The stock market got off to a great start this year. The S&P 500 rallied 14.5%, driven up by AI-related enthusiasm.

However, not all segments of the market participated in this rally. Most real estate investment trusts (REITs) underperformed. That was due to persistently high interest rates, which, among other things, weigh on the value of high-yield dividend stocks.

There was one outlier among REITs: Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM). Its shares soared 28.1% in the first half. Add in its high-yielding dividend (which at its recent level of 2.6% is more than double the S&P 500's yield), and the outperformance was even wider (30.1% for Iron Mountain compared to 15.3% for the S&P 500). Here's a look at what drove that rally and whether it has the power to continue outperforming.

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Source Fool.com