Why Boston Properties Stock Jumped 21% in the First Half of 2021
Shares of big-city office landlord Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) rose roughly 21% over the first six months of 2021 according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. That was roughly in line with the average real estate investment trust (REIT), using Vanguard Real Estate Index ETF as a proxy, but well above the 15% gain of the S&P 500 Index. To some extent this move was about recovering from the worst of the pandemic downturn in 2020, but there's a deeper story to understand here.
Wall Street generally tries to anticipate the future. This can lead to interesting, but not always accurate, assessments as emotions can cause disproportionately extreme reactions. For example, early in the pandemic in 2020, investors sold anything that might be affected by the coronavirus as if life as we know it were permanently over. Boston Properties got caught up in that downdraft. As successful vaccines started to roll out and government restrictions were eased, investors shifted gears and became more positive about the outlook for companies like Boston Properties. Indeed, occupancy at the REIT was roughly 89% at the end of the first quarter. While that was down from 93% at the end of 2019, it's hardly a sign of a business that's been completely upended. It makes sense that the glass-half-empty mindset has been tossed to the wayside.
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Source Fool.com
