Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR -0.82%), the only real estate investment trust (REIT) on the market catering specifically to the needs of the cannabis industry, saw sharp rises in key fundamentals in its latest quarter.
The company unveiled its Q2 of fiscal 2020 figures after market close on Thursday. Total revenue was roughly $24.3 million for the period, 183% higher on a year-over-year basis. Net income of around $13 million ($0.73 per share) was 322% better than the Q2 2019 result.
Finally, Innovative's adjusted funds from operations (AFFO), widely considered to be the most important profitability line item for REITs, came in at $21 million ($1.19 per share), a 263% improvement.
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Despite those big leaps, the company's results broadly met analyst expectations. On average, prognosticators tracking the stock were anticipating a net profit of $0.75 per share on revenue of just under $24.3 million.
Innovative's vastly improved numbers were mostly due to the acquisition and subsequent leasing of new real estate. The company favors sale-leaseback transactions in which a property owner sells its assets to a third party then leases it back from that party. This is common in the marijuana sector, as a great many of its companies are unprofitable and cash poor, and thus hungry for a ready source of capital.
There hasn't been much encouraging news in the publicly traded cannabis world lately, so investors are likely to be very encouraged by Innovative's robust growth rates and high profitability. They bid up the company's shares by nearly 3.9% on Thursday, a rate well above the gains of the wider stock market.
