Oct 27, 2026 earnings call — Luxury senior living growth and capital deployment
Raised full-year normalized FFO midpoint by $0.10 to $6.50 after strong RevPOR and same-store NOI gains.
Revenue $3.7B (est $3.6B) · EPS $0.54 (est $0.64)
Key quotes
"Our all in measure of pricing or RevPOR, or unit revenue, increased by 5.3% during the period."
"After a record setting year of capital deployment in 2025, we have completed or announced over $21 billion of investment activity. Year to date."
"our priority remains creating a modern digital experience for our residents, their families, and site level employees through Welltower Business System"
Analyst Q&A 16
Why Well wins deals
Q (Farrell Granath · BofA): Analyst asked why Well wins a small share of deals: pricing, operations/platform, or co-investing?
A: Management said it comes down to reputation, speed, conviction, and delivering a high-quality transaction experience. They emphasized disciplined, granular execution and strong data-science tools to evaluate assets at neighborhood level.
"It comes down to every step of the way from the speed, the quality, the practical mindedness, of how you negotiate documents and how you move things along." — Nikhil Chaudhri
What will differentiate Wells in 2–3 years
Q (Vikram Malhotra · Mizuho): Analyst asked what operating and growth differences will set Wells apart in 2 to 3 years and whether size limits growth.
A: Management said the company has refocused over the last 10 years on narrow product-market fit and a unique data-science platform to drive premium performance. They said per-share cash flow depends on improving what they already own, not on balance sheet size or buying more assets.
"For that performance, these discerning customers are willing to pay." — Shankh S. Mitra
Occupancy and high-occupancy cohort
Q (Ronald Kamdem · Morgan Stanley): Analyst asked for an update on the 95%+ occupied cohort and the portfolio's structural vacancy.
A: Management said many properties are already above 90% and they believe the whole portfolio could reach that level if frozen today. They reported the 90%+ cohort had RevPAR growth over 6% and NOI growth above 21%.
"The performance of the 90%-plus cohort had RevPAR growth of over 6% and NOI growth above 21%." — Shankh S. Mitra
Main constraints to compounding cash flow
Q (Michael Goldsmith · UBS): Analyst asked what will become the binding constraint to compounding cash flow over five years: acquisitions, operator capacity, or something else.
A: Management said they are opportunity-constrained, not capital-constrained, and are highly selective. Future per-share cash flow will depend on execution of the existing portfolio and operators delivering exceptional product and service, not on buying more properties.
Skilled nursing (SNF) deals details
Q (Juan Sanabria · BMO): Analyst asked about the SNF investments: size, price per unit or yield, opportunity set, and competition with higher rates.
A: Management said the SNF purchases totaled about $850 million across 8 transactions in 4 states, all off-market, with rent yields around 9%. They noted operational turnaround experience and new HUD financing limits that create trapped equity and transaction opportunities.
"So it is about $850 million across 8 different transactions." — Nikhil Chaudhri
Non-same-store pool performance
Q (Nicholas Yulico · Scotiabank): Analyst asked how non-same-store properties are performing versus same-store, and how UK and Canada acquisitions are doing.
A: Management said reported non-same-store results include developments and low-occupied assets, which depress early metrics; stripping those out shows about a 90 basis point sequential occupancy increase. They expect geographic acquisitions to perform well in 2027 despite short-term operator-change disruption.
"If you strip those out and look at the assets that have been in the pool, for kind of like-for-like periods, get closer to 90 basis points of sequential occupancy increase." — Shankh S. Mitra
Pricing power magnitude and metrics
Q (Citi): Analyst asked how management thinks about the magnitude of pricing power and what metrics they use for pricing per unit.
A: Management described combined pricing measures and noted they avoid large rent increases for existing customers, preferring to run some units below market and capture street-rate gains over time. They said street rates are meaningfully enhanced now and they have not seen a better pricing environment.
Runway to keep expense growth low
Q (Michael Mueller · JPMorgan): Analyst asked how long they can keep expense growth (ExpPOR) near or below current low levels.
A: Management said they will not anchor to a specific number but focus on line-item operating optimization enabled by detailed data and invoice-level visibility once a community is on their ledger. They distinguish business-side efficiencies from paying above-market for caregiving talent.
"It is a line item by line item conversation." — Shankh S. Mitra
Long-term growth and geographic expansion
Q (Wells Fargo): Analyst asked about long-term global and domestic expansion opportunities amid macro changes.
A: Management said they focus on expertise and staying within a narrow circle of competence, having sold many businesses to concentrate on a focused product-market fit. They are not pursuing new countries and are instead investing in technology and people to transform the existing business.
"We are not looking to go into different countries." — Shankh S. Mitra
Growth of fee and data businesses
Q (Omotayo Okusanya · Deutsche Bank): Analyst asked about growth prospects for capital-light fee income: funds and licensing the data-science platform over 2–3 years.
A: Management said disclosures show capital-light revenues should rise and that fund management had an excellent start: first equity fund fully deployed, a credit fund raising well, and a subsequent equity fund on data science partnerships being raised. They expect continued progress.
"We have had an incredible start to our fund management business." — Nikhil Chaudhri
Wellness housing NOI and margin
Q (James Kammert · Evercore): Analyst asked for disclosure of wellness housing NOI share of SHOP and its margin.
A: Management said wellness housing is about 10% of the SHOP portfolio and margins are in the mid-50s.
"it is about 10% of the SHOP portfolio." — Timothy G. McHugh
Dispositions and Brookdale deal context
Q (Rich Hightower · Barclays): Analyst asked if sold assets this year failed product-market fit and for context on the Brookdale transaction.
A: Management said many dispositions reflected medical office tranches and decisions about what will contribute to go-forward growth; other buyers may find more value in those assets. They described the Brookdale deal as a win-win where Brookdale preferred owning more assets and Welltower was happy with the price.
"That is how we decide what we are keeping versus what we are selling." — Nikhil Chaudhri
New supply risk at high end
Q (Austin Wurschmidt · KeyBanc): Analyst asked whether new supply will be concentrated at the high end and limit pricing power.
A: Management said most development does not pencil attractively and where it does (top submarkets) it will take many years to deliver; they do not expect an oversupplied market and would accept it if it occurred, since those locations offer the best pricing power.
"So we do not believe that we are gonna live in a world that will be oversupplied." — Shankh S. Mitra
RevPOR versus occupancy impact
Q (Michael Carroll · RBC): Analyst asked whether RevPOR gains scale like occupancy gains and how RevPOR–ExpPOR spread behaves at higher occupancy.
A: Management said they see RevPOR–ExpPOR spreads in the 95%+ cohort that are comparable or greater than the rest of the portfolio, and that pricing increases have a larger impact on flow-through margin than occupancy-driven revenue.
"We are seeing RevPOR, ExpPOR spreads there that are comparable to, if not greater than, what we see in the rest of the portfolio." — Timothy G. McHugh
Lessons from Genesis situation
Q (Richard Anderson · Cantor Fitzgerald): Analyst asked what lessons from Genesis the company will keep and what they will not do again.
A: Management warned against lending to a broken balance sheet and said their view on skilled nursing changed from thinking it was a bad business to recognizing it can work with correct execution, operator partnerships, and careful management; they emphasized testing biases with data and incremental information.
"Do not make a problem, you know. Make it bigger by lending to it." — Nikhil Chaudhri
Senior housing market repricing
Q (Green Street): Analyst asked where senior housing valuations have repriced most in US, UK, Canada and the magnitude versus a few months ago.
A: Management said it is too soon to see broad repricing; transaction markets lag public rates and sentiments shifted such that sellers are willing to accept 'good enough' prices and sell to high-quality counterparties, sometimes taking OP units to participate in future recovery.
"It is probably too soon to see significant repricing." — Nikhil Chaudhri