Macerich (MAC) Stock: Dividend vs FFO, Dilution, Debt (2026)

The $0.17 dividend against FFO, quarter by quarter

Macerich pays the same $0.17 every quarter, so the question is how much FFO sits behind it and whether that is growing per share. The supplement has three versions of the number. Net income is negative ($0.10 a share in Q2 2026, a $27.1 million net loss), which is normal for a REIT with $86.2 million of quarterly depreciation. Nareit FFO was $0.32 in Q2 2026 and $0.32 a year earlier. FFO as adjusted, the company's preferred figure from 2026, was $0.35 against $0.34. The table sets the dividend against each; the first two rows use the older definition.

The cushion is wide, but it has narrowed from 2024 as FFO per share has been flat. FFO per share (adjusted measure) went from $1.58 in 2024 to $1.50 in 2025, and the first-half 2026 figure of $0.70 is 2.9% above the first half of 2025. Over the same period the dividend did not change. The fourth quarter of 2025 at $0.48 was lifted by legal claims settlement income, net of above-target bonus expense, which the company puts at about $0.03 a share, so it is not a run rate. The 10-Q is plain about the dividend process: “The dividend amount will be reviewed by the Board on a quarterly basis.” The filings give no payout target and no FFO guidance range. The Q2 supplement carries a leftover heading, “Fiscal Year 2024 Guidance,” with no figures beneath it.

The adjusted measure adds back real costs. For the first half of 2026 the add-backs between Nareit FFO ($166.7 million) and FFO as adjusted ($192.8 million) were $8.0 million of default interest, $7.6 million of losses on non-real estate investments and $10.6 million for the property in receivership, Santa Monica Place. The company's argument is that the default interest will be reversed or paid when the loan is resolved. That is a fair position, but the adjustment is $26.1 million (our arithmetic), or $0.09 a share on 277.2 million weighted shares, and it is what separates a 48.6% payout from a 56.7% one.

The cash test: operating cash flow after capital spending

FFO is not cash. The cash flow statement is the check, and it tells a less comfortable story for the dividend. The table uses the 10-K for 2025 and the 10-Q for the first half of 2026.

On operating cash flow alone the dividend looks adequate, and the company says so: “Cash dividends and distributions for the six months ended June 30, 2026 were $100.8 million (including distributions from consolidated joint ventures of $1.9 million), which were funded by operations.” Operating cash flow fell 9.3% in the half (our arithmetic) while distributions rose 4.8%. Once you subtract spending that is needed to keep the centers competitive and to lease the new stores, 2025 left $148.6 million against $188.2 million paid, and the first half of 2026 left $7.4 million against $100.8 million. The gap was filled by asset sales, joint venture distributions ($42.6 million against $44.4 million of contributions in the half), borrowing and stock sales. This is not a statement that the dividend is at risk: development spending is discretionary in timing, and the company says its pipeline of new leases adds revenue. It is a statement that the dividend has not been paid from free cash flow in the periods we can measure.

Share count: the 2026 equity raises

Per-share FFO has to grow faster than the share count just to stand still. The share and unit count moved as follows:

Macerich sold stock at $18.04 on average through the at-the-market program in 2025 and at $19.21 in the first half of 2026, then $21.00 in May. The forward price of $23.12325 was set in June, in a quarter when the stock's high was $25.97. That timing helped: the supplement shows the stock at $25.19 at June 30 against $18.46 at December 31, and debt as a share of total market capitalization fell from 57.1% to 46.0%, mostly because the equity value rose. The company says the equity raises are for acquisitions and to “further strengthen our balance sheet.” Shares issued also dilute the dividend per share of FFO that supports it, which is why Q2 FFO in dollars grew 13.2% and per share 2.9%.

The Operating Partnership holds the rest: the company owned 96% at June 30, 2026, and the other 11.3 million units, redeemable for stock or cash, had a redemption value of $278.5 million.

The $775 million exchangeable notes of August 2026

The June 30 balance sheet is already out of date. On August 5, Macerich filed a new automatic shelf registration (the old one expired August 4) and renewed the at-the-market program. On August 11 it closed a larger financing: $775 million (including the $100 million option) of 2.25% Exchangeable Senior Notes due August 15, 2031, issued by the operating partnership and guaranteed by the company.

At a 2.25% coupon against the 5.29% average on existing debt, the notes are cheap money; the price is the right to take shares at about $28.19 and the capped calls that reduce dilution up to $34.06. If the proceeds repay mortgages, the 7.30x leverage at June 30 would fall further, and the share of fixed-rate secured debt would shrink. The filings do not say which loans will be repaid. Holders should read the Q3 10-Q for the balance sheet after the notes, because dilution from the notes enters FFO per share through the diluted share count when the stock trades above the exchange price.

Debt: $6.34 billion at 5.29%, and the 2026 to 2028 ladder

Pro rata debt (the company's share of consolidated and joint venture loans) was $6.34 billion at June 30, 2026, from $6.59 billion at December 31, with 92.6% fixed rate. The table lays out the maturities, including loans in default.

All of that is the company's own table (our arithmetic for the sums). Three points. First, the 3.67% Fresno loan is the one that matters for FFO: Macerich closed a 6.95% loan on Deptford Mall in April and a 5.58% loan on Washington Square in 2025, so a refinancing at 6.95% would add about $10.7 million of interest, about $0.04 per diluted share (our arithmetic, illustration only). Second, the Santa Monica Place loan is non-recourse and Macerich says it expects the transfer of title “in the near future,” but it is still owner of record and the default interest of 4% extra keeps accruing, which the company adds back to FFO. Third, a new $900 million revolving credit facility signed February 24, 2026 matures March 1, 2029 (extendable to 2030) at Term SOFR plus 1.90% at closing; $899.5 million was available at June 30, and the company reports about $1.2 billion of liquidity.

Occupancy, rent and sales: what improved in 2026

Macerich's own Go-Forward Portfolio, the centers it plans to keep, was 95.5% occupied with $954 of sales a square foot at June 30. It signed 108 new leases and 119 renewals covering about 1.3 million square feet in Q2, with an average tenant allowance of $49.21 a square foot, and says leases for new stores will add about $124 million of revenue at its share above what the same spaces produced in 2024, a cumulative figure through 2028. 93% of the square footage expiring in 2026 that is expected to renew has renewals or commitments in place. Management says “Roughly 90% of our Go-Forward NOI comes from Class A assets in supply-constrained markets.” That is a company claim, but the rising sales per square foot and cost of occupancy of 11.5% back it up in direction. Average base rent, by contrast, moved only 1.1% in a year, because new rents come in as old ones expire and the mix includes acquired centers.

Tenants, markets and lease expirations

Macerich's rent roll is spread across many retailers: the ten largest tenants together are 19.3% of total rents (our arithmetic), led by Dick's Sporting Goods at 4.0% (67 locations), Victoria's Secret at 2.2%, Signet Jewelers at 1.9%, Abercrombie & Fitch at 1.8% and the Gap at 1.7%. 73% of rents come from mall and freestanding stores under 10,000 square feet and 27% from big boxes and anchors. The geographic concentration is higher: California 21.6%, Arizona 20.9% and New York 17.6% of Go-Forward Portfolio NOI together are 60.1% (our arithmetic).

The lease roll is short for the small-shop space that drives the rent. In consolidated centers, 15.60% of leased square footage under 10,000 square feet expires in 2026, 16.24% in 2027 and 14.10% in 2028, together 45.9% of the space and 42.1% of base rent (our arithmetic). That is the opportunity Macerich is pointing at, because leases signed in 2025 on unconsolidated joint-venture centers started 27.2% above the rents they replaced (our arithmetic), but on consolidated centers the gain was only 2.5%. The first-twelve-month rent against the final-twelve-month rent is not the company's measure of a leasing spread; it is the closest figure the 10-K gives.

Macerich against Simon Property Group, and against non-traded REITs

Our page on Simon Property Group uses the same sources, and the two mall landlords differ on every number a dividend holder checks.

Macerich has the lower payout and the weaker balance sheet: a shorter ladder, a higher rate, a dividend that has been flat for ten quarters, and dilution instead of buybacks. Neither company's FFO definition is the other's, so the payout percentages describe how each company sees its own cover, not a like-for-like score. For the question that brings many holders here, how a listed mall REIT compares with a non-traded vehicle, our guides on non-traded REITs against publicly traded REITs and on the discount when non-traded REITs list cover liquidity and pricing, and our page on National Retail Properties shows a net-lease REIT with a different tenant profile. The practical difference for a MAC holder is that the price is public every day and the dilution is disclosed in 8-Ks within days.

What a holder watches before the Q3 10-Q

Macerich announced on October 14, 2026 that it will release third-quarter results after the market close on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, with a call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific. That date comes from the company's press release, not an SEC filing. In 2025 the Q3 release was November 4 and the 10-Q was filed November 5, and in 2026 the 10-Q followed the release by one day in both May and August, so a 10-Q on or about November 5 would fit the pattern (our inference, not a company statement). As of October 19, 2026 the last 10-Q is the one for June 30.

What a holder or reader can do with this

This page is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice. Things the filings let you check yourself:

• Pick the payout denominator on purpose. 48.6% (FFO as adjusted), 56.7% (Nareit FFO) and 70% of operating cash flow answer different questions. Only the first adds back default interest and the receivership.
• Watch per-share, not dollars. FFO in dollars is up 8.0% in the half, per share 2.9%. Check the diluted share count in the Q3 supplement and the forward shares.
• Read the 8-Ks, not just the 10-Q. The $775 million notes, the shelf and the ATM renewal are in August 8-Ks and will not show in the June 30 balance sheet.
• Count the debt due before 2029. $2.49 billion matures from October 2026 through 2028, plus $376.5 million in default, at 5.29% against loans that were signed at 3% to 4%.
• Know the tax treatment. REIT dividends can include ordinary income, return of capital and capital gain; the 1099-DIV splits them. See our pages on return of capital from REIT distributions and Section 199A dividends.

FAQ

All figures are from The Macerich Company (SEC CIK 912242) filings read on EDGAR on October 19, 2026: Form 10-K for 2025 (accession 0000912242-26-000016); Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (0000912242-26-000037, filed August 5, 2026) and for March 31, 2026 (0000912242-26-000024); earnings supplements attached to Forms 8-K for Q3 2025 (0000912242-25-000074), Q4 2025 (0000912242-26-000009), Q1 2026 (0000912242-26-000020) and Q2 2026 (0000912242-26-000034); Forms 8-K of February 26, 2026 on the credit agreement (0001193125-26-077466), May 13, 2026 on the equity offering (0001193125-26-221714), June 17 and June 29, 2026 on the forward sale (0001193125-26-274188, 0001193125-26-286956), August 5, 2026 on the shelf and at-the-market program (0001193125-26-335240) and August 11, 2026 on the exchangeable notes (0001193125-26-344920). The November 4, 2026 results date comes from the company's October 14, 2026 press release, which is not an SEC filing. The Simon Property Group comparison figures come from our own page, built on that company's Form 10-Q (0001104659-26-093360). Percentages of FFO and cash flow, per-share conversions, maturity totals and shares, the pro forma share count, the signed-versus-expiring rent comparison and the refinancing illustration are our arithmetic from those rows; FFO, FFO as adjusted, NOI, Adjusted EBITDA and Go-Forward Portfolio are the company's own measures and definitions. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.