Shares of Medical Properties Trust (MPW -1.10%) were soaring 11.9% higher as of 12:02 p.m. ET on Thursday. The big gain came after the company announced its third-quarter results earlier in the day.
The healthcare REIT reported net income of $0.19 per share for Q3. It also generated normalized funds from operations (NFFO) of $0.38 per share.
Why investors liked Medical Properties Trust's third-quarter update
Medical Properties Trust's Q3 earnings figure matched analysts' consensus estimate but didn't beat it. So why were investors so excited? There was more to the update than just the third-quarter numbers.
MPT raised its full-year 2023 earnings per share (EPS) guidance to $0.36 to $0.38, up from its previous outlook of EPS between $0.33 and $0.37. It also boosted the full-year NFFO guidance to a range of $1.56 to $1.58 per share from the previous forecast of $1.53 to $1.57.
Investors were also no doubt glad to hear that Prospect, a financially troubled tenant, paid rent in both September and October. In addition, MPT said that it was "evaluating divestiture and joint venture opportunities for which indications of marketability are encouraging" and "exploring limited secured debt financing options" that combined would raise roughly $2 billion over the next 12 months.
Is Medical Properties Trust stock a buy now?
Risk-averse investors should still avoid MPT stock even with its latest good news. There's likely to be a lot of volatility in the coming months.
However, I think that Medical Properties Trust stock is a buy now -- for some investors. Income investors who are willing to accept a high level of risk could really be attracted to MPT's dividend yield of over 11.8%. They could also like that the REIT's Q3 results seem to back up CEO Ed Aldag's comment that the company's "business model remains strong and stable."
