Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESS) announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, in a filing dated October 27, 2026. For the third quarter of 2026, the company reported Net Income per diluted share of $1.52, a decrease of 40.6% compared to the same period in 2025. This decline was primarily attributed to gains on the sale of real estate and land recorded in the prior year's third quarter. Despite the drop in net income, Funds from Operations (FFO) per diluted share was $3.98, down 1.2% year-over-year, while Core FFO per diluted share increased by 0.8% to $4.00.
On a property-level basis, the company achieved same-property revenue growth of 3.0% and Net Operating Income (NOI) growth of 3.1% for the quarter. This growth was driven by strength across all regions, with Northern California showing the strongest performance. Financial occupancies remained stable at 96.3% for the same-property portfolio as of September 30, 2026.
In terms of investment activity, Essex disposed of three apartment communities for a total pro rata contract price of $111.9 million. The company also obtained a $275.0 million unsecured term loan priced at SOFR plus 0.80%, scheduled to mature in September 2029 with two one-year extension options. Additionally, the company fully redeemed a $15.6 million preferred equity investment affiliated with the partnership.
Essex raised its full-year 2026 guidance across several metrics. The revised range for Net Income per diluted share is now $5.62 to $5.74, with a midpoint of $5.68, an increase of $0.10 from the previous guidance. Core FFO per diluted share is expected to be between $16.10 and $16.22, with a midpoint of $16.16, an increase of $0.02. The company also revised its same-property revenue guidance to 2.8% to 3.0% and same-property NOI guidance to 2.8% to 3.2%, with midpoints of 2.9% and 3.0%, respectively.
As of September 30, 2026, the company reported over $1.7 billion in liquidity, consisting of available capacity on unsecured credit facilities, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. The company also noted that it has not repurchased any shares during the third quarter of 2026, though it has repurchased 254,001 shares year-to-date totaling $61.9 million at an average price of $243.76 per share.
