Time To Buy Any Dip In Prologis Stock

 | Apr 25, 2022 07:51AM ET

Global logistics real estate investment trust (REIT) Prologis (NYSE:PLD) stock has been resilient in the face of the sell-off in benchmark indices. The world’s largest REIT focuses on building and managing logistics warehouses throughout America, Europe, and Asia. Shares recently hit an all-time high of $174.54.

The company maintains itself as the world’s leader in logistics real estate solutions and has maintained ESG practices over the last four decades. The Company ended Q1 fiscal 2022 with a 97.4% occupancy rate. The Company is benefitting wildly as rent changes work in its favor, with rising rates driving same-store NOI growth to a record high of 8.7%, which means $1.6 billion of annual NOI will result in over $2 per share added to the bottom line even with no more rent growth.

With all-time low vacancies and supply chains returning to normal, the company signed 60 million square feet of leases and issued 90 million square feet of proposals for clients to compete for “the little space that remains.” The tight and uncertain global supply chain prompts companies to take on more inventory, especially in epicenter industries like homebuilding, for fear of further disruptions. Prudent investors seeking to monetize supply chain and logistics improvement can look for opportunistic pullbacks in shares of Prologis to consider buying the dips.

h2 Q1 Fiscal 2022 Earnings Release /h2

On Apr.19, 2022, Prologis released its fiscal first-quarter 2022 results for March 2022. The Company reported earnings per share (EPS) profits of $1.54 versus $1.07 consensus analyst estimates, a $0.47 beat. Revenues grew 5.4% to $1.08 billion, missing estimates of $1.09 billion.

Prologis and its co-investment ventures issued $2.6 billion in debt at a weighted interest rate of 1.5%, including $1.6 billion in green bonds. The Company has maintained its leading liquidity of $6.8 billion in cash and credit revolvers. Debt as a percentage of total market capitalization was 13.5%, and the weighted investment interest rate on its share of the debt was 1.7%, with a weighted average of 10 years. The combined investment capacity, including its open-ended ventures, is nearly $18 billion.

h2 Raised Guidance/h2

Prologis raised its fiscal 2022 FFO between $5.10 to $5.16 versus $5.04 consensus analyst estimates and up from a previous range of $5.00 to $5.10. Prologis CEO Hamid Moghadam commented, "The need for resilience in the supply chain continues to drive record demand despite today's economic and geopolitical risks. With our well-positioned portfolio, irreplaceable land bank, abundant investment capacity, and differentiated customer solutions, we expect to continue to outperform while delivering exceptional customer service."

h2 Conference Call Takeaways/h2
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Prologis CFO Tim Arndt started the conference call by reviewing financial metrics and achievements in the quarter. He noted that core FFO was $1.09 per share ahead of forecast, and rent change rollover was 37%, led by the U.S. at 42%. Southern California, New York, and New Jersey portfolios realized 86% and 67% rent change in the quarter.

Prologis ended the quarter with 97.4% occupancy. The lease mark-to-market is at 47%, equating to $1.6 billion of annual NOI as leases roll to market or over $2 per share of earnings that will drop to the bottom line even with no additional rent growth.

The Company commenced with more than $1 billion in a new development across 32 projects and 15 markets with expectations to generate value creation exceeding $400 million. The buildout land bank is 200 million square feet and $28 billion. The debt-to-market cap is 14%. Vacancy is at all-time lows.