Oct 29, 2026 earnings call — Investment spending raised; experiential growth momentum
Company raised 2026 investment spending guidance to a range of $675 million-$725 million, an increase of 8% at the midpoint over 2025.
Revenue $0.2B (est $0.2B) · EPS $1.22 (est $0.83)
Key quotes
"Given our capacity and our activity to date, we are pleased to raise our investment spending earnings guidance, which represents an increase of 8% at the midpoint over 2025."
"This year's box office, which is up 20% year to date and on track for its best year since 2019, demonstrates exactly that."
"At quarter end, we had consolidated debt of $3.3 billion, of which $2.8 billion is fixed-rate debt with an average blended coupon of approximately 4.4%."
Analyst Q&A 8
Deal pipeline: what kinds of opportunities
Q (Anthony Paolone · JPMorgan): They asked what is in the pipeline: how much is acquisitions versus build-to-suits, what types of properties and areas they would invest in. They also asked how the theme park acquisitions performed this summer and whether they want more in that space.
A: Management said the pipeline is broad and includes fitness, golf, fitness facilities, eat-and-play, attractions and live entertainment. They said they see a split between acquisitions and development, with acquisitions expected next year and development facing a higher hurdle in the current rate environment. On the theme parks, they said results were in line with expectations for a transitory year, they committed additional capital and they will watch safety developments before deciding on future activity.
"On the point of development versus acquisitions, we are seeing a split and consistent with this year, there are a number of acquisitions that we can expect for the coming year." — Ben Fox (CIO)
Why invest in performance venues
Q (James Feldman · Wells Fargo): They asked why performance venues are attractive from credit and real estate angles and what runway exists to grow exposure. They also asked what drove the increase in rent coverage to 2.1x and which tenant types drove it.
A: Management said live performance is resilient and demand for experiences is strong, and partnering with a large operator like Live Nation opens growth opportunities. They noted a void in mid-size venues that is underserved and can command attractive returns, and that Live Nation has strong credit. They said the rent coverage increase was helped by theater performance and that consumers are spending on experiences.
"I think Connor, first of all, again, if you just look about the resilience of it, live performance has been incredible as far as its strength in the underlying experiential economy." — Greg Silvers (CEO·CHAIR)
Opening timeline and balance sheet capacity
Q (Rob Stevenson · Huntington): They asked whether the new Live Nation venue still opens next summer, whether there is free rent or when rent starts, and how much additional debt the company can issue while staying in its target leverage.
A: Management said the opening timeline is still accurate but they will not disclose the specific transaction economics. They said they have $50 million of cash with $35 million of excess, remaining investment spending of about $35 million is covered, and they have zero on their line today with $450 million of debt due in December. They finished the quarter at 4.9x pro forma, expect to finish the year around five times without taking down forward equity, and said they are at the lower end of their five to 5.6 leverage range.
"In line with our other practice, we are not going to disclose the specific transaction economics, but that timeline for opening is consistent." — Ben Fox (CIO)
Yields, spreads, and percentage rent drivers
Q (Upal Rana · KeyBanc): They asked how much investment yields have moved after higher cost of capital and whether sellers are offering enough to preserve targeted spreads. They also asked what changed to raise percentage rent guidance and which categories drove it.
A: Management said they are comfortable maintaining their spreads and noted average entry yields are attractive; yield conversations show movements around 25 basis points and they are seeing more attractive escalators in leases. They said they will remain disciplined and not sacrifice spread for volume. Mark said the $2.5 million increase in percentage rents at the midpoint was driven mainly by theater performance, particularly Regal percentage rents, and strength in attractions, especially their Canadian assets.
"We are very comfortable with maintaining our spreads." — Ben Fox (CIO)
Life Time buy and development spreads
Q (Smedes Rose · Citi): They asked about the Life Time acquisition pricing, how the deal came to them, the competitive landscape, and what spread they would target for build-to-suit development versus going cap rates.
A: Management corrected the location (the Life Time was in Irvine, not Tysons) and said their deals are relationship driven with cap rates consistent with their prior comment of averaging in the eights; they said their sourcing and speed are advantages. They said development has a higher bar because of construction and operator costs, and they target about a 50-75 basis point premium to in-place yields on development.
"In terms of spreads, it's very consistent with where we always target in the kind of 50-75 basis point premium to in place." — Ben Fox (CIO)
Selling theaters or redeploying capital
Q (Mitch Germain · Citizens Bank): They asked whether the decline in theater exposure would come from selling assets or from deploying new capital into other sectors, and whether any part of the percentage rent guidance increase was one-time and should be considered for 2027.
A: Management said they are open to both selling theaters and redeploying capital, noting they would need to preserve value given two large master leases with Regal and AMC and that sub-eight cap rates are getting interesting. Mark said there was a one-time item in 2025 but not really in 2026, and they expect box office to be higher next year and Regal percentage rents to go up next year.
"we are not opposed to selling theaters" — Greg Silvers (CEO·CHAIR)
Drivers of guidance increase and risks
Q (Anna · UBS): They asked how much of the guidance increase was driven by Q3 outperformance and what variables would push results toward the low or high end of the updated guidance.
A: Management said some of the quarter was higher due to timing and some due to performance, but recommended focusing on the full year. They said full year guidance is up $0.04, a little over $0.03 of that is percentage rents, other income/expense net is $1 million higher driven by theater performance, and G&A was up a half a million; these were the main drivers of the $0.04 increase.
"If you look at full year guidance, we are up $0.04." — Mark Peterson (CFO)
Presentation changes to SUP and AFFO
Q (Jana Galan · BofA): They asked about the change from percent of revenue to percent of ABR for top tenant contributions, whether there is anything to highlight on ground leases, and any other changes to the supplemental presentation and AFFO.
A: Management said they switched from total revenue to ABR because total revenue includes straight-line rent and ABR better represents cash rents and is more consistent with peers; the change did not significantly alter percentages. They also said they stopped subtracting maintenance CapEx from AFFO to align with most peers, recast prior periods, and that these changes are fairly immaterial but mildly increase AFFO and reduce the payout ratio a little.
"Total revenue has straight line rent and so forth, and we thought a much better representation of cash rents was to use ABR, and that is more consistent with what peers show." — Mark Peterson (CFO)