New York, February 20, 2026, 09:23 (EST) — Premarket
- Americold shares down 1.7% in premarket after jumping 15.8% on Thursday
- Company forecast 2026 AFFO of $1.20 to $1.30 per share, citing industry headwinds
- Traders are watching occupancy, leverage and the pace of planned cost cuts
Americold Realty Trust shares eased 1.7% in premarket trading on Friday to $13.65, after the cold-storage REIT jumped 15.75% in the previous session. (Investing)
The move put focus back on a company investors have been trying to handicap in a soft U.S. cold-storage market, where new capacity and choppy food volumes have made pricing harder. A big up day can fade fast if the outlook looks cautious, and Americold’s first look at 2026 set a lower bar than some bulls had wanted.
Americold said it expects 2026 AFFO — adjusted funds from operations, a cash measure commonly used by REITs — of $1.20 to $1.30 per share. Chief executive Rob Chambers said the company was “taking a prudent approach to our 2026 outlook” as it pushes cost cuts and portfolio actions to get through what it called an “ongoing headwind” period. (Americold)
A supplemental package filed with the U.S. SEC showed fourth-quarter revenue of $658.5 million and a net loss of $88.3 million, while adjusted FFO came in at $0.38 per share. The filing also flagged a drop in economic occupancy to 76.1% and a 4.3% decline in throughput pallets, with the company pointing to a competitive backdrop, shifting consumer buying habits and food production changes; it also pegged net debt at about $4.2 billion and leverage at roughly 6.8 times net debt to pro forma Core EBITDA. (SEC)
Americold’s earnings materials were attached to a Form 8-K filing on Thursday, alongside a corporate deck and a quarterly supplement that management uses to walk investors through the numbers. (SEC)
On the earnings call, analysts pressed management on whether any balance-sheet deal could be done without damaging near-term earnings. Todd Thomas, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, asked about “pricing or whether you expect to be able to transact in a non-dilutive manner,” while Chambers told the call, “We are not content with waiting on a broader market recovery.” (Investing)
The company’s own narrative on Thursday was plain: it expects demand and pricing pressure to linger, especially where new supply has come online, and it is leaning on cost work and tighter execution to protect margins. That is a familiar story across logistics real estate when volumes soften, but Americold’s business can swing quickly with occupancy and activity levels.
The risk for shareholders is that a “prudent” guide turns into a down year. If occupancy slips more than expected or customers push harder on rates, the company’s leverage leaves less room for error and any portfolio reshuffle could come at an earnings cost, even if it improves the balance sheet over time.
What comes next is mostly execution, but there are near-term signposts. Americold’s investor deck shows incoming CFO Chris Papa is set to be effective February 23, and it laid out a cost plan the company said it expects to complete by the end of the first quarter with more than $30 million in run-rate savings. (SEC)
