Key Highlights

  • Third quarter Net Income was $49.8 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, versus $0.37.
  • FFO per diluted share was $0.71, compared with $0.69 a year earlier.
  • Same Property NOI rose to $114.3 million from $111.3 million.
  • Adjusted EBITDA was $111.4 million, up from $103.8 million.
  • The quarterly Dividend was $0.32 per share, against $0.305.

Earnings and FFO edge higher

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) is a self-managed real estate Investment trust that owns, operates and develops properties near key U.S. Government defense installations and missions, which it calls its Defense/IT Portfolio. It published its third quarter 2026 Earnings release and supplemental package for the period ended September 30, 2026.

Net income was $49.8 million, versus $43.7 million a year earlier and $48.6 million in the second quarter. Diluted EPS was $0.41, compared with $0.37 and $0.40. FFO per diluted share was $0.71 in both the third and second quarters, compared with $0.69 a year earlier.

For the nine months, net income was $138.5 million versus $120.1 million, diluted EPS was $1.15 versus $1.01, and FFO per share was $2.11 versus $2.02.

Same Property results soften sequentially

NOI from real estate operations was $120.3 million, compared with $111.8 million a year earlier. Same Property NOI was $114.3 million, up 2.7% year over year on a calculated basis, but below the $115.0 million recorded in the second quarter.

Same Property cash NOI was $110.3 million, versus $106.9 million a year earlier and $112.3 million in the second quarter. For the nine months, same property cash NOI rose to $328.8 million from $312.2 million, a calculated gain of about 5.3%.

Adjusted EBITDA was $111.4 million, up from $103.8 million a year earlier and $110.7 million in the second quarter.

Dividend growth and cash earnings

The quarterly dividend per common share was $0.32, compared with $0.305 a year earlier, a calculated increase of about 4.9%. Nine-month dividends were $0.96 per share versus $0.915.

Diluted AFFO available to common share and unit holders was $65.4 million, compared with $63.3 million a year earlier, but below the $69.1 million reported in the second quarter. Nine-month AFFO was $199.6 million versus $177.1 million.

FFO per NAREIT was $85.8 million in aggregate, against $82.1 million.

Growth rates on a calculated basis

Nine-month net income rose about 15.3% and nine-month FFO per share rose about 4.5%. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was up about 7.3% year over year, and the quarterly dividend of $0.32 equals about 45% of the $0.71 FFO per share.

Those figures show cash earnings growing more slowly than GAAP net income, which is common for real estate companies with large Depreciation charges.

Nine-month operating trends

NOI from real estate operations for the nine months was $355.6 million versus $331.7 million, a calculated gain of about 7.2%. Same Property NOI for the period was $339.6 million versus $330.2 million, up about 2.8%, and adjusted EBITDA was $329.9 million versus $307.6 million.

The gap between the 7.2% total NOI growth and the 2.8% same property growth shows that acquisitions and development placed in service contributed meaningfully beyond the existing portfolio.

Balance sheet and portfolio focus

Total Assets were $4.57 billion at September 30, 2026, compared with $4.52 billion at June 30, 2026 and $4.35 billion a year earlier. The company's focus on properties near defense installations ties its portfolio to government mission activity.

The supplemental package also covers leasing, Lease expirations, development projects, Acquisition summaries and Debt analysis for readers who want property-level detail.

Readers following the name will likely watch whether same property cash NOI recovers from the sequential decline and how dividend growth tracks AFFO.