Kimco Realty NYSE: KIM reported first-quarter 2026 funds from operations (FFO) of $0.46 per diluted share, a 4.5% increase from the prior year, as management pointed to higher minimum rents, strong tenant retention, and favorable credit loss trends. Same-property net operating income (NOI) rose 1.7% in the quarter, which CEO Conor Flynn said was in line with the company’s expectation that the first quarter would be the “low point of the year” as it laps prior-year rent impacts tied to several retailer situations, including Joann’s, Party City, Big Lots, and Rite Aid.
Flynn told investors the company is focused on converting its “signed, but not open” (SNO) leasing pipeline into cash flow, recycling capital to address what management sees as a gap between public and private market valuations, and modernizing its operating platform. “Three months in, I’m pleased to report we are executing on each of these fronts,” Flynn said.
Leasing results and record signed-but-not-open pipeline
Kimco completed 576 leases totaling 4.4 million square feet during the quarter. Flynn said new lease spreads were 23.8% and combined spreads were 11.3%. Pro rata occupancy was 96.3%, up 50 basis points from a year earlier and down 10 basis points from the company’s all-time high at the end of 2025.
Chief Operating Officer David Jamieson said average new lease rents were about $29 per square foot, which he described as the highest the company has reported. Jamieson also highlighted packaged leasing momentum, including four leases with Dollar Tree, and activity in the lifestyle portfolio including leases with Anthropologie and a first deal with Patagonia.
The company’s SNO pipeline increased to a record $77 million of annual base rent, representing what Flynn called a 410-basis-point spread between leased and economic occupancy. Jamieson said more than 60% of current SNO is projected to commence in 2026, with commencements weighted toward the second half of the year.
Jamieson said projected 2026 cash flow rent from commencements increased to $31 million from an original budget of $28.5 million. He said first-quarter commencements are expected to contribute approximately $13 million in 2026, with more than $18 million projected from leases commencing in the second through fourth quarters.
Occupancy dynamics and tenant behavior
During the Q&A, Jamieson said the quarter-over-quarter dip in leased occupancy was “primarily driven by the American Signature bankruptcy.” Excluding that, he said occupancy would have been “flat to slightly positive.” Jamieson also said retention rates for the first half of the year were over 95%, which he described as near all-time highs.
Responding to questions about the spread between leased and economic occupancy, Jamieson said the company sees room to lift both metrics. He noted leased occupancy of 96.3% is near an all-time high of 96.4%, while anchor occupancy remains about 110 basis points below its prior peak. On economic occupancy, he said the company is still below its high-water mark of roughly 94.5% and expects economic occupancy to accelerate “through the back half of the year.”
Kimco also discussed how tenants are adjusting to scarce supply. Jamieson said retailers are becoming “much more flexible” on prototypes and more willing to sign leases sooner, citing the pace of the Dollar Tree package deals. He added that both landlords and tenants are focusing on value engineering to lower capital costs and open stores sooner, and referenced efforts to pull forward opening dates for a Sprouts package.
Capital recycling, acquisitions, and private market pricing
President and Chief Investment Officer Ross Cooper said transaction volume was relatively quiet in the first quarter, consistent with Kimco’s 2026 plan and guidance that activity will be weighted toward the second half. He said investor demand for open-air retail remains strong and that “best-in-class grocery anchor centers in top markets” have been trading in the “low to 5 mid percent range” for cap rates.
Cooper cited the announced all-cash acquisition of Whitestone REIT by Ares Management, valued at about $1.7 billion, as evidence of private capital interest in the sector and what he described as a “disconnect” between private market values and public market trading levels.
In the first quarter, Kimco sold two “flat low growth ground leases” at cap rates blending to a mid-5% level, according to Cooper. He said the company is marketing additional assets, including other ground lease parcels and select residential properties, and aims to structure dispositions to shelter gains through 1031 exchanges where possible.
On the structured investment side, Cooper said the company committed capital at attractive yields in the quarter and is “slightly ahead of plan” on structured investments. He said these investments include future acquisition rights under rights of first offer or first refusal and help build a pipeline that is “largely insulated from open market competition.” Cooper said Kimco had about $38 million net funded in the quarter and more than $70 million of net committed structured investments including future fundings.
Financial items, balance sheet, and updated outlook
Chief Financial Officer Glenn Cohen said the key driver of quarterly FFO was higher pro rata NOI, led by $8.3 million of higher minimum rents tied to contractual escalators and mark-to-market leasing. Cohen also flagged comparability items, including approximately $7 million of non-cash GAAP revenue from accelerated below-market rent associated with early lease termination-related recaptures. He said first-quarter results also benefited from the timing of percentage rent, which is seasonally weighted to the first quarter and not expected to be indicative of the remaining quarters.
General and administrative expense was $37 million, which Cohen attributed to the timing shift of the annual equity award grant into the first quarter. He said the timing issue had no material impact for the full year.
On leverage, Cohen said Kimco ended the quarter with consolidated net debt to EBITDA of 5.2x, or 5.5x on a look-through basis including pro rata joint venture debt and preferred stock. He called these “the best levels we have reported since we began tracking this metric.” Liquidity was approximately $2.2 billion, including $170 million of cash and full availability on the company’s $2 billion unsecured revolving credit facility with no borrowings outstanding.
Cohen said the company renewed its revolving credit facility, reduced the borrowing spread over SOFR by 5 basis points, and extended the initial maturity to March 2030 with two six-month extension options. He also said Kimco reduced spreads on $860 million of outstanding term loans, generating roughly $600,000 of annual interest savings.
For full-year 2026, Kimco tightened its FFO outlook range to $1.81 to $1.84 per diluted share from $1.80 to $1.84. Cohen said the company raised its same-site NOI growth outlook to 2.8% to 3.5% and tightened its credit loss assumption to 65 to 90 basis points from 75 to 100 basis points, citing improved visibility into new rent commencements and better-than-expected credit loss.
Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer Kathleen Thayer said the company experienced 52 basis points of credit loss in the first quarter and was not seeing a slowdown among small shop tenants. She noted Painted Tree had filed for bankruptcy but said it was a small impact for Kimco, involving five leases, and that management did not anticipate a significant impact from that situation.
Cohen also said Kimco made a small amount of share repurchases early in the quarter when the stock was under $20, but “there’s really not a lot baked into the guidance in terms of share buybacks.”
About Kimco Realty NYSE: KIM
Founded in 1958 by Milton Cooper and headquartered in Jericho, New York, Kimco Realty Corporation NYSE: KIM is a leading publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the ownership, operation and development of open-air shopping centers. The company's portfolio, concentrated on neighborhood and community centers anchored by grocery stores, encompasses approximately 400 properties across the United States, with selective holdings in Canada and Mexico.
Kimco's core business activities include acquiring, repositioning and managing retail real estate assets that serve as daily-need destinations for consumers.
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