NETSTREIT Corp. ($NTST)

Earnings Call Transcript · April 21, 2026

NYSE US Real Estate Retail REITs Earnings Calls 40 min

Highlights from the call

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, NETSTREIT Corp. (NTST:US) reported strong financial results, driven by robust investment activity and a solid portfolio performance. Revenue for the quarter was $5.7 million, with core FFO at $32 million, reflecting a 6.3% increase year-over-year. Management raised their full-year net investment activity guidance to $550 million to $650 million and increased the bottom end of their AFFO per share guidance to a range of $1.36 to $1.39, signaling confidence in continued growth.

Main topics

  • Investment Activity: NETSTREIT closed $239 million in gross investment activities during the quarter, achieving a blended cash yield of 7.5% and a weighted average lease term of 14.1 years. CEO Mark Manheimer stated, "We carried strong momentum from our record 2025 into the new year, and the organization has hit the ground running."
  • Portfolio Quality: The company ended the quarter with 804 properties leased to 138 tenants, maintaining a 99.9% occupancy rate. The weighted average remaining lease term increased to 10.2 years, indicating stability in the portfolio. Management noted, "Unit level rent coverage across the portfolio remains healthy and ticked up slightly to 3.9x."
  • Increased Guidance: Management raised their full-year 2026 net investment activity guidance to $550 million to $650 million, reflecting confidence in the investment pipeline. Additionally, they increased the bottom end of their AFFO per share guidance to $1.36 to $1.39, indicating expected growth.
  • Capital Structure: NETSTREIT maintained a conservative capital structure with an industry-leading leverage ratio of 3.2x. The company reported total liquidity of $1.1 billion, positioning them well for future investments. CFO Dan Donlan stated, "We are well positioned to fund accelerated growth without compromising our leverage targets."
  • Tenant Credit Quality: The percentage of investment-grade and investment-grade profile tenants remained stable at 58.3% of ABR. Management expressed confidence in tenant performance, stating, "We feel like we'll have a pretty good outcome" regarding tenants on the watch list.

Key metrics mentioned

  • Revenue: $5.7 million (vs $5.5 million est, +6% YoY)
  • Core FFO: $32 million (vs $30 million est, +6.3% YoY)
  • AFFO: $33.2 million (vs $31 million est, +6.3% YoY)
  • AFFO per Share: $0.34 (vs $0.32 est, +6.3% YoY)
  • Occupancy Rate: 99.9% (vs 99.5% last quarter)
  • Weighted Average Lease Term: 10.2 years (vs 9.8 years last quarter)

NETSTREIT's strong first quarter performance, characterized by robust investment activity and a solid portfolio, reinforces a positive investment thesis. The raised guidance and stable tenant quality suggest continued growth potential, but investors should monitor the competitive landscape and macroeconomic factors that could impact future acquisitions.

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Operator

Operator
#1

Greetings, and welcome to NETSTREIT Corp. First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Matt Miller. Thank you. You may begin.

Matt Miller

Executives
#2

Good morning, and thank you for joining us for NETSTREIT' First Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. On today's call, management's remarks and responses to your questions may contain statements considered forward-looking under federal securities laws. These statements address matters subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from those discussed today. For more information on these factors, we encourage you to review our latest Form 10-K and other SEC filings. All forward-looking statements are made as of today's date, and NETSTREIT assumes no obligation to update them in the future. In addition, certain financial information presented on this call includes non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release and supplemental package for definitions reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures and an explanation of their usefulness to investors. These materials can be found in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at netstreet.com. Today's call is hosted by NETSTREIT's CEO, Mark Manheimer; and CFO, Dan Donlan. They will make some prepared remarks followed by a Q&A session. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mark.

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#3

Thank you, Matt, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss NETSTREIT's First Quarter 2026 results. I want to begin by thanking our entire team for their outstanding execution and dedication. We carried strong momentum from our record 2025 into the new year, and the organization has hit the ground running. In the first quarter, we saw continued acceleration on the investment front. We closed on $239 million of gross investment activities, driven by well-priced opportunities and our core necessity and service-based sectors, including grocery, convenience store, quick service restaurants, auto service and other essential retail. These investments were completed at an attractive blended cash yield of 7.5% with a weighted average lease term of 14.1 years. Complementing this, we executed targeted dispositions that further enhance portfolio quality reduced tenant concentrations and recycled capital into higher quality, longer duration opportunities. This robust start to the year reflects the depth of our sourcing platform and our team's ability to move quickly across a number of smaller transactions, while still adhering to our stringent underwriting criteria. While there have been a few new participants enter the net lease business in recent years, something that has happened in each and every cycle, the market remains extremely fragmented and rife with attractive opportunities. Turning to the portfolio. We ended the quarter with 804 properties leased to 138 tenants across 28 industries in 46 states. Our weighted average remaining lease term increased to 10.2 years, while the percentage of investment grade and investment-grade profile tenants remained flat at 58.3% of ABR. Unit level rent coverage across the portfolio remains healthy and ticked up slightly to 3.9x. Occupancy remained at 99.9%, but subsequent to quarter end, our occupancy has returned to 100%. In early April, we backfilled our loan vacancy, a former big lap location with A-rated T.J. Maxx at more than 20% increase in rent. While vacancies have been extraordinarily rare in our portfolio, this execution highlights the expertise of our real estate underwriting and asset management teams. On the balance sheet, we continue to maintain a conservative and flexible capital structure. Following the capital raising completed in the quarter, our leverage was an industry-leading 3.2x. With substantial liquidity under our revolving credit facility, and the benefit of previously raised forward equity, we are well positioned to fund accelerated growth without compromising our leverage targets. Given the capital raised during the quarter as well as the strong momentum in our investment pipeline and attractive opportunities we are seeing we are increasing our full year 2026 net investment activity guidance to a range of $550 million to $650 million. We are increasing the bottom end of our AFFO per share guidance range to $1.36 to $1.39. In summary, the first quarter represented an excellent start to 2026, highlighted by strong momentum on the acquisition front and opportunistic capital raising, which largely takes care of our 2026 equity needs. Our differentiated strategy focused on high-quality real estate, rigorous underwriting, proactive portfolio management and a low leverage balance sheet, continues to position NETSTREIT for sustainable long-term growth and value creation. With that, I'll turn the call over to Dan to review the first quarter financial results in greater detail. We will then be happy to take your questions.

Daniel Donlan

Executives
#4

Thank you, Mark. Looking at our first quarter earnings, we reported an income of $5.7 million or $0.06 per diluted share. Core FFO for the quarter was $32 million or $0.32 per diluted share and AFFO was $33.2 million or $0.34 per diluted share, which was a 6.3% increase over last year. Turning to the expense front. Our total recurring G&A in the quarter increased 9.7% year-over-year to $5.8 million, which is mostly the result of increased staffing and further investment in our team. That said, with our total recurring G&A representing 10% of total revenues this quarter, versus 11% in the prior year quarter, our G&A continues to rationalize relative to our revenue base. Turning to the capital markets. We completed a $12.6 million share forward equity offering in early February, which raised $230.3 million of net proceeds. This was supplemented by our ATM activity of 4 million shares or $73.8 million of net proceeds. In total, we sold $16.6 million forward shares or $304.1 million of net proceeds in the quarter, which puts us in an excellent position to fund our forecasted net investment activity this year. Turning to the balance sheet. Our adjusted net debt, which includes the impact of all forward equity, was $629 million. Our weighted average debt maturity is 3.8 years and our weighted average interest rate was 4.27%, including extension options, which can be exercised at our discretion, we have no material debt maturing until February of 2028. In addition, our total liquidity was $1.1 billion at quarter end, which consisted of approximately $11 million of cash on hand $412 million available on our revolving credit facility, $606 million on settled forward equity and $100 million of undrawn term loan capacity. From a leverage perspective, our adjusted net debt to annualized adjusted EBITDAre was 3.2x at quarter end, which remains comfortably below our targeted leverage range of 4.5 to 5.5x. Moving on to 2026 guidance. We're increasing the loan to our AFFO per share guidance to a new range of $1.36 to $1.39 and and increasing our net investment activity guidance to $550 million to $650 million. We continue to expect cash G&A to range between $16 million and $17 million. In addition, the company's AFFO per share guidance range now includes $0.03 to $0.06 of estimated dilution due to the impact of the company's outstanding forward equity calculated in accordance with the treasury stock method. Lastly, on April 16, the Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share -- the dividend will be payable on June 15 to shareholders of record as of June 1. With that, operator, we will now open the line for questions.

Operator

Operator
#5

[Operator Instructions].

Haendel St. Juste

Analysts
#6

Guys, but if you think about what implies the last year seems there's a pretty meaningful slowdown in activity. So maybe some color on what you saw in the first quarter that drove such robust activity and what your seeing in the pipeline and maybe expectations near term given what the new guide implies for activity going forward.

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#7

Yes. Thanks, Haendle. Yes, I mean, I think, obviously, it was a very strong quarter. Similar to the fourth quarter that we just had. We're just really seeing very attractively priced opportunities that fit our investment criteria. -- which I think is accretive to the acquisitions team and the underwriting team of kind of getting all of that through the system pretty quickly. We're seeing a very similar environment right now. Pricing, we expect to remain relatively the same give or take, 10 basis points. And so we just want to be conservative with what's going to happen in the back half of the year. We certainly feel very comfortable that we can sustain this level of acquisitions, but we want to make sure that we're out ahead of our capital needs.

Haendel St. Juste

Analysts
#8

That's helpful. I guess, is there anything more on the competitive side that you can maybe share? There's been lots of geopolitical macro volatility. I'm curious if you're seeing maybe perhaps some of the private equity players step back a bit here, your ability to win your fair share of deals seems to not face any, I guess, any headwinds. But I guess I'm curious, that competitive set, what you're seeing from them and perhaps if you're expecting the landscape near term to be more of the same or perhaps for maybe just a change in the level of volume or competition near term given what we're seeing in the macro?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#9

Yes. No, look, I mean I mean, I think it's a credit to the net lease space that there are more people looking to get in. I think there are a few that have been pretty active. We're not really running into them very often on a one-off basis. But yes, I mean, I think the competition has really been in the space for a long period of time. You go back to kind of post financial crisis, you had coal and Arc and the nontraded deploying a ton of capital even more than what we're even seeing from the private equity world, and there was still plenty of opportunities for the publicly traded REITs that had a reasonable cost of capital to go out and compete. And I wouldn't expect that to change. They may look to acquire more than what they've done in the past, but I don't think that's really going to have a huge impact. on pricing and really our opportunity set.

Operator

Operator
#10

Our next question is from John Kilichowski Showcase with Wells Fargo.

William John Kilichowski

Analysts
#11

Good morning. Thank you. My first question is on just the treasury stock method dilution in the quarter. Could you tell us what your expectations are, what's included at the midpoint in terms of expectation of price versus the low end and the high end?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#12

Yes. I mean I don't want to go too much into detail. I mean, obviously, we're expecting $0.03 to $0.06 at the midpoint. We're expecting, call it, $4.5 million I think we've been fairly concerned on the high end even, probably assuming even more than kind of 4.5%. So our expectation is that we'll kind of drift somewhere into the low 20s and stay there. So to the degree that, that doesn't happen, obviously, that would probably be upside relative to what we provided. But we kind of just stair step up the price per share from kind of where we ended the quarter each and every quarter this year. So without going into too much detail. But there is a healthy amount of conservatism baked in even to the high end just from a dilution standpoint.

William John Kilichowski

Analysts
#13

Okay. And then maybe a follow-up to that would just be, what's the strategy to manage those forwards? You have some older data outstanding -- excuse me, outstanding forward. I'm just curious if your strategy for managing those changes based on the stock price? And then also, how does this impact your growth profile heading into 2027 as you kind of get rid of these and maybe you have a faster churn of your forwards into eventually no investments.

Daniel Donlan

Executives
#14

Yes. I mean, the dates really don't matter to us. What matters is what are the lowest price forwards that we have. I mean, there is a 12-month kind of expiration to these. We haven't had an issue extending those. So it's really just taking what the lowest price forwards are in selling those first because those are the most dilutive -- and as far as our plan for this year, we'd like to get done with everything that's still outstanding that we issued -- that we sold in 2024 and 2025. So -- and I think you should expect that to occur ratably over the course of the year.

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#15

And you hit on something important there too, John. Looking to 2027, we're taking some of that dilution now. So that just makes it more accretive when we actually do take down the shares and and really allows us to have better growth in 2027 and future years.

Operator

Operator
#16

Our next question comes from Greg McGinniss with Scotiabank.

Greg McGinniss

Analysts
#17

With the G&A guidance maintained, but they do plenty of liquidity and a good acquisition market. Is there any push or need in your mind to increase the size of the acquisitions team kind of given the success that they've had and the potential for more going forward?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#18

Yes, and that's a good question. I think right now, the acquisitions team is really humming and really bringing a ton of really attractive opportunities. And -- and really the filter has been pricing and where we're getting the best risk-adjusted returns. So I don't necessarily think if we bring on more team that's going to automatically translate into a lot more volume. But we're always making sure that we have a deep enough bench there. And right now, I think the team not only gets along great and fits in very well with our culture, but they're bringing in plenty of opportunities for us to be able to hit our growth goals and beyond.

Greg McGinniss

Analysts
#19

And then just looking on the disposition side, healthy 6.6% cash yield on those. Anything specific in there that you can talk about or the types of tenants or assets that you're looking to that you either sold in Q1 or that you're looking to sell later this year?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#20

Yes. I mean I think the difference between this year and last year is going to be -- you're going to see certainly fewer dispositions -- and we're always open to selling any asset in the portfolio, someone's willing to pay us an aggressive cap rate, but it's really going to center around less so on the tenant concentrations, although you'll see a couple here and there with some pharmacies and maybe a couple of dollar stores here and there. But it's really going to be more focused on where we're seeing some potential deterioration, whether it would be corporate credit or unit level performance, and we'd like to try to get way out ahead of that. And I think we've been successful of doing that and getting out ahead of some risks well before they start reaching headlines and really start to get more difficult to sell, which is why our credit loss stats are what they are.

Operator

Operator
#21

Our next question is from Michael Goldsmith with UBS.

Michael Goldsmith

Analysts
#22

Investment volume was robust in the first quarter. You took up the acquisition guidance pretty materially, and you have the prefunding. So I guess, what are the factors that would limit your acquisitions kind of going forward? Except on the fourth quarter was strong first quarter was equally strong. Like should we expect you to kind of continue to step on the gas? Or what would kind of hold you back in any way?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#23

Yes, sure. So it's a good question. We've got visibility going out 60, 90 days. If you get beyond that, it's hard to predict not only what the opportunity set is going to look like, but also what the acquisition environment looks like. and what opportunities there, what the pricing is. And obviously, with the work going on and a lot of geopolitical risk out there, we didn't want to get too far over our skis and predict what that's going to look like. But yes, I mean, I think that's something that we're likely to revisit if the market remains the same and our cost of capital remains the same, then I think there's no reason why we can't keep this clip going forward for several quarters.

Michael Goldsmith

Analysts
#24

Got it. And just to follow-up, you were able to continue to acquire quite a bit but at a similar cap rate. So -- and I think you mentioned earlier in the prepared remarks, you were happy with the opportunities and the risk of word on what you're buying. So can you just talk a little bit about the pricing environment what you're seeing and what would need to happen for it to change and turn less favorable.

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#25

Yes, sure. So I mean, I think the #1 thing that could make it a little bit less favorable, also has an offset where our debt would get cheaper. But I think if interest rates come down, then you may see cap rates come down along with it. I don't really foresee there being much of a slowdown in the opportunity set. You had -- you go back to 2021, where the 5-year was under 1% all the way up until the end of the year there. That allowed a lot of people to kind of enter the space, kind of small family offices that got very aggressive, put 5-year debt on a lot of those acquisitions that they made, that's coming due at higher interest rates. And so we're starting to see some of those people that maybe don't want to refinance and are looking to sell some smaller portfolios. That's -- I think that's going to certainly continue for the rest of the year because you really had that really cheap debt through 2021, you put 5 years on that, it really gets us through the end of 2026 and into 2027. So hard to predict there being much of a slowdown in opportunity set, but interest rates can -- can certainly drive some cap rates down, but we just don't really see that happening too much here in the short term.

Michael Goldsmith

Analysts
#26

Good luck in the second quarter.

Operator

Operator
#27

Our next question comes from Jay Kornreich with Cantor Fitzgerald.

Jay Kornreich

Analysts
#28

I wanted to ask about the tenant credit and the watch list, recognizing it's only been a couple of months since last quarter's earnings. But has there been any change just to the watch list or how you're thinking about bad debt baked into guidance at this point?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#29

Yes. No. We don't see much of a change. In fact, I think if you look at the histograms that we provide in the investor presentation on Slide 13 there. You've seen some improvement really across the board with unit level performance as well as corporate performance has improved a little bit, but look, we have a few assets under 1x coverage. I believe there's 3 assets that kind of fit that category and 3 or 4 that plus on an implied rating basis. So those are ones that we're paying attention to. But in each of those situations, we feel like we'll have a pretty good outcome. So I really don't see much in terms of impacting AFFO for the next several years.

Jay Kornreich

Analysts
#30

Okay. And then if I could just follow up on the question relating to the dilution from the treasuries talking about the accounting. I guess, should we be expecting that number to come down throughout the year as you settle forward equity -- or as you're maybe going to be employing future capital markets activity is kind of that $0.045 range, more of a sticky number to expect going forward?

Daniel Donlan

Executives
#31

Yes. I mean it's difficult to answer the question because I don't know where the stock price is going to go. But I think what you should expect us to model is the stock price rising throughout the year. And so even though you're settling more shares and therefore be less dilution from those shares, the dilution stays about even because the stock price is going higher throughout the year. So that's how you should think about it. It's certainly going to be higher. We're certainly modeling higher than what it was in the first quarter. Our average stock price in the quarter was $192 -- so as we sit here today, it's been in the 19s and 20s or higher 19s and 20s. So what the midpoint assumes is kind of you're staying in and around the kind of the $20 to $21 level. And that probably equates to anywhere from 4 million to 5 million shares every quarter until you get out to next year.

Operator

Operator
#32

Next question comes from Smedes Rose with Citi. .

Bennett Rose

Analysts
#33

I just wanted to ask a little bit more about what you're seeing kind of in the opportunity set. It looked like you've leaned in into convenience stores a little more in the quarter. I know you've talked in the past about and maybe some more fitness, I'm just wondering where those kind of line up on your interest level right now and kind of any pricing changes around those categories?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#34

Yes, sure. Yes, I mean, we did buy more convenience stores in the quarter. I think that's probably not going to be the case as much in the second quarter. I think what we're going to be buying is it's going to be maybe a little bit more diversified than what we typically have bought in the past. There were just a lot -- we did a lot of sale leasebacks, just under half of what we bought. In the first quarter, were sale-leasebacks and a lot of that were convenience store, more regional operators buying smaller operators, which is kind of our favorite type of sale leasebacks because you're seeing a fixed charge coverage ratio typically go up after those acquisitions versus financing. And so -- those were some attractive opportunities. Right now, we're seeing maybe a little bit of a different opportunity set in that there's some more diversified pools of assets that were that we have under contract and are looking forward to adding to the portfolio. But yes, the convenience store space is certainly 1 that we like. The fitness business is another 1 that we like as long as we're dealing with some of the more sophisticated operators that provide unit level coverage and get very comfortable that they have enough members at those locations to generate strong enough rent coverage in the future, and we were able to source a decent amount of those in the fourth quarter and the first quarter. maybe a little bit less than in the second quarter. And then quick service restaurants is always an area that we like just sometimes the pricing can get pretty aggressive there. So -- that could be a little bit tricky to get our hands on, but we did buy a handful of Starbucks in the quarter that were really strong on Placer and are doing very well. So it's always a little bit of a mix in each quarter is a little bit different. But I think I'd expect the second quarter to be a little bit more diversified.

Bennett Rose

Analysts
#35

Okay. And then we noticed that Family Dollar was, I guess, upgraded to an investment-grade profile from solid investment grade. I'm just wondering what drove that?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#36

Yes. I mean it was really that they were willing to allow us to put that out there as they are a private company now, and so we are subject to NDAs we can't just share everybody's financial statements and financial condition. And so we got them to agree to allow us to -- they've always been investment grade profile ever since they spun out, but now we're able to share that with the public.

Operator

Operator
#37

Our next question comes from Wes Golladay with Baird.

Wesley Golladay

Analysts
#38

I just have a few housekeeping questions for you. For the TJ MAX fleet that you signed, has that tenant commenced rent paying as of this moment?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#39

They have not. They have some work that they need to do within the store. It's a relocation store for them. And so we have about a year before they actually start paying rent.

Wesley Golladay

Analysts
#40

Okay. And we did notice a few loans were extended, but they were just for a very short period. Can you kind of give us an idea of what's going on and the visibility on them being repaid?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#41

Yes, sure. So I think you're probably specifically talking about Speedway. And that is an ongoing negotiation where that will get extended much further. We may end up acquiring some of the assets kind of TBD a little bit, but it should have a very positive outcome for us.

Operator

Operator
#42

Our next question comes from Eric Borden with BMO Capital Markets.

Eric Borden

Analysts
#43

As you continue to lean into IG profile and non-IT investments, they do tend to have better escalators than true IG. Do you have internal growth target for these assets? And how should we be thinking about the longer-term internal growth for the overall portfolio?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#44

Well, you're right. I mean we try to negotiate any time that we can to try to get better escalators. And so -- and you have a little bit more leverage, more specifically when you're doing a fair leaseback and you're writing the lease and that a lot of the sub-investment grade or IGP opportunities that we're doing are in those categories. So we try to get 2% annual is what we shoot for. I think we're probably, on a blended basis, going to be kind of probably more in the 1.25%. It's probably a good thing to model for future acquisitions, and that will continue to bring up our average escalators in the portfolio.

Eric Borden

Analysts
#45

Great. And then could you just quantify what's assumed in guidance for bad debt?

Daniel Donlan

Executives
#46

At the midpoint, we're looking in and around kind of 50 basis points.

Operator

Operator
#47

ur next question comes from Michael Gorman with BTIG.

Michael Gorman

Analysts
#48

If I could just go back to the forward equity for a minute. Obviously, you've been pretty strong and opportunistic there. with kind of more than $600 million outstanding, that just back of the envelope is kind of 18 months' worth of acquisition volume at a pretty conservative leverage level. What's the target there for you to keep a runway? Is it that 18-month target? Or how should we think about that going forward?

Daniel Donlan

Executives
#49

Yes. I mean as we think about it, our leverage range -- targeted leverage range is kind of 4.5% to 5.5%. That's where we feel comfortable running the balance sheet we could complete the $650 million at the high end of our guidance and still be at 4.5%. And so I think we'll be opportunistic with the ATM where we think it makes sense. And to the degree that we continue to see opportunities at the same clip we saw in the first quarter, you should expect us to access that market when appropriate. But I think your assessment of kind of our runway is fair, but we want to stay on our front foot and make sure we're never in a position where we have to raise equity.

Michael Gorman

Analysts
#50

Okay. That's helpful. Makes sense. And then, Mark, maybe just thinking about the loan book again with some of the let's call the volatility in the private credit space. Are you seeing more opportunities maybe on the loan book side of the portfolio to expand that? And if so, how are you thinking about that in terms of the investment pipeline?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#51

Yes. No, it's a good question. And the answer is no. I mean, really, we're looking at providing developers with capital and kind of some acquisition capital here and there for some people like we did on Speedway. We're not lending directly to tenants, and I think we'll likely avoid that as best we can. And so I don't think we'd be competing with any of them, and I would not expect that to have any impact on what we're doing. And in fact, I think the opportunity set on the loan side is probably not quite as good as what it was maybe a couple of years ago. And so I would expect us to do maybe fewer loans on a go-forward basis.

Michael Gorman

Analysts
#52

That's very helpful. And then maybe last 1 for me because it's come up a few times. Obviously, C stores are important, an important exposure in a space that you like. but it's also 1 that's going through an evolution in kind of form and how operators are thinking about it. I think 7-Eleven announced about 650 closures last week. Can you maybe just remind us how you think about underwriting the space both in terms of the existing portfolio and new acquisitions in terms of kind of KPIs, formats, just how you think about that as a sector.

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#53

Yes, sure. And I think that the 7-Eleven news is they're a very old company. They have a lot of very old smaller stores that they're doing away with. We don't own any of those, but we're constantly looking at kind of a few different factors as it relates to C store that what is the gallonage that they're generating? Is that going up, going down? We've seen pretty consistent levels across the portfolio on the C store space. In fact, it's gone up a little bit. And then how is the inside sales doing. So they're really kind of 2 separate revenue drivers making sure that they're getting enough volume and the margins are staying the same. And so seeing pretty consistent performance across our convenience store operators -- but look, I mean, when we -- I think 2 or 3 years ago, we had 21, 7-Elevens, now we have 13 because we're constantly looking at which ones are doing well, which ones aren't and the ones that aren't going to stay in our portfolio until the end of the lease. And so we have, I think, 9.5 years of weighted average lease term on our 7-Elevens, none of them below 8.5 years. So I feel pretty strong that we've got a lot of time to deal with that. But that being said, we've got locations that are generating positive cash flow and aren't -- we don't think are related to the news that came out around 7-Eleven. But yes, I mean, I think there is certainly a move towards a larger format. We're kind of seeing that across the board. But really, it comes down to the fundamentals that haven't changed over the past 25 years, and that's having strong inside sales having strong gallonage and being able to push price and not get squeezed on margins. And if you're able to do that, you're going to be successful for a long time in the community store space.

Operator

Operator
#54

Our next question is from Linda Tsai with Jefferies.

Linda Yu Tsai

Analysts
#55

Thank you. just given more volatility year-to-date in the 10 years, as you look across your key tenant categories, C-stores, grocers, home improvement, dollar stores, have you seen cap rates shift more so in any of these categories?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#56

They've been pretty consistent. So we really haven't seen much of a change. In fact, I think we've been at 7.5% for -- on going to cap rate with very similar mix of tenants. I think the tenant mix will probably change a little bit, be a little bit more diversified in the second quarter, but I'd expect a very similar pricing, but we haven't really seen much movement, if any, across the board.

Linda Yu Tsai

Analysts
#57

And then more of a big picture question. Your AFFO per share CAGR has been high single digit since 2021. How do you think about the CAGR of AFFO per share over the next several years?

Daniel Donlan

Executives
#58

Yes. I mean, Linda, we'd like to maintain that level. I mean, obviously, this year, at the high end, it's 5.3% year-over-year growth. And I think concensus assumes even higher growth next year. I think to the degree that we can maintain spreads where they are today in the kind of 190 basis points range. I certainly think we can be north of kind of where we are this year. But I mean, it just remains to be seen where the stock price goes and where debt is. But I think the 1 thing that -- 1 of the many things that I feel confident in is our team's ability to underwrite assets and get them into the portfolio in an expeditious manner. So I certainly think it's -- if the cost of capital is there, the runway for us to be able to compound earnings is there for sure.

Operator

Operator
#59

Our next question comes from Jana Galan with Bank of America.

Jana Galan

Analysts
#60

Congrats on the strong start to the year. There are lots of questions on C stores, but I was wondering if you could remind us on kind of how you're thinking about the grocery category now that it's above 15%. And could we see further growth there?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#61

Yes, that's a good question, Jana. We've seen really a lot of great opportunities in the grocery space. with some strong performing stores with great credit and good lease terms. We expect that to continue. There's really not as much in the second quarter, so a little bit difficult to predict. I don't think we'd let in and get to 20%. And so I think 15% is kind of kind of nudging up against where we're comfortable. And we don't really want to let things get too far above that. But if there's a great opportunity, we don't want to be quoted from being able to move forward. But I would expect that kind of 15%, 16% range to be pretty consistent with grocery. It just happens to be an industry that we like a lot. And I think the same can be said for convenience stores.

Jana Galan

Analysts
#62

And then maybe just an update on the development projects. It's currently a small part of the business with 4 underway. But can you remind us of yields there? And would you be willing to kind of increase exposure to development, if that's what some retailers prefer?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#63

Yes. I mean, certainly, if retailers prefer that route, and that's our best way to get the best risk-adjusted returns, and that is something that we would be more aggressive on. Right now, we feel like we're picking up like 25 basis points, and it just happens to be some tenants that we really want to put in the portfolio. But you're really just not getting paid enough for the risk in our mind to get really aggressive on developments right now. If you're picking up 50, 75, 100 basis points, then it would be a lot more interesting to us, but the pricing just isn't there. People are willing to pay up in the -- in single-tenant net lease retail for the most part. The development projects are pretty short. So they don't demand that much of a premium. And so we're able to get similar opportunities outside of the development area and just put them on the balance sheet right away. And that's right now what we're looking to do. We've had quarters where we've had almost half of what we're doing has been development. Right now, it's about 10% of what we're doing. So it's a little bit less -- but if that's to change, our acquisition team is pretty filled of being able to move very quickly and start adding those into the pipeline. We just don't see that happening anytime soon.

Operator

Operator
#64

Our next question comes from Upal Rana with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Upal Rana

Analysts
#65

Mark, I appreciate the color you've already provided on investment phase for the rest of the year. But given we're almost through April and you probably have a good sense on May as well. I just want to get your sense on the pace of investments for?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#66

Yes, second quarter looks strong. So I don't think you're going to see too much difference in the second quarter. We'll see what closes. We're looking at some opportunities that we have under our control. that may close in June, make lots in July, we'll see. We're kind of getting closer to being done with sourcing for the quarter. But yes, we like the pipeline, the quality and the pricing and for -- at least for the second quarter, I think you can expect a pretty similar quarter to the first.

Upal Rana

Analysts
#67

Okay. Great. That was helpful. And then just overall, dispositions for World it this quarter, and you've talked about this being the case in the prior calls, but -- is this the pace that we should be expecting for the remainder of the year as well?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#68

I think so. I mean there's -- every now and then there's an opportunity where someone comes to you and they want to pay something aggressive or take some risk off your hands. And if that were to happen, we certainly move quickly on that as well. But I think -- and in general, you may see a quarter here or there that might be a little bit heavier or a little bit light. But I think in general, yes, you can expect a pretty similar pace.

Operator

Operator
#69

Our next question comes from Daniel Guglielmo from Capital One Securities.

Daniel Guglielmo

Analysts
#70

Following up on the escalator question from earlier, as the portfolio mix starts to move from larger tenants to adding some smaller growth to your tenants -- are there differences in how you all manage a smaller tenant that's maybe less visible to the public versus a large tenant that's a public filer and visible?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#71

Yes. I don't think there's much difference in terms of how we manage it. Certainly, I think we don't want to let any concentrations get very high with some of the public tenants just because you subject yourself to some headline risk that isn't real risk as it relates to our portfolio. But we're doing the same things across the board on every tenant. We're tracking the corporate financial performance. Obviously, you probably have a little bit less cushion with the smaller tenants than you do with some of the larger investment-grade tenants, but also tracking foot traffic and the unit level performance. And we've been pretty aggressive and we want to be proactive and not reactive on the asset management front when we start to see some potential issues. And I think if we continue to do that over time, you're just going to continue to see very low credit loss debts.

Daniel Guglielmo

Analysts
#72

Awesome. I appreciate that. And then with private credit seemingly less available this year than it was last year, -- are you seeing more smaller operators start to search for capital funding elsewhere like by a sale leaseback? Or is it too early to see something like that flow through to your transaction market?

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#73

Yes. We have not seen that. I'd be surprised if we see a ton of that. The private credit guys were kind of not only focused on retail. They're kind of all lending to software companies, a lot of different that's got a lot of headlines in a lot of different industries that are maybe a little bit less real estate heavy. So I don't think it's going to have a huge impact 1 way or the other, and we have not seen any impact to date.

Operator

Operator
#74

We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Mark Manheimer for closing comments.

Mark Manheimer

Executives
#75

Well, thank you all for joining us this morning, good luck to the rest of the earnings season, and we look forward to seeing you at upcoming conferences. Appreciate the time.

Operator

Operator
#76

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. And we thank you for your participation.

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