BN vs SKT: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
Last updated August 2026
Short answer
BN is the larger of the two ($98.46B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (7.51x forward earnings, beta 1.84). SKT is the smaller challenger ($4.57B), actually pricier on forward earnings (32.35x): 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.
BN vs SKT: the tie-breaker metrics
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.
| Metric | BN | SKT | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $98.46B | $4.57B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 7.51 | 32.35 | 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 | 86.43 | 35.06 | 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 | 1.84 | 1.09 | 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 | 53% of range | 62% 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 | 2.31 | 6.51 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
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.
Before you buy: how BN and SKT 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. BN and SKT 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 SKT 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 Brookfield Corporation (BN) do?
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.
What does Tanger (SKT) do?
Tanger owns and manages open-air shopping centers and collects rent from the brands that occupy them. At June 30, 2026 the portfolio held 42 centers and nearly 17 million square feet: 38 outlet centers and 4 lifestyle centers, of which 35 are consolidated, 6 sit in unconsolidated joint ventures and one is managed for a third party. Revenue arrives as contractual base rent, tenant reimbursements for operating costs and taxes, and percentage rent that scales with what shops actually sell, so the landlord participates in a good year without carrying inventory risk. The company is structured as an UPREIT, with the properties held through Tanger Properties Limited Partnership. Trailing twelve-month revenue to June 30, 2026 was ~$627.8 million, up from ~$595.1 million in fiscal 2025 and ~$472.7 million in 2023. Second-quarter revenue alone reached ~$156.4 million against ~$140.7 million a year earlier. Leasing volume tells you how much of the portfolio turns over: 652 leases covering 3.3 million square feet in the trailing twelve months, more than double the 1.5 million square feet signed in 2019. Non-apparel and non-footwear tenants now hold ~32% of gross leasable area, against ~19% in 2019.
BN vs SKT: 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.
- BN drivers: Fee-bearing capital and carried interest at BAM; The insurance and annuity flywheel.
- SKT drivers: Rent spreads carry the growth, because occupancy cannot; The open-air and mixed-use acquisitions.
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: 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 SKT, the clearest risk sits inside the balance sheet that currently looks strong.
BN or SKT: 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 BN if you believe its drivers more; SKT 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 SKT guides.
BN vs SKT: the full fundamentals
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.
SKT. The two multiples on SKT tell different stories on purpose. A 35 times P/E reflects depreciation charged against centers whose rents are rising, while ~15.4 times guided Core FFO is the figure the REIT market actually transacts on, and it sits in the middle of the open-air retail REIT range, at neither end of it. What the buyer is paying for is a mid-single-digit internal growth rate compounded by acquisitions bought at initial yields near 8.5%, funded from a balance sheet at 4.7 times leverage.
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); SKT shows revenue (ttm) ~$627.8 million for the twelve months to June 30, 2026, against ~$595.1 million in fiscal 2025, ~$537.4 million in 2024 and ~$472.7 million in 2023, a compound growth rate in the low teens driven by both releasing spreads and acquired centers. Second-quarter 2026 revenue was ~$156.4 million versus ~$140.7 million a year earlier., earnings and core ffo GAAP net income of ~$126.1 million and diluted EPS of ~$1.09 for the twelve months to June 30, 2026, up from ~$0.99 in fiscal 2025 and ~$0.88 in 2024. Core FFO per diluted share reached $0.64 in the second quarter (+10.3% year over year) and $1.23 for the first half. Management's 2026 guidance is $2.45 to $2.52 of Core FFO against $1.06 to $1.13 of GAAP net income per share, and the ~$1.40 gap is almost entirely real estate depreciation., operating metrics Occupancy of 96.6% at June 30, 2026, level with a year earlier and down from 97.0% at March 31. Blended releasing spreads of +10.5% on a cash basis (+28.4% re-tenanted, +7.7% renewals), an 18th consecutive positive quarter. Trailing twelve-month tenant sales of $487 per square foot versus $465. Occupancy cost ratio of 9.7%. Same-center NOI of ~$106.9 million in the quarter, +3.5%., cash flow and balance sheet Operating cash flow of ~$301.7 million and free cash flow of ~$114.8 million on a trailing basis, with EBITDA around $337 million. Total debt of ~$2.0 billion against ~$181 million of cash for net debt of ~$1.77 billion, or 4.7 times adjusted EBITDAre, inside the company's 5 to 6 times target. All debt fixed at a weighted average ~3.9% with ~3.3 years of weighted average maturity, and ~$1.0 billion of available liquidity..
The bottom line: BN vs SKT
BN and SKT 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 SKT exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how BN or SKT 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 Brookfield Corporation with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how BN 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.
FAQ
What is the difference between BN and SKT?
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Brookfield Corporation sits at the top of the Brookfield group and reports through three pillars. Tanger owns and manages open-air shopping centers and collects rent from the brands that occupy them. 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 BN or SKT the better stock?
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Neither is universally better. BN is the larger incumbent; SKT is the smaller challenger and looks pricier 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, BN or SKT?
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On forward P/E (as of August 2026), BN trades at 7.51x and SKT at 32.35x, so BN 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 BN and SKT?
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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 BN vs SKT?
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BN: 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. Leverage sits mostly at the asset level in non-recourse form, which limits contagion but leaves refinancing exposed to long rates and credit spreads across hundreds of separate structures. The office and retail real estate book has already required writedowns and remains the least liquid piece. The insurance pillar introduces a different risk set entirely: spread compression if rates fall, reserve assumptions on long-dated annuities, and regulators in multiple jurisdictions reviewing private-capital ownership of annuity liabilities. Carried interest and realization gains depend on exit markets that shut for long stretches, and BN's ~1.8 beta means the stock has historically fallen harder than the index when they do. SKT: The clearest risk sits inside the balance sheet that currently looks strong. Tanger's ~$2.0 billion of debt is 100% fixed at a weighted average ~3.9%, but the weighted average maturity is only ~3.3 years, so a meaningful share of that stack gets refinanced by 2029 at whatever prevailing rates are then. Every point of increase on refinanced debt lands directly in Core FFO. Second, occupancy of 96.6% is close to a practical ceiling, and flat year over year already; if leasing demand cools, the same-center NOI line has nowhere to go but down, and the 2.75% to 4.25% guidance range assumes the releasing spreads hold. Third, the acquisition pivot changes the competitive set. Buying full-price open-air and grocery-anchored centers puts Tanger into a market owned by much larger and longer-established shopping-center REITs, and it spends the differentiation the outlet niche provided. The Levis Commons purchase at an 8.5% first-year return is accretive today; the question over time is whether the pipeline of similar assets stays that cheap. Fourth, tenant concentration in discretionary apparel remains high even after the mix shift, and outlet tenants have a long history of bankruptcy filings that hand back space at short notice. The Saks Off 5th recapture of ~150,000 square feet during 2026 is a live example: the space was retaken deliberately, the leases bought back for $4.3 million in May 2026, and the rent it eventually produces depends on filling large boxes that take time. Fifth, a number of the legacy outlet centers depend on tourism and interstate traffic more than a resident catchment, which makes them sensitive to travel patterns and fuel costs. Finally, tariffs and import costs squeeze the gross margins of the apparel brands that are Tanger's tenants, and a tenant with compressed margins negotiates harder at renewal.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell BN or SKT; figures are approximate and dated (as of August 2026). Verify current data before investing.