BN vs MAC: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 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.

Reading it: BN is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

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. BN and MAC 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 BN and MAC 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.

Brookfield Corporation sits at the top of the Brookfield group and reports through three pillars. Asset management runs through its roughly 73% interest in Brookfield Asset Management, whose fee-bearing capital reached ~$614 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up ~12% year over year on ~$67 billion of year-to-date fundraising that included a ~$40 billion investment mandate from UK annuity provider Just Group. Wealth solutions is the annuity and pension-risk-transfer business (Brookfield Wealth Solutions, built from American National, Argo Group and American Equity Life) that gathers policyholder money and invests it alongside Brookfield's own funds. The third pillar is the operating businesses, held partly through the listed affiliates: Brookfield Renewable (BEP/BEPC), Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP/BIPC), Brookfield Business Partners (BBU/BBUC) and a wholly owned real estate book that includes Canary Wharf, Brookfield Place and Ala Moana Center. Bruce Flatt has run the company since 2002, and the December 2022 reorganisation is what created the BN-versus-BAM split: BN kept the balance sheet and the carried interest, BAM was carved out as the pure-play, high-payout manager.

Full BN guide

The Macerich Company, founded in 1964 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California, owns, leases and redevelops regional town centers in dense, higher-income US markets. Its holdings cluster in California, the Pacific Northwest, the Phoenix and Scottsdale corridor, and the stretch from metro New York to Washington, DC, with flagships including Tysons Corner Center, Queens Center, Scottsdale Fashion Square, Washington Square and Green Acres Mall. After several years of selling and handing back weaker assets, the portfolio sat at roughly 38 to 39 retail centers and about 40 million square feet as of the second quarter of 2026, down from 48 million square feet earlier in the program. Trailing 12-month tenant sales for spaces under 10,000 square feet reached about $919 per square foot, up from roughly $849 a year earlier, and trailing revenue runs near $1.03 billion.

Full MAC guide

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

• BN drivers: Fee-bearing capital and carried interest at BAM; The insurance and annuity flywheel.
• MAC drivers: Deleveraging toward the 6x goal; The signed-not-open rent pipeline.

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: The reported financials are hard to underwrite: consolidation pulls in revenue and debt from entities BN does not fully own, so ~$79 billion of trailing revenue and ~$1.2 billion of attributable net income describe the same company, and an investor has to accept management's distributable earnings framing to value it. For MAC, dilution is the most concrete cost of the turnaround: two 2026 equity offerings plus a $675 million exchangeable note materially raised the share and unit count, which is why FFO per share has barely moved even as total FFO grew.

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 BN if you believe its drivers more; MAC 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 BN and MAC guides.

BN. First quarter 2026 revenue was ~$18.6 billion with net income of ~$1.04 billion, against ~$215 million a year earlier, so the year-over-year jump reflects mark movements more than a step change in operations. The reported P/E near ~86x is not a like-for-like multiple: depreciation on infrastructure and the share of consolidated profit belonging to outside partners both sit between revenue and attributable earnings. Second quarter 2026 results are scheduled for August 13, 2026, with consensus around ~$0.65 per share before the release.

MAC. FFO per share has been close to flat while total FFO rose, because the 2026 equity raises expanded the denominator faster than the operating recovery expanded the numerator. Management's public bridge to $1.80 to $2.00 of 2028 FFO per share leans on the signed-not-open rent pipeline, cheaper refinancing as leverage falls, and yield on the Annapolis and redevelopment spend. Against that target the current price sits near 13 times, so the multiple is doing less work than the execution is.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): BN shows share price / market cap ~$44 per share, ~$101 billion (Aug 7, 2026 close), revenue (ttm) ~$79 billion, net income attributable (ttm) ~$1.2 billion, a reported P/E near ~86x, distributable earnings (q1 2026) ~$1.6 billion, ~$0.66 per share (~$1.4 billion before realizations); MAC shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.03B (Q2 2026: ~$249.7M, first half: ~$491.2M), ffo as adjusted per share ~$0.35 in Q2 2026 and ~$0.70 for the first half, versus ~$1.50 for full-year 2025, gaap net loss per share ~$(0.10) in Q2 2026, ~$(0.24) for the first half, net debt / adjusted ebitda ~7.3x, or ~6.8x pro forma for forward equity, against a ~6x 2028 target.

BN and MAC 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 BN and MAC exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.