This Value Stock Could Crush Expectations
Indoor malls got crushed during the 2020 pandemic shutdown and subsequent stock market slump. Shares of industry giant Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) fell roughly 70%. And while the stock has rallied more than 80% so far this year, making up a lot of lost ground since the nadir, the shares are still about 10% lower than in early 2020 (before the pandemic). They also are roughly 40% below their 2016 highs, suggesting that there's still a lot of worry on Wall Street about this mall landlord's future. Yet the truth is, it's doing quite well all things considered.
When the government tells you not to open your properties during a pandemic because they are non-essential, you know times are going to be tough. And they were...last year. Now that real estate investment trust Simon Property Group has its malls open for business again, things are quickly improving. To give you an idea of just how much better the situation is today, during Simon's second-quarter 2021 earnings conference call, Chief Executive Officer David Simon said that, "Total sales for the month of June were equal to June 2019." In other words, the REIT's malls are already back to their old form.
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Source Fool.com
