ESS
Essex Property Trust, Inc.
ESS's fundamentals are weak and it looks expensive: trading at 51x earnings, above its usual 33x. Analysts expect earnings growth.
ESS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
ESS's profitability is currently healthy, and its revenue is stable. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for real estate companies like ESS.
ESS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 25x | $132 | -51% |
| Fair | 33x | $178 | -34% |
| Forward | 44x | $272 | — |
| Expensive | 46x | $250 | -8.2% |
| Current | 51x | $272 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ESS's PE is in its expensive range at 51x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 44x next year's earnings.
ESS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect ESS's earnings to grow, with its revenue and profitability holding steady.
ESS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $6.21 | +15% |
| Q3 2026 | $5.38 | -59% |
| Q2 2026 | $6.42 | -48% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.89 | -15% |
| Q4 2025 | $10.40 | -9.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $13.16 | +54% |
| Q2 2025 | $12.44 | +54% |
| Q1 2025 | $10.45 | +28% |
| Q4 2024 | $11.54 | +83% |
ESS's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $5.38 over the past year, against $13.16 in late 2025.
ESS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $492.7M | +4.1% |
| Q2 2026 | $489M | +4.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $484.8M | +4.3% |
| Q4 2025 | $479.6M | +5.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $473.3M | +5% |
| Q2 2025 | $469.8M | +6.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $464.6M | +8.8% |
| Q4 2024 | $454.5M | +7.8% |
ESS's revenue has grown year over year for 20 quarters in a row: $493M last quarter, up 4.1% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 32% | -13 points |
| Q2 2026 | 22% | -37 points |
| Q1 2026 | 32% | -23 points |
| Q4 2025 | 32% | -35 points |
| Q3 2025 | 44% | +16 points |
| Q2 2025 | 60% | +29 points |
| Q1 2025 | 55% | +24 points |
| Q4 2024 | 67% | +36 points |
ESS's operating margin was 32% last quarter, down 13 points from the same quarter a year ago.
ESS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $333.4M | -2.7% |
| Q2 2026 | $254.1M | +18% |
| Q1 2026 | $287.2M | +2% |
| Q4 2025 | $234.2M | +7.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $342.6M | +8.3% |
| Q2 2025 | $216.1M | -1.3% |
| Q1 2025 | $281.5M | -11% |
| Q4 2024 | $218.3M | +7.2% |
ESS's free cash flow was $1.1B over the past year, up 4.7% from the year before. Free cash flow isn't a meaningful measure for real estate companies like ESS.
ESS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.1% | +33K shares |
| 1 year | -0.2% | -106K shares |
| 3 years | +0.2% | +126K shares |
| 5 years | -1.3% | -836K shares |
| Available history | -2.5% | -1.6M shares |
ESS has 64M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | $11.7M |
| Q1 2026 | $50.2M |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | — |
| Q4 2023 | — |
ESS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 5.5x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 5.1x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 4.8x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 4.5x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 3.9x | Elevated |
| Q2 2025 | 4.1x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 4.7x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 5.1x | High |
ESS's net debt is about 5.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 3.9 years a year ago. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for real estate companies like ESS.
ESS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 48.2 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 28.7 | Neutral |
ESS's weekly RSI is 48 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 29 (neutral).
ESS PE vs Real Estate Sector
| Metric | ESS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 51x | 24x | 111% above |
| PE % | 95 | 23 | 72 pts above |
ESS is trading at 51x earnings, a 111% premium to the Real Estate sector's median of 24x.
ESS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $271.0 | 0.3% above |
| 20 week MA | $280.0 | 2.9% below |
| 50 week MA | $268.0 | 1.4% above |
| 100 week MA | $272.5 | 0.3% below |
| 200 week MA | $259.9 | 4.6% above |
ESS's trend is mixed: it's above three of its five weekly moving averages, and 4.6% above its 200-week average.
ESS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $299.7 | $234.3 | -22% |
| 2021 | $234.3 | $342.7 | +46% |
| 2022 | $342.7 | $211.7 | -38% |
| 2023 | $211.7 | $247.9 | +17% |
| 2024 | $247.9 | $284.4 | +15% |
| 2025 | $284.4 | $262.2 | -7.8% |
| 2026 YTD | $262.2 | $271.8 | +3.7% |
ESS has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's up 3.7% so far in 2026.