Lamar (LAMR) Q2 AFFO & Revenues Beat Estimates, Stock Up

Shares of Lamar Advertising Company LAMR gained 1.07% during Wednesday’s regular trading session after this REIT reported a 10.9% year-over-year jump in second-quarter adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share to $1.94. The figure also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.74.

Results reflect solid recovery in the U.S. advertising market and continued sales momentum across its billboard, transit and airport and logos businesses.

Quarterly net revenues came in at $517.9 million, surpassing the consensus mark of $492.9 million. Net revenues for the quarter increased 16.4% on a year-over-year basis.

According to the company’s chief executive, Sean Reilly, "We have continued to book business at a healthy clip, and as a result, we are tracking to the top end of our previously provided range for full-year diluted AFFO per share."

Quarter in Detail

Acquisition-adjusted net revenues for the second quarter climbed 12.2% year over year. Also, acquisition-adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) climbed 11.1%.

The operating income of $166.5 million increased from the year-earlier period’s $149.0 million, while the adjusted EBITDA jumped 14.0% to $243.4 million. Moreover, free cash flow of $166.6 million increased 2.0% year over year during the June-end quarter.

Balance Sheet

At the end of the second quarter of 2022, Lamar Advertising had total liquidity of $496.3 million. This comprised $403.6 million available for borrowing under its revolving senior credit facility, $1.0 million under its accounts receivable securitization program and $91.7 million in cash and cash equivalents.

Guidance

Management noted that the company is tracking to the top end of its prior-provided range for the full-year diluted AFFO per share.

In the first-quarter earnings release, LAMR updated its guidance issued in February 2022 and projected the AFFO per share to lie between $7.20 and $7.35. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is currently pegged at $7.28.

Lamar currently 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 REITs

Realty Income Corporation’s O second-quarter 2022 AFFO per share of 97 cents surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 95 cents. The reported figure also compared favorably with the prior-year quarter’s 88 cents. The normalized FFO per share came in at $1.02 for the second quarter, up from the 88 cents reported in the year-ago period. Realty Income’s results reflected better-than-expected revenues for the quarter. The company benefited from expansionary effects and a healthy pipeline of opportunities globally. Moreover, with more than $3.2 billion invested in the first half of the year, Realty Income increased its 2022 acquisition guidance to more than $6 billion.

Extra Space Storage Inc. EXR reported second-quarter 2022 core FFO per share of $2.13, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.04. The figure also came in 29.9% higher than the prior-year quarter’s $1.64. Extra Space Storage’s results reflected better-than-anticipated top-line growth. The same-store net operating income improved year over year.

American Tower Corporation AMT reported second-quarter 2022 consolidated AFFO per share of $2.59, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.35. The bottom line improved 7% year over year. Results reflected improving revenues across its Property segment. American Tower also recorded decent year-over-year organic tenant billings growth of 2.6% and total tenant billings growth of 7.8%.

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.

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