American Healthcare REIT (AHR), National Healthcare Properties (HLTC) and Strawberry Fields REIT (STRW) shared first-quarter results during earnings calls Friday, and National HealthCare Corp. (NHC) presented earnings results to analysts and investors in written form.

“Our operating portfolio segments performed well to start the year, and the benefits of Trilogy catering to various levels of long-term care proved to benefit our first quarter performance, which is usually a period of lower growth,” American Healthcare REIT Chief Operating Officer Gabe Willhite said in a press releaseissued in conjunction with Friday’s call.

He was referencing Trilogy Health Services, which, as of September, the Irvine, CA-based real estate investment trust is the sole owner of, thanks to a $258 million deal. AHR saw 15.1% year-over-year same-store net operating growth, led in part by the Trilogy segment, executives said.

“As we continue to execute our strategy throughout the remainder of the year, we remain focused on capturing the growing demand for long-term care and leveraging Trilogy’s platform to drive additional efficiencies across our operating portfolio,” Willhite said.

During the first quarter, the REIT completed a previously announced lease buyout within its Intergenerational Self-Help Campus, or ISHC, segment for approximately $16.1 million, sold a noncore senior housing operating portfolio, or SHOP, for gross proceeds of approximately $3.3 million, as previously announced, and sold an additional ISHC property for gross proceeds of approximately $6.7 million.

AHR also started two new development projects during the first quarter. The company’s total in-process development pipeline is expected to cost approximately $60 million, of which $19.7 million was spent as of March 31.

As of March 31, the company’s total consolidated indebtedness was $1.67 billion, and it had approximately $634.5 million of total liquidity, comprised of cash, restricted cash and undrawn capacity on its line of credit.

Chief Financial Officer Brian Peay reported normalized funds from operations of $0.38 per share, reflecting a 26% year-over-year increase. Capital markets activity added $48 million through the at-the-market program.

After the first quarter ended, the AHR closed on a SHOP acquisition that previously had been under contract for approximately $65 million. The REIT transitioned operations of the community to one of its regional operating partners, Heritage Senior Living.

Additionally last month, AHR sold three noncore properties for gross proceeds of approximately $29 million. The REIT will use the proceeds from the sales to fund future SHOP acquisitions with better risk-adjusted returns and fund ISHC development projects that currently are in process.

As of Thursday, AHR has a pipeline of more than $300 million in new potential acquisitions that it has been awarded. The potential acquisitions are in various stages of the transaction process, so the REIT is not factoring in any awarded acquisitions in its current full-year 2025 guidance.

“We believe that these acquisitions will close later in the year and will only have a nominal impact on 2025 earnings,” Peay said.

On March 19, the board of directors declared a quarterly distribution of $0.25 per share for the first quarter.

National HealthCare Corp.reported a year-over-year 25.7% net operating revenue increase, going from $297.6 million in the first quarter of 2024 to $373 million for the first quarter of 2025.

The company attributes the increase to an 8.5% increase in same-facility net operating revenues, as well as the August 2024 acquisition of Spartanburg, SC-based White Oak Senior Living’s 22-property portfolio of skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities, independent living communities and a long-term care pharmacy in North Carolina and South Carolina. The Murfreesboro, TN-based company entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the $221.4 million transaction on May 31, 2024.

NHC reported net income of $32.2 million in the first quarter, compared with $26.2 million for the same quarter last year. Excluding the unrealized gains in marketable equity securities portfolio and some other adjustments, the company’s adjusted net income for the first quarter was $24.8 million, compared with $15.3 million for the same period in 2024, for a 61.4% increase. Diluted earnings per share were $2.07 and $1.69 for the first quarters of 2025 and 2024, respectively. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $1.59 and $0.99 for the first quarters of 2025 and 2024, respectively.

On Thursday, NHC announced a quarterly dividend of $0.64 per common share to shareholders of record on June 30. This amount represents a 4.9% increase over last quarter’s regular common dividend.

“National Healthcare Properties entered 2025 with strong momentum following a transformative 2024,” President and CEO Michael Anderson said Friday. “The successful completion of our internalization in September 2024 marked the beginning of our evolution into an independent, internally managed REIT.” 

Prior to internalization, the company was known as Healthcare Trust.

Anderson said that the REIT continues “to make significant progress towards an eventual public listing of our common stock through improving our portfolio performance and continued deleveraging.”

“We also continue to improve the content and clarity of our quarterly reporting to more closely align with publicly traded REITs,” he added.

According to a presentation released in conjunction with the earnings call, same-store occupancy and rental rate growth drove robust same-store cash net operating income growth for the New York-based real estate investment trust’s senior housing operating portfolio, or SHOP. Demographic trends are expected to continue to position the SHOP for organic growth in occupancy and cash NOI, the company said.

The REIT saw growth in its adjusted funds from operations from $0.28 per share for the fourth quarter of 2024 to $0.31 per share for the first-quarter 2025 operations, Chief Financial Officer Scott Lappetito said. He attributed the increase to “continuing the positive momentum seen through 2024.”

As of March 31, the company owned 181 properties across 30 states, of which 45 are senior housing properties. 

“Our SHOP segment continued to take advantage of favorable demographic trends by growing occupancy and rental rates,” Lappetito said.

South Bend, IN-based Strawberry Fields REIT kicked off the year by closing on the $24 million purchase of five skilled nursing facilities and one assisted living community in Kansas. The properties are leased under a new 10-year master lease agreement to a group of third-party tenants. 

The real estate investment trust closed out the first quarter with the $5 million acquisition of a skilled nursing facility near Oklahoma City. The SNF is leased to an existing third-party operator who entered into a master lease for this facility as well as for another facility acquired in December.

Since the end of the first quarter, Strawberry Fields acquired a skilled nursing and assisted living campus near Houston for $11.5 million. The company funded the acquisition using cash from the balance sheet. The property will be added to an existing master lease in Texas. 

With the acquisition in Houston, the company has completed more than $40 million in acquisitions to date this year, according to CEO and Chairman Moishe Gubin.

“Collectively across our financials metrics, we have shown nice growth when comparing Q1 2025 to Q1 2024. This growth proves that our disciplined approach is paying off, and we’re not changing,” Gubin said Friday. “We’ve demonstrated that we can deliver steady, if not strong, earnings for many years now, and there is no reason we should not maintain similar earnings well into the future.”

The REIT collected 100% of contractual rents in the first quarter, he added.

Funds from operations for the first quarter of the year were $18.3 million, compared with $14.1 million in the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted funds from operations were $16.8 million in the first quarter of 2025, compared with $13.1 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Net income increased from $6 million to $7 million from the first quarter of 2024 to the first first quarter of 2025. Rental income received in the first quarter of 2025 was $37.3 million, compared with $27.8 million during the same quarter a year ago.