Equity Residential (EQR)
Real Estate · $51.7B market cap · SEC CIK 0000906107
ahead of 19% of the S&P 500 · #22 of 30 in Real Estate
No earnings date is scheduled in the next few months.
52-week range $60.83 to $68.62. 4% below its 52-week high and 8% above its low.
The case for EQR
- 28% of revenue drops through to net profit.
- Pays a 4.3% dividend while you wait.
- Gross margin of 62% absorbs cost shocks.
- Moves less than the market (beta 0.14).
The case against
- Expensive for its growth: 59.1× earnings, where 3% a year of growth would justify about 13×.
- Priced at 16.5× sales, which leaves no room for a stumble.
- Earnings per share fell 12.8%.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.02).
- Dividend takes 120% of earnings, leaving little cushion.
- The price trend is weak (40/100): −9.1% over a year, −11.6% over three months, 4% below its 52-week high.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Real Estate companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. The score is where that blend places it in the S&P 500. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings and cash, against the growth you get | 14 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 27 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 61 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 40 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 85 |
- Capital spending is missing from its filings, so free cash flow cannot be worked out. Operating cash flow stands in for the cash test, against a stricter bar.
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 30 Real Estate companies.
The financials
Revenue growth
Is the business growing? Slowly
| Last 12 months | +2.8% |
|---|---|
| Over 5 years | +3.8% a year |
| FY2025 revenue | n/a |
Free cash flow
Is it generating real cash? Can't tell: no capital spending in its filings
| FY2025 operating cash flow | $1.6B |
|---|---|
| Of profit, before capital spending | 147% |
Its filings do not give capital spending, so free cash flow cannot be worked out. Operating cash flow, which is before that spending, is shown instead, and the score judges it against a stricter bar.
Profit margins
Is profitability improving?
| Gross margin | 62% |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 41% |
| Net margin | 28% |
Debt vs. cash
Is the balance sheet healthy? Mostly, with some debt to carry
| Cash | $55.9M |
|---|---|
| Long-term debt | $8.2B |
| Net debt | $8.2B |
| Years to repay | 5.0 yrs |
Valuation
Is the stock price reasonable? No, expensive
| P/E | 59.1× |
|---|---|
| Fair P/E for its growth | 13× |
| Price / operating cash flow | 31.4× |
| Forward P/E | 44.9× |
| EV / EBITDA | 26.2× |
At 59.1× earnings it trades well above the 13× that 3% a year of growth would justify. At 31.4× operating cash flow it trades well above that same mark; for a REIT that counts for more than earnings, since depreciation makes its P/E look worse than the business is.
The financials, five years deep
Pulled from Equity Residential's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are worked out from the others.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debt vs. cash | |||||
| Cash | $55.9M | $62.3M | $50.7M | $53.9M | $124M |
| Long-term debt | $8.2B | $8.2B | $7.5B | $7.5B | $8.4B |
| Net cash (debt) | −$8.2B | −$8.1B | −$7.4B | −$7.4B | −$8.3B |
Filings
The text of this 10-K could not be read automatically. The original is linked below.