Stag Industrial, Inc. (STAG) Business Profile

What it does

STAG Industrial is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, that acquires, owns, develops and operates industrial properties across the United States. It leases buildings to businesses that need industrial space, including distribution, manufacturing and data-center-related tenants. Some properties have several tenants, but most of the portfolio consists of single-tenant buildings.

STAG incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. William R. Crooker is its president and chief executive officer. As of December 31, 2025, the company owned 601 buildings in 41 states, with approximately 120.0 million rentable square feet. It also had seven development projects that were not included in the building count.

The company generally buys properties individually or in small portfolios, although it also considers larger portfolios. Its acquisition, leasing and operations platforms cover the process from selecting a property to finding tenants and managing the building. STAG uses a risk assessment model to identify potential acquisitions across industrial markets and tenant types.

STAG owns its properties and conducts substantially all its business through an operating partnership that it controls. The REIT structure generally allows it to distribute income to shareholders without paying federal income tax on the distributed amount, provided it maintains its qualification. It remains subject to state and local taxes and to federal income and excise taxes on undistributed income.

How it makes money

STAG receives income primarily from rent paid by the businesses occupying its buildings. Rental income depends principally on how much space is occupied and the rents tenants pay. The company manages and reports its operations as a single segment rather than separating properties into different reporting businesses.

Leases provide recurring rent for their contractual terms. As leases expire, STAG can renew with existing tenants or find new tenants, with the rent on the new lease potentially differing from the previous rent. For the year ended December 31, 2025, cash rent on comparable new and renewal leases increased approximately 24.0%. This measure compares the first base rent payment under a new lease with the last monthly payment under the prior comparable lease; it does not include every lease in the portfolio.

Many tenants occupy buildings under triple-net leases. In those arrangements, tenants generally pay building operating costs such as utilities, taxes, insurance and maintenance, while roof and building structure costs are typically excluded. Other leases leave STAG responsible for some or all property operating expenses. The company also receives expense reimbursements from tenants.

Operating cash flow helps pay operating expenses, debt service, recurring capital expenditures and distributions needed to maintain REIT qualification. STAG primarily relies on equity and debt markets and bank borrowing to fund acquisitions. It can also issue operating partnership units in exchange for properties.

For Q3 2026, core funds from operations were $0.66 per share. As of December 31, 2025, the buildings were approximately 96.4% leased. Occupancy and the rents achieved on new and renewed leases affect the income available from the portfolio.

Customers and how it sells

STAG leases industrial buildings to businesses across the United States. Its portfolio includes both single-tenant and multi-tenant properties, with single-tenant buildings making up the majority. The company’s tenants operate across a range of industries, and its properties serve different local industrial markets.

As of December 31, 2025, STAG owned buildings in 41 states. No single tenant accounted for more than approximately 2.8% of total annualized base rental revenue, and no single industry accounted for more than approximately 11.4%. The company defines that annualized measure using the monthly base cash rent at the end of the year, rather than rental revenue calculated under accounting rules.

STAG has identified demand from third-party logistics providers, advanced manufacturing businesses and data-center-related tenants. From the start of 2025 through Q3 2026, it leased 2.5 million square feet to data-center-related tenants. Those leases supported data-center operations in buildings that STAG said were already in its portfolio and had been available to serve other types of demand.

The company obtains tenants through new leases and renewals. It also develops properties, including build-to-suit projects, and seeks tenants for buildings developed before leases are secured.

Suppliers and costs

STAG’s principal property operating expenses include utilities, real estate taxes, management fees, insurance, and site repair and maintenance. Tenant responsibility for those costs depends on the lease. Under most tenants’ triple-net provisions, tenants pay operating costs during the lease term, typically excluding the roof and building structure. Under modified gross and gross leases, or leases with expense caps, STAG may absorb more building-related costs.

The company also needs money for property acquisitions and development, tenant improvements and leasing commissions. Its leasing costs can include improvements to vacant or renewed spaces, contingent legal fees and commissions. Financing costs and scheduled principal payments are among its liquidity requirements.

STAG carries property, liability and rental-loss insurance across its portfolio, as well as environmental coverage subject to policy conditions and limitations. It generally does not insure certain losses, including some flood and earthquake losses, and its coverage may not be sufficient for every loss.

STAG had 93 employees as of December 31, 2025. It operates an integrated acquisition, leasing and operations platform rather than manufacturing products.

Competitive position

STAG competes with other real estate investors and operators when buying industrial properties and pursuing development projects. It also competes with owners and managers of industrial buildings when seeking new tenants or trying to retain existing ones. Competitors can be national, regional or local, and public or private; they may have different access to capital, financing costs and required returns. No individual competitors are named.

STAG focuses on acquiring individual properties or small portfolios across CBRE-EA Tier 1 industrial markets. It uses a risk assessment model to evaluate properties and has integrated acquisition, leasing and operations platforms. The company contrasts its broad market search with the narrower set of markets in which some other institutional industrial buyers operate.

Our reading: The breadth of STAG’s property search and its integrated platform may help it identify and manage acquisitions, but the available evidence does not establish that those capabilities give it a durable advantage over other buyers.

Our reading: Its diversified tenant base limits reliance on any one customer, but diversification alone does not prevent other landlords from competing for tenants or properties.

Growth opportunities

STAG seeks to grow both by acquiring properties and by increasing income from buildings it already owns. Internal growth depends in part on occupancy and rental rates. The company also develops properties and can add value to acquired buildings through leasing or renovation.

For Q3 2026, STAG acquired 2 buildings for $107.9 million. After the quarter ended, it acquired 1 building for $55 million. The company narrowed its expected acquisition volume for 2026 to a range of $530 million to $600 million. It said the revised guidance assumed limited additional acquisition activity for the rest of the year because of uncertainty in capital markets.

At the end of Q3 2026, STAG had 7 buildings, or 1.8 million square feet, of development activity that was not yet in service. The company expects development starts, which it described as running at over $100 million annually, to increase over time. It includes build-to-suit and speculative projects in its development work.

STAG has also identified data-center-related tenants as a source of demand for existing industrial buildings. Such leasing accounted for 26% of its new operating portfolio leasing from the start of 2025 through Q3 2026. The company expects market rent growth to accelerate in the following year.

Structural risks

• Leasing and tenant credit: Economic or regional downturns can affect tenants’ ability to meet lease commitments and STAG’s ability to renew or re-lease space. Competing supply, tenant turnover and changes in demand can also affect occupancy and rents. STAG has identified smaller, highly leveraged businesses with low margins as a tenant-credit concern.

• Access to capital and debt: Growth depends partly on external capital. Difficulty accessing financing can affect acquisitions, debt obligations and distributions. High interest rates and an inability to make debt payments can adversely affect results and financial condition.

• Development leasing: New buildings must attract tenants before they generate their intended rental income. STAG identified its Mount Anderson building in Reno as the development project with the most leasing risk and said traditional fulfillment and logistics users had been slow to return to that submarket.

• Environmental and insurance exposure: STAG can be required to clean up contamination at a property even if it did not cause it. Environmental assessments may not identify every liability, and insurance coverage is subject to limitations and may not cover every loss.

• REIT qualification: STAG must continue to meet federal tax requirements, including distribution requirements, to qualify as a REIT. Failure to qualify would reduce net earnings available for investment or distribution.

Bottom line

Our reading

STAG is an industrial landlord whose cash flow rests on keeping buildings leased and collecting rent across a geographically and tenant-diversified portfolio. Its growth combines rent increases and occupancy at existing properties with acquisitions and development, while access to capital, tenant credit and the ability to lease new space remain important exposures.