Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call May 1, 2024 1:00 PM ET
Company Participants
Angela Kleiman - President and Chief Executive Officer
Barb Pak - Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President
Rylan Burns - Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer
Conference Call Participants
Austin Wurschmidt - KeyBanc Capital Markets
Daniel Tricarico - Scotiabank
Alexander Goldfarb - Piper Sandler
James Feldman - Wells Fargo
Joshua Dennerlein - Bank of America
Haendel St. Juste - Mizuho
John Kim - BMO Capital Markets
Adam Kramer - Morgan Stanley
Brad Heffern - RBC Capital Markets
Richard Anderson - Wedbush
Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Essex Property Trust First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded.
Statements made on this conference call regarding expected operating results and other future events are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are made based on current expectations, assumptions and beliefs as well as information available to the company at this time. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Further information about these risks can be found on the company's filings with the SEC.
It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ms. Angela Kleiman, President and Chief Executive Officer for Essex Property Trust. Thank you, Ms. Kleiman. You may begin.
Angela Kleiman
Good morning, and thank you for joining Essex's first quarter earnings call. Barb Pak will follow with prepared remarks and Rylan Burns is here for Q&A.
We are pleased to kick off our 2024 earnings with a notable increase in our full year guidance. This is primarily driven by solid first quarter results with core FFO per share of 4.9%, exceeding the high end of our original guidance. Barb will provide more details on our financial performance in a moment.
Today, my comments will focus on market fundamentals and operational highlights, followed by an update on the investment market. Heading into 2024, consensus forecast was a slowdown for the U.S. and so far, U.S. job growth has trended better than initial forecast. Job quality, on the other hand, has been concentrated in government and low-wage service sectors.
In the West Coast, the tech industry is a primary source of high-paying jobs and job growth in this industry has led because of evolving business strategies as companies reallocate resources to artificial intelligence opportunities. However, we have seen encouraging signs, including a steady increase in job openings in our markets by the top 20 tech companies. As for our near-term outlook, recent information data and Fed commentary have resulted in elevated uncertainty regarding the path of interest rate cuts.