American Homes 4 Rent Raises Core FFO Outlook as NOI Growth Slows
American Homes 4 Rent lifted its full-year Core FFO guidance midpoint to $1.95 a share even as same-home NOI growth decelerated for a third straight quarter.
American Homes 4 Rent (AMH), the single-family rental landlord, raised its full-year 2026 Core FFO guidance, moving the midpoint up 3 cents to $1.95 a share and narrowing the range to $1.93 to $1.97 from $1.89 to $1.95. The revised outlook implies growth of 3.2% to 5.3% for the year, up from a prior range of 1.1% to 4.3%.
The higher guidance arrived alongside a slowdown in the underlying same-home portfolio that has now persisted for three consecutive quarters. Same-home Core NOI growth fell to 2.7% in the second quarter from 3.7% in the first quarter and 3.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Revenue growth held at 2.8% year over year for a third straight period, versus 4.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The guidance increase rested more on cost control than on top-line acceleration. The company lowered its full-year core property operating expense growth guidance to a range of 1.25% to 2.75% from 1.75% to 3.75%, citing a lower property tax outlook, and raised its Core NOI growth guidance to 1.40%–3.40% from 1.00%–3.00%. Same-home revenue growth guidance was narrowed at the top end to 1.50%–3.00% from 1.25%–3.25%.
Leasing trends showed some stabilization within the deceleration. Same-home blended lease rate growth rose to 2.7% in the second quarter from 2.2% in the first quarter, with new-lease spreads turning positive at 1.4% after registering negative 0.8% in the prior quarter, though renewal spreads held flat at 3.2%. Occupancy improved sequentially to 96.0% from 95.1% in the first quarter and 95.0% in the fourth quarter of 2025, though it remained 40 basis points below the year-earlier level. Preliminary July metrics showed occupancy at 96.1%, new-lease rate growth of 1.6%, and renewal rate growth of 3.3%, alongside a reference to the newly passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
Same-home operating expense growth reversed course within the quarter, rising 1.7% year over year after falling 0.2% in the first quarter, a swing the company attributed to property tax expense following a period of cost-control-driven declines.
Per-share earnings metrics accelerated even as portfolio-level growth slowed. Core FFO per share grew 5.2% year over year in the second quarter, up from 4.6% in the first quarter and 4.1% in the fourth quarter of 2025, while Adjusted FFO per share growth rose to 8.3% from 8.0% and 6.5% over the same stretch. Share buybacks contributed to that trend but slowed in dollar terms, with the company repurchasing $123.0 million of stock in the second quarter, or 4.1 million shares at an average price of $29.88, down from $115.1 million in the first quarter and $150.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Home deliveries under the AMH Development Program accelerated for a third consecutive quarter, reaching 651 in the second quarter from 539 in the first quarter and 490 in the fourth quarter of 2025. Total debt held roughly flat at $5.2 billion, while cash fell to $83.7 million at June 30 from $108.5 million at the end of 2025 and revolver borrowings rose to $390.0 million from $360.0 million.