Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR -0.82%), a cannabis industry-focused real estate investment trust (REIT), is slated to report its second-quarter 2019 results after the market closes on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
Shares of the San Diego-based company have returned a whopping 127% in 2019 through Aug. 1, so it has a lot to prove when it reports. For context, so far this year, the S&P 500 has returned 19.2%, while shares of Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis, and Cronos -- the three largest Canadian marijuana growers by market cap -- are up 16%, 17.9%, and 22.5%, respectively.
Here's what to watch and expect in IIP's report.
Image source: Getty Images.
Innovative Industrial Properties' key quarterly numbers
Here are IIP's results from the year-ago quarter and Wall Street's estimates to use as benchmarks.
|
Metric |
Q2 2018 Result |
Wall Street's Q2 2019 Consensus |
Wall Street's Projected Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Revenue |
$3.3 million |
$8.3 million |
152% |
|
Earnings per share (EPS) |
$0.17 |
$0.29 | 71% |
|
Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) |
$0.31 | N/A | N/A |
Data sources: Innovative Industrial Properties and Yahoo! Finance. Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) is a closely watched metric for companies organized as REITs, as it's a main driver of dividend increases.
While long-term investors shouldn't place too much weight on the Street's near-term estimates, they're helpful to know because they often help explain market reactions.
Analysts are projecting continued powerful year-over-year growth, thanks largely to IIP's brisk acquisition activity. At the end of the year-ago quarter, the company owned just seven properties in a handful of U.S. states where medical marijuana is legal. One year later -- at the end of Q2 2019 -- it owned 22 properties in 11 states, totaling about 1.7 million rentable square feet, which were 100% leased with a weighted-average remaining lease term of approximately 15.3 years.
(Since the second quarter ended, IIP has continued its Pac-Man-like ways, acquiring three more properties, bringing its total to 26 properties in 12 states, as of July 29.)
For additional context, in the first quarter, Innovative Industrial Properties' net rental revenue soared 146% year over year to $6.6 million, driven primarily by the acquisition of new properties, along with contractual rental increases at certain properties. EPS skyrocketed 267% to $0.33, and AFFO per share jumped 135% to $0.54.
Semiannual earnings call
Innovative Industrial Properties is scheduled to hold a conference call with analysts the day after earnings are released -- on Thursday, Aug. 8, at 1 p.m. EDT. (Yes, you read that unusual time correctly.)
These calls take place semiannually, rather than the more usual quarterly, which isn't unusual for smaller companies -- IIP has a market cap of $1.1 billion -- relatively new to the public markets. So investors should expect management to provide color on the first half of 2019.
