Among the earnings results trickling out this month, it will be impossible to overshadow Welltower’s announcement with $14 billion in new investment activity and another great quarter of seniors housing operating portfolio (SHOP) performance improvements. But Ventas reported healthy results, too, and some significant acquisition volume.
Ventas reported attributable net income per share of $0.14, up from $0.05 a year earlier for a gain of 180%. Normalized FFO per share also jumped 10% to $0.88, compared with $0.80 in Q3:24. On the operational front, the SHOP turned in a good performance, with same-store cash NOI rising 16% year-over-year to $232.4 million, led by the U.S. portfolio with a 19% jump.
Same-store average occupancy also improved by 160 basis points sequentially and by 270 basis points year-over-year to 89.0%. Meanwhile, U.S. same-store occupancy rose 200 bps sequentially and 340 bps year-over-year. And same-store cash operating revenue in SHOP rose 8% year-over-year. Margin expansion followed, with NOI margin widening by 200 bps to 28.3%.
On the investments front, Ventas closed $1.1 billion in accretive seniors housing investments in the third quarter of 2025 and $2.2 billion year-to-date (through October). It also increased its full-year 2025 investment guidance for seniors housing to $2.5 billion from around $2.0 billion.
The year-to-date activity comprises 50 acquired communities and approximately 6,250 total units across 15 states. They are, for the most part, new vintage properties, averaging nine years in age, and feature a majority of assisted living or memory care units (67%). They have strong in-place performance, with roughly 91% occupancy on average, and Ventas reported an average acquisition price of around $381,000 per unit. The REIT partnered with 15 operators for the deals, including forming 10 new relationships with experienced local market-focused operators. There is an expected year-one NOI yield of 7.2% and a 10-year unlevered IRR in low-to-mid teens.
A few of the recent acquisitions have been revealed recently, like Ventas’ $600 million, or more than $700,000 per unit, purchase of five assisted living communities on Long Island, the details of which you can find here on LevinPro LTC. But we look forward to more Ventas deals being revealed in the coming weeks.
