Highwoods Properties Q4 FFO Beats Estimates, Revenues Miss

Highwoods Properties Inc. HIW reported fourth-quarter 2025 funds from operations (FFO) per share of 90 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 84 cents. The figure compared favorably with the prior-year quarter’s 85 cents.

The quarterly results reflect healthy leasing activity with rent growth. Rental and other revenues were $203.4 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $208.3 million. The figure fell 1.1% year over year.

For full-year 2024, FFO per share came in at $3.48, lower than the prior-year tally of $3.61 but higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.42. Rental and other revenues decreased 2.4% to $806.1 million, below the consensus mark of $817.6 million.

HIW’s Fourth Quarter in Detail

Highwoods’ average in-place cash rent was up 1.6% per square foot from the prior-year quarter. At the end of the reported quarter, the in-service portfolio occupancy (at HIW share) remained unchanged from the prior quarter at 85.3%. The same-property cash NOI stayed put year over year at around $130 million.

Highwoods’ second-generation leasing activity encompassed 526,000 square feet of space in the fourth quarter, including 221,000 square feet of new leases. The dollar-weighted average term is 5.6 years. GAAP rent growth was 15.4%, and cash rent growth was 1.2%. During the fourth quarter, the company achieved its highest-ever net effective rents, which were 19% higher than the prior peak of 2022.

The present development pipeline aggregates $474 million (at HIW share) and is 78% pre-leased. The company signed 95,000 square feet of first-generation leases from Oct. 28, 2025, through the fourth-quarter end.

Portfolio Activity of HIW

During the fourth quarter, Highwoods purchased 6Hundred at Legacy Union, a newly delivered 411,000-square-foot Class AA office tower in Charlotte’s Uptown CBD for around $223 million.

During the quarter, Highwoods sold off non-core assets for combined gross proceeds of $65.9 million.

Following the quarter end, HIW acquired Bloc83 in the central business district of Raleigh and The Terraces in Preston Center, located in the best business district of Dallas, for $108.4 million.

HIW’s Balance Sheet Position

As of Jan. 30, 2026, the company had $46 million in cash on hand and $580 million available on the revolving credit facility. The reported net debt-to-adjusted EBITDAre ratio was 6.6, up from 6.4 in the previous quarter.

HIW’s 2026 Guidance

Highwoods expects 2026 FFO per share in the range of $3.40-$3.68. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at $3.55 and lies within this range.

HIW expects growth in same-property cash NOI between negative 1.0% and 1.0% and average occupancy of 86.5% to 88.5%.

HIW's Zacks Rank

Highwoods currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Highwoods Properties, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Highwoods Properties, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Highwoods Properties, Inc. Quote

Performance of Other Office REITs

BXP Inc.’s BXP fourth-quarter 2025 FFO per share of $1.76 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.80. BXP’s quarterly results reflected higher expenses impacting the performance, though revenues improved year over year.

SL Green Realty Corp. SLG reported a fourth-quarter 2025 FFO per share of $1.13, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.10. Results showed robust leasing activity and improved average rents on Manhattan office leases.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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