GNL vs ONL: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

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.

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. GNL and ONL 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 GNL and ONL 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.

Global Net Lease is an internally managed real estate investment trust that buys commercial properties and leases each one to a single tenant on a long-term net lease, meaning the tenant pays most property taxes, insurance and maintenance. GNL's income is the rent those tenants pay, which rises through contractual escalators (a weighted-average ~1.4% a year, with another ~20% of the portfolio linked to inflation). As of June 30, 2026 it owned 798 properties covering about 40 million square feet, 97% leased, with a weighted-average remaining lease term of 5.7 years. About 74% of annualized straight-line rent came from the US and Canada and 26% from Europe, and roughly 63% came from investment-grade or implied investment-grade tenants. By property type, rent was ~47% industrial and distribution, ~28% retail and ~25% office before the Modiv deal.

Full GNL guide

Orion Properties Inc. (NYSE: ONL), renamed from Orion Office REIT in 2025, is an internally managed real estate investment trust headquartered in Phoenix. It was spun off from Realty Income in November 2021 with the net lease office buildings that Realty Income no longer wanted. As of June 30, 2026 it owned 57 operating properties generating ~$108 million of annualized base rent, with ~69% from investment-grade tenants. The largest tenant is the U.S. General Services Administration (~18% of rent at year-end 2025), followed by Merrill Lynch, Ingram Micro, Cigna/Express Scripts and T-Mobile. Management's stated strategy is to tilt the portfolio away from traditional office and toward dedicated use assets (labs, government, medical and flex/industrial buildings), which made up ~39% of rent at mid-2026.

Full ONL guide

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

• GNL drivers: The shift toward industrial; Deleveraging.
• ONL drivers: Leasing momentum and occupancy recovery; Asset sales and deleveraging.

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: Leverage remains GNL's central risk. For ONL, the central risk is that suburban office demand stays weak and Orion cannot re-lease space at rents that cover its costs.

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 GNL if you believe its drivers more; ONL 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 GNL and ONL guides.

GNL. REITs are usually valued on AFFO (adjusted funds from operations) rather than net income, because depreciation makes GAAP earnings understate cash flow. That is why GNL can show a small net loss (about $0.04 per share in Q2 2026) and a payout ratio above 1,000% on an earnings basis while its dividend is covered by AFFO. At ~9x 2026 AFFO and roughly 1x book value, GNL trades well below larger net-lease peers such as Realty Income or W. P. Carey, which typically sit in the low-to-mid teens. The gap reflects higher leverage, office exposure, a shrinking revenue base and a weaker governance history. Q3 2026 results are scheduled for November 4, 2026.

ONL. Revenue (TTM) combines the first half of 2026 (~$70.6 million) with the second half of 2025 (~$72.3 million). On a Core FFO basis Orion trades at under 3x guided 2026 earnings, a fraction of the ~10x to 15x common for healthier net lease REITs. That gap reflects the debt load, ~78% occupancy, the joint venture default and doubts about the terminal value of older suburban office buildings. GAAP earnings are noisy because of property sale gains and impairments, so price to earnings is not a useful yardstick here. Figures are approximate, drawn from Orion's second quarter 2026 filings and mid-October quotes.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): GNL shows revenue (ttm) ~$460M (June 2026 quarter ~$112.5M, -10% YoY), affo per share $0.22 in Q2 2026; 2026 guidance $0.82 to $0.85, dividend $0.19 quarterly, ~$0.76 per year (~10% yield near $7.40), net debt / adjusted ebitda ~6.6x (June 30, 2026), target 6.5x to 6.9x; ONL shows revenue (ttm) ~$143 million, core ffo per share (2026 guidance) ~$0.72 to $0.77, price / core ffo (guidance midpoint) ~2.8x, market cap ~$118 million (~$2.06/share).

GNL and ONL 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 GNL and ONL exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.