in Kansas City, MO. It also completed the initial lease-up of MAA Cathedral Arts in Dallas.

Five lease-up projects contained 1,759 units and were 74.4% occupied at quarter-end. Costs incurred on those communities totaled $623.74 million. Management expects four projects to stabilize during the second half of 2026.

Mid-America Apartment Maintains Balance Sheet Capacity

MAA ended June with $882.8 million of combined cash and available borrowing capacity. Total debt was $5.69 billion, with an average effective interest rate of 3.9% and an average maturity of six years.

Fixed-rate borrowings represented 86.6% of total debt. Net debt to adjusted EBITDAre was 4.5X compared with 4.3X at the end of 2025.

During the quarter, MAA repurchased 0.4 million shares for $50 million. The company also entered into a delayed-draw term loan with commitments of up to $350 million and had $100 million outstanding at quarter-end.

MAA Updates Its 2026 Outlook

MAA narrowed its full-year core FFO guidance range to $8.41-$8.65 per share from $8.37-$8.69. The midpoint remained unchanged at $8.53. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pinned at $8.51, which lies in the guided range.

The company reduced its same-store revenue growth outlook to a range of negative 0.2% to positive 0.4%, with a midpoint of 0.1%. Its same-store operating expense growth range was lowered to 1.25%-2.25%, while projected NOI growth was revised to negative 1.7% to negative 0.1%.

For the third quarter, MAA expects core FFO per share of $2.04-$2.16. The $2.10 midpoint reflects anticipated contributions from same-store and non-same-store NOI, partly offset by higher interest expense. The consensus estimate stands at $2.10.

MAA’s Zacks Rank

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

Performance of Other Residential REITs

Equity Residential EQR reported second-quarter 2026 normalized FFO per share of $1.02, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01. The figure improved 3% year over year.

Results reflected higher same-store NOI supported by strong physical occupancy and better-than-anticipated renewal rates achieved.

AvalonBay Communities AVB reported second-quarter 2026 core FFO per share of $2.86, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.80. Favorable same-store residential revenues and expense results drove the FFO outperformance

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.

Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here

The AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.

See Stocks Now >>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

 

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (MAA): Free Stock Analysis Report

 

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (AVB): Free Stock Analysis Report

 

Equity Residential (EQR): Free Stock Analysis Report

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

Zacks Investment Research