ADC vs O: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Last updated October 2026

Short answer

O is the larger of the two ($53.06B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (36.11x forward earnings, beta 0.70). ADC is the smaller challenger ($8.36B), priced similarly on forward earnings (35.04x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.

ADC vs O: the tie-breaker metrics

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Metric	ADC	O	What it tells you
Market cap	$8.36B	$53.06B	Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove.
Forward P/E	35.04	36.11	Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up.
Trailing P/E	36.04	40.64	Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price.
Beta	0.42	0.70	Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through.
Price vs 52-week range	15% of range	20% of range	Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why.
Price / book	1.31	1.34	How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price.

Before you buy: how ADC and O affect your concentration

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ADC and O share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ADC and O exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

What does Agree Realty Corporation (ADC) do?

Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE: ADC) is a real estate investment trust that acquires and develops freestanding, single-tenant retail properties net-leased to national and regional chains. Under net leases, tenants cover most property costs (taxes, insurance, and maintenance), which gives the REIT predictable rent streams and thin operating overhead. As of the end of 2025 the portfolio held roughly 2,674 properties across all 50 states, totaling about 55.5 million square feet, and was effectively fully leased at 99.7% occupancy. Investment-grade retailers generated close to 67% of annualized base rent, with top tenants including Walmart, Tractor Supply, Dollar General, Best Buy, and TJX, tilting the rent roll toward defensive, needs-based retail.

Full ADC guide

What does Realty Income Corporation (O) do?

Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O), founded in 1969 and headquartered in San Diego, California, is a real estate investment trust that acquires, owns, and manages freestanding, single-tenant commercial properties leased under long-term triple-net agreements. Under a triple-net lease, tenants bear property taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs, making revenue highly predictable; rental income forms over 99% of total revenue. As of Q1 2026, the portfolio spanned more than 15,600 properties leased to approximately 1,600 clients across 92 industries in all 50 U.S. states, the United Kingdom, and seven other European countries. Top tenants include essential and service-oriented businesses such as Walgreens, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, FedEx, Walmart, and CVS, which are considered relatively resistant to e-commerce disruption. The company earns its return by purchasing properties at cap rates meaningfully above its cost of capital and collecting contractual rent escalators over weighted average remaining lease terms of roughly nine years.

Full O guide

ADC vs O: how do they differ?

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

ADC drivers: External growth engine; Investment-grade, defensive tenant base.
O drivers: Monthly dividend compounding with a 30-plus year growth streak; Accelerating global acquisition pipeline at attractive spreads.

Which fits which kind of investor

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Interest-rate sensitivity is the dominant risk, since higher rates lift Agree's borrowing costs and make its dividend yield less competitive versus bonds, which can pressure the share price. For O, interest rate sensitivity is the primary structural risk: O's share price is materially affected by movements in Treasury yields because investors compare its dividend yield against risk-free alternatives, and rising rates also increase borrowing costs that narrow acquisition spreads.

ADC or O: which should you pick?

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ADC if you believe its drivers more; O if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ADC and O guides.

ADC vs O: the full fundamentals

ADC. At about $66.78 a share, ADC trades near 14.6x the midpoint of its initial 2026 AFFO guidance, down from the high-teens multiple it carried earlier in the year, while the GAAP P/E of roughly 36x mostly reflects depreciation. The yield has climbed to about 4.9% as the stock fell and the dividend rose. The third-quarter report on October 20, 2026 is the next test of whether acquisition volume is still converting into per-share growth.

O. REITs are most meaningfully valued on AFFO rather than GAAP earnings, because depreciation charges make net income a poor proxy for cash generation; at ~$56.13 in mid-October 2026, O trades near ~12.7x the midpoint of its 2026 AFFO guidance, cheaper than the ~14x of late June. The ~5.9% dividend yield is among the highest O has offered in the past decade, and it comes from share-price compression rather than any cut, since the dividend was raised again in September 2026. The ~$9.5 billion 2026 investment target, new convertible debt and the KKR joint venture show management leaning into acquisitions, which increases sensitivity to capital market access; third-quarter results on November 2, 2026 will update both AFFO and investment guidance.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): ADC shows revenue (ttm) ~$780M (+17% YoY latest qtr), net income (ttm) ~$217M (EPS ~$1.86), operating margin ~48%, p/e (trailing / forward) ~36x / ~35x; O shows revenue (ttm) ~$6.07 billion; Q2 2026 revenue ~$1.43 billion, up ~9.6% YoY, net income (ttm) ~$1.27 billion; Q2 2026 GAAP EPS ~$0.37 vs ~$0.42 consensus, affo per share (fy 2025) ~$4.28; 2026 guidance $4.41 to $4.44 as of the Q1 2026 report, margins Operating margin ~47%, net margin ~21% (trailing).

The bottom line: ADC vs O

ADC and O are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ADC and O exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.

Wondering how ADC or O fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.

Investing in Agree Realty Corporation with AI

Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how ADC fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.

Does ADC fit me?

FAQ

What is the difference between ADC and O?

Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE: ADC) is a real estate investment trust that acquires and develops freestanding, single-tenant retail properties net-leased to national and regional chains. Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O), founded in 1969 and headquartered in San Diego, California, is a real estate investment trust that acquires, owns, and manages freestanding, single-tenant commercial properties leased under long-term triple-net agreements. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.

Is ADC or O the better stock?

Neither is universally better. O is the larger incumbent; ADC is the smaller challenger and looks cheaper on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.

Which is cheaper, ADC or O?

On forward P/E (as of October 2026), ADC trades at 35.04x and O at 36.11x, so ADC is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.

Should you own both ADC and O?

Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.

What are the risks of ADC vs O?

ADC: Interest-rate sensitivity is the dominant risk, since higher rates lift Agree's borrowing costs and make its dividend yield less competitive versus bonds, which can pressure the share price. The stock's roughly 17% drop over the three months to October 16, 2026 shows how quickly that can happen even while revenue grows. The company's growth depends on continually raising capital and buying properties at attractive spreads, so a prolonged period of high rates or a weak share price can slow accretive growth. Tenant concentration is a factor, with a meaningful share of rent from a handful of large retailers whose fortunes are tied to physical, discretionary, and discount retail. The GAAP payout ratio looks very high (about 169% of net income) because depreciation depresses reported earnings; the dividend is better judged against AFFO, but a slowdown in AFFO growth would narrow the room for raises. Broader retail disruption, e-commerce pressure on certain categories, and any single large-tenant bankruptcy could dent occupancy and rent. O: Interest rate sensitivity is the primary structural risk: O's share price is materially affected by movements in Treasury yields because investors compare its dividend yield against risk-free alternatives, and rising rates also increase borrowing costs that narrow acquisition spreads. Tenant credit quality is a secondary concern, as a portion of credit losses has been traced to tenants acquired through recent M&A transactions, and retail bankruptcies or store-closure programs could pressure occupancy below its historically stable 98-plus percent level. Currency risk is growing as European investments expand, with local-currency debt only partially hedging revenue exposure. The stock trades at a GAAP P/E of roughly 41x (as of mid-October 2026), a premium to the broader REIT sector, and its share price fell ~13.6% over the three months to October 16, 2026, meaning any disappointment in AFFO growth or guidance could weigh disproportionately on share price.

Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell ADC or O; figures are approximate and dated (as of October 2026). Verify current data before investing.