With a market cap of $28.6 billion, Arlington-based AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (AVB) is a real estate investment trust primarily focusing on developing, redeveloping, acquiring, owning, and operating multi-family apartment communities for higher-income clients in high barrier-to-entry regions of the United States.

AVB is scheduled to report its Q2 earnings on Thursday, July 30. Ahead of the event, analysts expect the company to report an AFFO of $2.80 per share, up 1.1% year-over-year from $2.77 per share the same quarter last year. The company has surpassed Wall Street's bottom-line estimates in three of the past four quarters, while missing on one occasion. 

For the current year, analysts expect AVB to report an AFFO of $11.38, up 3.4% from $11.01 in fiscal 2024. Moreover, the AFFO is expected to rise 5.4% annually to $11.99 in FY 2026.

AVB stock has declined marginally over the past 52 weeks, underperforming the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLRE) 7.6% surge and the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 11.5% uptick during the same time frame.

On Apr. 30, shares of AVB surged 1.4% after its Q1 earnings release. The company’s revenue increased 4.6% year-over-year to $745.9 million, driven by higher rental and other income, but failed to touch the consensus estimates. Moreover, its core FFO of $2.83 per share grew 4.8% from the year-ago quarter and surpassed the Street’s estimates by 1.1%.

Wall Street analysts are somewhat bullish about AVB’s stock, with a "Moderate Buy" rating overall. Among 23 analysts covering the stock, nine recommend "Strong Buy," one suggests a “Moderate Buy,” and seven 13 a “Hold.” AVB’s average analyst price target of $232.20 indicates a potential upside of 14.6% from the current levels.