Macerich Earnings: The Mall REIT's Recovery Continues
The COVID-19 pandemic hit mall owners like Macerich (NYSE: MAC) hard during 2020. Fortunately, Americans eagerly returned to in-person experiences -- including trips to the mall -- in 2021. Moreover, strong home price and stock market gains, pandemic-related stimulus efforts, and pent-up demand from 2020 caused consumer spending to surge last year.
This sparked a remarkable turnaround for the U.S. mall industry. Macerich was no exception. Last week, the mall REIT released another strong quarterly earnings report and projected that its results will continue to improve in 2022.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, shopper traffic and tenant sales continued to recover rapidly at Macerich's malls. Comparable small-shop sales increased 12% compared to 2019. Strong sales ensured that tenants could pay rent on time and drove a big increase in percentage rent (variable rent payments based on sales).
Source Fool.com
