Rabobank: "More War Seems Inevitable" By Michael Every of Rabobank Summit... then 'summit' worse? “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” was President Trump’s response to Iran’s belated reply to his peace proposal, which they have rejected as a “surrender.” Tehran thinks the US must do so instead: rather than handing over enriched uranium, pledging to never build a nuke, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and dropp...
Rabobank: "More War Seems Inevitable" By Michael Every of Rabobank Summit... then 'summit' worse? “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” was President Trump’s response to Iran’s belated reply to his peace proposal, which they have rejected as a “surrender.” Tehran thinks the US must do so instead: rather than handing over enriched uranium, pledging to never build a nuke, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and dropping ballistic missiles and support for regional terror proxies, Iran wants a permanent US retreat, reparations paid to it, and control of Hormuz. More war, where the US takes control of the Strait and/or bombs the regime harder to encourage it to sign a deal, seems inevitable if one rules out a 1956-style retreat . Indeed, Israeli PM Netanyahu gave a TV interview to 60 Minutes where he stated the Iran war, while having achieved a lot, is “not over.” Markets are not going to enjoy the prospect of greater and longer disruption to global energy supplies. However, new fighting may not be seen until the weekend . First, “because markets.” Second, as the US still doesn’t have everything in place it needs militarily to strike harder and for longer. Third, because over May 13-15, Trump will meet Xi in Beijing, where the focus will be on Iran as well as broader US-China relations. As postulated since the early days of this war, its resolution may run through Beijing. China, like Russia, has influence on Iran via supplies of key military goods. In that regard, some see Trump going to China with Xi holding all the cards (because Iran holds a Strait.) Yet others think a sustained war that pushes global energy markets and the economy past a terrible tipping point might see Beijing offer to lean on Iran rather than supporting it like Russia vs Ukraine. Naturally, that opens up chatter of a potential ‘Grand Bargain’ around the core interests of China, the US, and Russia (where President Putin presided over a deflated Victory Day parade and said the war with Ukraine may “be coming to an en...
Tashi-Delek/E+ via Getty Images Introduction Back when I last covered EPR Properties ( EPR ), I upgraded them to a Strong Buy, backed by their strong AFFO growth, ongoing portfolio diversification, and a very attractive monthly dividend yield. Following a strong quarter and another dividend hike while their pivot is advancing well, the stock recovered a bit, and even though EPR is no longer a Stro...
Tashi-Delek/E+ via Getty Images Introduction Back when I last covered EPR Properties ( EPR ), I upgraded them to a Strong Buy, backed by their strong AFFO growth, ongoing portfolio diversification, and a very attractive monthly dividend yield. Following a strong quarter and another dividend hike while their pivot is advancing well, the stock recovered a bit, and even though EPR is no longer a Strong Buy in my opinion (not far from it either), the company remains on a solid path towards a potential re-rating while the discrepancy between the business and the stock continues to be visible. Strong Quarter While Pivot Advances EPR Properties IR EPR reported a strong start of 2026, beating the market's FFO and revenue estimates by a bit and delivering a very strong 7.7% increase in AFFO, to $100.13 million, roughly 6.6% higher on a per share basis, supporting their significant pivot as they're diversifying away from theaters. EPR Properties IR In fact, EPR now expects even more dispositions as part of reducing their theater exposure to below 20% over the following 3-5 years, as highlighted previously, further reducing their exposure to an industry that the market seems to be quite against due to the ongoing transformation expected from streaming. As a result of a boost in expected disposition proceeds to $50 million to $100 million (from $25 million to $75 million), EPR now targets a post-pandemic record investing activity of $500 million to $600 million, also backed by their recent forward sales agreement under their ATM program for initial gross proceeds of $47.5 million. EPR Properties IR Financially, based on EPR's latest report , we continue to see an overall normal position for a REIT, with limited cash available but plenty of assets to cover their debt, as well as ample liquidity available if absolutely needed, while the net debt to adjusted EBITDAre ratio reached 5.2x during the quarter. EPR Properties IR Although the company has near-term maturities that expose ...