American Homes 4 Rent

Greetings and welcome to the AMH First Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If you require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce you to your host, Nicholas Frum, Director of Investor Relations. Thank you, Nicholas. You may begin.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. With me today are Brian Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Chris Lau, Chief Financial Officer, and Lincoln Palmer, Chief Operating Officer. Please be advised that this call may include forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this conference call are forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these statements. These risks and other factors that could adversely affect our business and future results are described in our press releases and in our filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements speak only as of today, May 2, 2025. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is included in our earnings press release and supplemental information package. As a note, our operating and financial results, including GAAP and non-GAAP measures, are fully detailed in our earnings release and supplemental information package. You can find these documents, as well as SEC reports and the audio webcast replay of this conference call, on our website at www.amh.com. With that, I will turn the call over to our CEO, Brian Smith.

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. As expected, we had a strong start to 2025. Our top line metrics have sequentially accelerated each month since the start of the year, driving 46 cents of core FFO per share for the first quarter, which represents growth of 6.6% over the same period last year. A lot has happened in the broader economic environment since we exited the first quarter. Despite this recent market uncertainty, our confidence in strong sector fundamentals and our proven business model remains high. First, housing is a basic need, and our high-quality, well-located homes continue to be prioritized by American families. Second, the supply and demand imbalance persists. The U.S. is still short millions of quality homes, and through our unique in-house development program, we continue to deliver new inventory to an undersupplied market. In fact, we were recently recognized as the 37th largest home builder in the country by Builder Magazine. up from 39th last year. And demand isn't slowing. As millennials continue to age into household formation years, they're driving sustained interest in our homes as they seek out the benefits of single family living without the burdens and cost of home ownership. Finally, AMH's focus on the resident experience is unmatched. Our residents choose us for our prime locations, high quality homes, and outstanding service. This results in an industry leading customer experience that is reflected in our national Google score from the first quarter of 4.7 out of five stars. Simply put, AMH is well positioned for strength and resiliency because of our investment grade balance sheet, diversified portfolio footprint, leading operating platform, and strong resident base. This brings me to our first quarter results. Same-home average occupied days continued to strengthen to 95.9%, and we delivered new, renewal, and blended rental rate spreads of 1.4%, 4.5%, and 3.6%, respectively. Together, these drove same-home core revenue growth of 4.3% for the quarter. Core operating expense growth came in at 4.2%, driving same home core NOI growth of 4.4% for the quarter. Notably, we were successful on two key revenue optimization objectives this quarter. First, we began to see the results of our lease expiration management initiative, which is designed to strategically align lease expirations with the heightened demand of peak leasing season. Second, we successfully grew occupancy by 50 basis points while absorbing the timing of move outs that resulted from our lease expiration initiatives. This is a testament to the demand for our high quality well located homes and the resiliency of our resident retention, which remains in excess of 70%. Importantly, we accomplished these objectives while also accelerating new lease rate growth each month, which continues to be at the top of the residential sector. Turning to April, leasing activity continues to strengthen. Same home average occupied days was 96.3%, and new lease spreads accelerated by 170 basis points over March to 3.9%. Renewal and blended leasing spreads were 4.4% and 4.3% respectively, which is consistent with our expectations at the start of the year. Turning to our investment programs, The quarter landed as expected for development deliveries and their initial yields, which were in the low 5% area. As we outlined on our last call, we expect yields to increase as we move through peak leasing season, averaging to the mid 5% range for 2025. As a note, given the timing in the year, we do not expect any potential impacts from tariffs to materially affect full year deliveries and their associated yields in 2025. In addition, there are no changes to acquisition expectations or the pace of dispositions this year. We are remaining patient until attractive opportunities present themselves, and we will continue to lean into the disposition program for the time being. To close, our strong first quarter performance reflects both discipline execution and continued demand for our high quality and well located homes. With that, I will turn the call over to Chris.