MeritValue

EQUITY RESIDENTIAL

EQRdata completeness 75%19 fiscal years on file
The thesis, from the filings

EQUITY RESIDENTIAL earns about 7% on invested capital, with a roughly flat share count. The applicable estimate puts fair value near $27.49 a share.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue—————
Net income$1.33B1$776.9M2$835.4M3$1.04B3$1.12B3
Operating cash flow$1.26B4$1.45B5$1.53B6$1.57B6$1.65B6
Capital expenditure—————
Free cash flow (derived)—————
Total debt$9.42B7$8.99B8$7.87B9$8.74B10$8.83B11
Cash & equivalents$123.8M12$53.9M13$50.7M14$62.3M14$55.9M14
Diluted shares388.1M389.4M390.9M390.7M390.4M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$282.82
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$28.69
Free cash flow it threw off
—
Debt you’d be carrying
$226.14

10 shares is a claim on $282.82 of net worth that earned you $28.69 last year, against $226.14 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
7% avg · 5y
FY21 8%FY22 5%FY23 6%FY24 7%FY25 7%

It earned an average 7% on invested capital over 5 years. Compare that to what it costs to fund the business.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+1% shares · 5y

Share count is roughly flat over 5 years — little dilution, little buyback. Total debt has held roughly steady.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.1.0
DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
not applicable
only 0 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
only 0 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
Earnings Power Value
$27.49
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$1.04B
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$43.25
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-015907 (NetIncomeLoss)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-019894 (NetIncomeLoss)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-051433 (NetIncomeLoss)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-015907 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-019894 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-051433 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001564590-22-005566 (LongTermDebt)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-23-003060 (LongTermDebt)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-015907 (LongTermDebt)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-019894 (LongTermDebt)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-051433 (LongTermDebt)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0000950170-24-015907 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0000950170-25-019894 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-26-051433 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)