Equity Residential

EQR

Market cap $23.5B

Eight of the top fifteen Barron's Better Bets (BBB) 'Safer' dividend stocks, including Conagra, Altria, and Verizon, are currently attractively priced for income investors. Analyst forecasts project net gains of 18.44% to 29.95% for the top ten BBB Dogs by November 2026, with an average estimated gain of 22.01%. Stocks are considered 'dogs' when their reliable dividends and lower prices result in higher yields; eight of the top ten are already at ideal pricing levels.

Equity Residential (EQR) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock?

U.S. equity markets dipped in a volatile week, while benchmark interest rates pulled back from one-month highs, as renewed anxiety over stretched AI-driven valuations collided with mounting monetary policy uncertainty. Public commentary from Fed officials revealed an unusually fractured committee, with a divide that was deepened further by a mixed slate of employment data via the long-delayed September payrolls report. Payrolls data showed that the U.S. economy added 119k jobs in September- better than estimates- but prior months were revised lower and the unemployment rate rose to four-year highs.

Equity Residential is a high-quality REIT trading at a discount due to short-term supply and demand concerns, creating a buying opportunity. EQR boasts a strong balance sheet, high occupancy, premium assets, and a secure, growing dividend yield near five-year highs. Despite modest guidance cuts, EQR expects steady FFO growth, benefits from demographic trends, and offers a compelling rent-versus-own value proposition.

U.S. equity markets stumbled this week as unexpectedly hawkish Fed commentary clashed with fragile risk sentiment, muting investor relief over the deal to end the longest-ever government shutdown. December rate cut odds dipped below 50% after Fed officials firmly pushed back on rate-cut expectations, citing uneven inflation progress, pockets of financial-market froth, and the economic-data blackout. The S&P 500 finished flat, but hawkish commentary sparked renewed pressure on smaller-cap and rate-sensitive market segments, with the Mid-Cap 400 and Small-Cap 600 dipping 1%.

U.S. equity markets posted mixed performance this week- while long-term yields jumped- after the Federal Reserve cut short-term rates for a second-straight meeting, but reigned in expectations for future cuts. Fed Chair Powell hawkishly pushed back on market expectations, saying that another cut in December was "far" from certain and highlighting "strongly differing views" within the committee. Market breadth was exceptionally narrow this past week as post-earnings gains from a handful of mega-cap technology stocks offset weekly declines from over 70% of the S&P 500 constituents.

Equity Residential ( EQR ) Q3 2025 Earnings Call October 29, 2025 11:00 AM EDT Company Participants Marty McKenna - First Vice President of Investor & Public Relations Mark Parrell - President, CEO & Trustee Michael Manelis - Executive VP & COO Bret McLeod - Executive VP & CFO Robert Garechana - Executive VP & Chief Investment Officer Conference Call Participants Nicholas Joseph - Citigroup Inc., Research Division Steve Sakwa - Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Research Division Alexander Goldfarb - Piper Sandler & Co., Research Division Jana Galan - BofA Securities, Research Division Brad Heffern - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division Adam Kramer - Morgan Stanley, Research Division John Pawlowski - Green Street Advisors, LLC, Research Division Ami Probandt - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Haendel St. Juste - Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Research Division Richard Hightower - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division James Feldman - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division John Kim - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research Alex Kim - Zelman & Associates LLC Omotayo Okusanya - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division Presentation Operator Good day, and welcome to the Equity Residential Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. Today's conference is being recorded.

EQR posts solid Q3 results with FFO up 4.1% year over year and rental income surpassing estimates, driven by higher occupancy and rents.

In the third quarter, the shares of Welltower, an operator of senior housing, life science, and medical office real estate properties, continued to significantly outperform both the REIT and broader equity indices. Since the beginning of 2025, we have noted that the shares of Wynn Resorts, the pre-eminent luxury global owner and operator of integrated resorts, were, in our opinion, too cheap. The shares of Prologis, a best-in-class industrial REIT, performed well in the most recent quarter following strong business results and indications that business prospects may improve in the year ahead.

The headline numbers for Equity Residential (EQR) give insight into how the company performed in the quarter ended September 2025, but it may be worthwhile to compare some of its key metrics to Wall Street estimates and the year-ago actuals.