PSA, Public Storage
Read top to bottom, the owner's questions in the order an owner asks them: what the business is, whether the record holds, whether it survives and is any good, and what you would be paying. New to the questions? Start with the Method.
The business in brief
read the 10-K →What this business is and what moves its needle, read from the numbers in its filings. The quantitative detail is in the sections below; the verdict is left to you.
- What it is
- A property business, read on funds from operations and net asset value rather than reported earnings.
- What moves the needle
- Occupancy, rents, and the cost of debt. Read on funds from operations and net asset value, because GAAP depreciation distorts the earnings.
- Is it a good business?
- Funds from operations per share have compounded about 5% a year across the record. The dividend takes 33% of FFO, and is covered. Debt is 51% of assets, moderate for a REIT. The quality and location of the properties, the lease terms and occupancy, and the cost of the debt are what the 10-K settles, and no single ratio captures them.
Every line here is arithmetic from the company's own filings, not a model's opinion, and each figure appears in full in the sections below.
The record, 2016–2025
realized figures from each filing, no estimates| 2016’16 | 2017’17 | 2018’18 | 2019’19 | 2020’20 | 2021’21 | 2022’22 | 2023’23 | 2024’24 | 2025’25 | TTMTTMMar 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RevenueRevenue | $2.6B | $2.7B | $2.8B | $2.9B | $2.9B | $3.4B | $4.2B | $4.5B | $4.7B | $4.8B | $4.9B |
| Net incomeNet inc. | $1.5B | $1.4B | $1.7B | $1.5B | $1.4B | $2.0B | $4.3B | $2.1B | $2.1B | $1.8B | $1.9B |
| Funds from operationsFFO | $1.9B | $1.9B | $2.2B | $2.0B | $1.9B | $2.7B | $5.2B | $3.1B | $3.2B | $2.9B | $3.1B |
| FFO / shareFFO/sh | $10.85 | $10.88 | $12.37 | $11.65 | $10.93 | $15.11 | $29.70 | $17.61 | $18.18 | $16.69 | $17.40 |
| Debt / assetsDebt/assets | — | 13% | 13% | 17% | 22% | 43% | 39% | 46% | 47% | 51% | 49% |
| Total debtDebt | $391M | $1.4B | $1.4B | $1.9B | $2.5B | $7.5B | $6.9B | $9.1B | $9.4B | $10.3B | $9.7B |
| Book value / shareBVPS | $54.13 | $51.33 | $52.32 | $51.93 | $49.01 | $53.17 | $57.14 | $56.85 | $55.17 | $52.58 | $52.43 |
Owner’s Scorecard
Is it a good business?
- about $16.69 per shareNet income $1.8B + depreciation $1.2B − gains on sale $1M
GAAP net income with property depreciation added back, because the buildings a REIT charges against earnings usually hold or grow their value. This, not net income, is what a REIT is actually priced on. It is an approximation here: where a filing reports gains on property sales, we remove them, the way the NAREIT definition does.
- Lightly coveredDividends $968M ÷ FFO $2.9B
A REIT must distribute most of its taxable income, so a high payout is normal and the question is whether FFO covers it. Above 100%, the trust is funding the dividend with debt or asset sales, and a cut usually follows.
Is it sound?
- Debt / assets 51%ElevatedTotal debt $10.3B ÷ assets $20.2B
Every REIT runs on leverage; how much is the question. Heavy debt is what turns a property downturn into a wipeout, as 2008 showed, so a conservative balance sheet is part of the moat here, not a drag on it.
- Strong(operating income + depreciation) ÷ interest $304M
How many times the property cash earnings cover the interest bill. Comfortable coverage is what lets a REIT refinance through a tight credit market instead of being forced to sell into one.
Solvent is not the same as cheap; growing is not the same as good. These are vital signs, not a verdict, the judgment is yours, and the filing is one click away.
Management & pay
Two questions Buffett actually asks about pay: is stock compensation, a real expense, whatever the income statement pretends, quietly large, and is the top wildly out of line with the floor. He's no populist about it; he just wants pay that's rational and earned, and comp committees that aren't lapdogs.
- Stock-based compensation$40M
The slice of the business handed to employees in shares this year, 1% of revenue, equal to 3% of operating profit. Buffett's oldest accounting fight: this is compensation, compensation is an expense, real whether or not the headline earnings admit it. And note the trap, the cash-flow statement adds SBC back, so the operating cash, and the owner earnings drawn from it, are flattered by exactly this amount; counted as the cost it is, what an owner keeps is lower.
What the price implies
price / FFOA REIT is priced on a multiple of its funds from operations (FFO), the cash it earns once the depreciation on its buildings is added back. Type today’s price; we show the multiple you would pay and the income and growth it implies. Nothing is stored.
Enter a price above to run it.
The justified multiple is 1 ÷ (discount rate − growth), a perpetuity on FFO. At an 8% discount and 3% growth, a REIT is worth about 20× FFO. Raise the discount rate and the multiple falls: the same interest-rate gravity that pulls on every yield asset.
FFO about $17.40 per share on 176M shares. A lens, not a target. FFO here adds back depreciation and removes property-sale gains, the NAREIT method; it does not net out maintenance capex (AFFO), occupancy or lease terms, which the 10-K does.
What the filing emphasizes, FY2025
read the 10-K →Each year a 10-K must name what could go wrong, in the company's own words. Here are the ones Graham and Buffett would stop on, each set against the figure from the same filings that bears on it, anchored to a period you can find in the record above. We point; the judgment is yours.
- Customer concentrationMD&A
Who the revenue leans on. When one buyer is a large slice of sales, that buyer holds the pricing power, and its troubles become the company's.
“Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2024 to the Year Ended December 31, 2023 Revenues generated by our Same Store Facilities decreased 0.6% in 2024 as compared to 2023, due primarily to a 0.5% decrease in average occupancy. 32 The weighted average square foot occupancy for our Same Store Facil…”
From the recordRevenue exposed (TTM)$4.9B - Debt terms & refinancingBusiness
The fine print behind the debt. Covenants and near-term maturities decide who is really in control when a year goes badly.
“As a result, if we issued new debt or preferred shares or refinanced our indebtedness, our debt service costs or preferred share dividend yields would likely be, based on current interest rates, significantly higher than current financing costs.”
From the recordBalance sheet (TTM)$9.9B heavy net debt · interest covered 4.7× - Litigation & contingenciesBusiness
Claims an owner inherits. Most disclosure is boilerplate; this fires only on an actual matter, a named suit, a settlement, a contingency, a number.
“We are subject to the risk of legal claims and proceedings (including class actions) and regulatory enforcement actions across many jurisdictions in the ordinary course of our business and otherwise, and we could incur significant liabilities and substantial legal fees from these actions.”
A judgment, not a number, weigh it against the filing yourself. - Cyclicality & demandBusiness
How the business behaves when the economy turns. A cyclical earns its keep across the whole cycle, not at the peak.
“Economic downturns or adverse economic or industry conditions, including those related to high levels of inflation, could adversely impact our financial results, growth, and access to capital.”
From the recordWorst year on record53.3% operating margin (FY2017) - Regulation & policyBusiness
Rules that can rewrite the economics, tariffs, antitrust, data, export controls.
“In addition, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, we could also be subject to certain taxes enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that are applicable to non-REIT corporations, including the corporate alternative minimum tax and nondeductible one percent excise tax on certain sto…”
A judgment, not a number, weigh it against the filing yourself.
What changed, FY2025 vs FY2024
read the 10-K →Most of a 10-K is boilerplate carried over verbatim; the signal is in what's new. These lines appear this year and weren't there last, figure updates filtered out, so only the language shift remains.
- “We plan to use the remaining proceeds for general corporate purposes, including to make investments in self-storage facilities. 24 Results of Operations Operating Results for 2025 and 2024 In 2025, net income allocable to our common shareholders was $1.6 billion or $9.01 per diluted common share, co…”
- “The decrease was due primarily to (i) a $317.8 million increase in foreign currency exchange losses, (ii) a $22.1 million increase in depreciation and amortization expense (iii) a $17.1 million increase in interest expense, partially offset by (iv) a $53.1 million increase in self-storage net operat…”
- “Indirect Cost of Operations increased 6.0% in 2025 and decreased 6.4% in 2024 as compared to the previous year primarily related to changes in the administrative and cash compensation expenses for shared general corporate functions to the extent their efforts are devoted to self-storage operations.”
- “Operating Results for 2024 and 2023 In 2024, net income allocable to our common shareholders was $1.9 billion or $10.64 per diluted common share, compared to $1.9 billion or $11.06 per diluted common share in 2023, representing a decrease of $76.1 million or $0.42 per diluted common share.”
- “Our property tax expense, generally depends upon the assessed value of our real estate facilities as determined by assessors and government agencies and, accordingly, could be subject to substantial increases if such agencies change their valuation approaches or opinions or if new laws are enacted, …”
Classic text analysis over the filing itself, no model wrote a word of this, and every quote is the company's own.
Peers, Real estate
The same industry, side by side on the REIT lens, compare, don't rank by a single number. ● marks best in the group.
| Company | Revenue | FFO margin | FFO / assets | Payout (FFO) | Debt / assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLDPrologis Inc. | $8.8B | 61% | 5.4% | 71% | 35% |
| SPGSimon Property Group | $6.4B | 95% | 14.9% | — | 70% |
| ORealty Income Corp. | $5.7B | 59% | 4.7% | 86% | — |
| PSAPublic Storage | $4.8B | 61% | 14.5% | 33% | 51% |
| AMTAmerican Tower Corp. | $936M | — | 7.2% | 70% | 67% |