Regency Centers Corporation raised its full-year 2026 earnings guidance after posting stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, citing robust tenant demand across its portfolio of grocery-anchored shopping centers, the Jacksonville, Fla.-based real estate investment trust said in a release July 29.
The company reported net income of $0.61 per diluted share for the second quarter, up from $0.56 a year earlier. Nareit funds from operations (FFO), the REIT industry’s standard profitability measure, came in at $1.21 per diluted share, up from $1.16 in the same period last year. Core operating earnings rose to $1.16 per diluted share from $1.10.
Regency raised its full-year 2026 Nareit FFO guidance to a range of $4.84 to $4.88 per diluted share, up from its previous range of $4.83 to $4.87. Core operating earnings guidance climbed to $4.62 to $4.66 per diluted share, from $4.59 to $4.63 previously. The company also lifted its outlook for same-property net operating income (NOI) growth to a range of 3.7% to 4.1%, up from 3.25% to 3.75%.
“Our team delivered another excellent quarter, highlighted by strong earnings and NOI growth, robust tenant demand,” Regency Centers CEO Lisa Palmer said in the release, pointing to the company’s portfolio quality and development pipeline as key drivers.
Same-property NOI grew 3.8% year-over-year in the quarter. Same-property percent leased ended the period at 96.9%, up 40 basis points from a year earlier, while percent commenced — the share of leased space actually generating rent — reached 94.5%, up 50 basis points.
Leasing activity remained brisk. Regency executed 2.1 million square feet of comparable new and renewal leases during the quarter at blended rent spreads of 10.4% on a cash basis and 19.5% on a straight-lined basis. Over the trailing 12 months, the company signed 7.1 million square feet of leases at cash spreads of 11.8% and straight-lined spreads of 22.7%, according to the release.
On the development side, Regency started $68 million in new projects during the quarter and now has $680 million of in-process developments and redevelopments underway at a blended yield of approximately 9%. The company’s acquisition activity was more modest, totaling roughly $48 million in gross purchases, or about $19 million at Regency’s ownership share.
The REIT’s balance sheet remained conservative, with pro-rata net debt to trailing-twelve-month EBITDA at 5.0x and $1.5 billion of available capacity on its revolving credit facility, giving the company room to continue funding its development pipeline without straining its credit profile.
Regency Centers owns and operates more than 480 shopping centers, most anchored by grocery stores, concentrated in suburban trade areas with above-average household incomes. The guidance raise adds Regency to a growing list of shopping-center and net-lease REITs that have lifted 2026 outlooks this earnings season on the strength of limited new retail supply and steady consumer spending at grocery-anchored centers.
What it means: The back-to-back guidance raises — on FFO, core earnings and same-property NOI — signal that grocery-anchored retail remains one of the more resilient corners of commercial real estate even as higher-for-longer interest rates weigh on other property types. Regency’s ability to push rent spreads above 10% on renewals reflects a landlord’s market in well-located retail, where new construction has been scarce for over a decade. That said, the guidance ranges are still modest year-over-year improvements rather than a dramatic re-acceleration, and the company’s acquisition pace remained light relative to its development spending, suggesting management still sees better returns building than buying in the current environment.
Related coverage: Newmark Posts Record Second-Quarter Revenue on Double-Digit Gains Across Every Business Line · Invitation Homes Raises Guidance as New-Lease Rent Growth Accelerates · Sun Communities Beats Guidance, Agrees to Sell UK Business for $1 Billion
