Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. is a NYC-focused REIT that owns and operates a portfolio of well-leased, top-of-tier, modernized, amenitized, and well-located office, retail, and multifamily assets. The Company is a recognized leader in energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality. As of December 31, 2025, ESRT's operating portfolio is comprised of approximately 7.6 million rentable square feet of office space, …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Stable NOI PerformanceNOI stability is excellent (score 0.90), suggesting reliable rent streams.
High-Quality PortfolioPortfolio quality is strong with stable occupancy (score 0.90) and growing NOI.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. ranks #6 of 20
scored companies in REIT - Diversified by moat score — the top 30%.
The widest moat in the group is Gladstone Commercial Corporatio (GOOD)
at 78/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near ESRT in REIT - Diversified
For a REIT, pricing power is the ability to raise rents at renewal and still keep the space occupied.
AFFO Strength
Score 54
· 18% of the moat score
AFFO — adjusted funds from operations — is the cash a REIT can actually distribute after the recurring capital spending buildings need in order to stay leasable.
Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital
Score 67
· 20% of the moat score
Real estate is bought with borrowed money, so a REIT's cost of capital is its competitive advantage.
Capital Recycling & Growth
Score 75
· 16% of the moat score
REITs grow by issuing shares and debt to buy more property, which creates value only when the yield on the asset exceeds the cost of the capital raised.
Operational Efficiency
Score 50
· 14% of the moat score
Running property — leasing, maintenance, taxes, management — is the part of the business a REIT genuinely controls.
Portfolio Quality & Diversification
Score 81
· 12% of the moat score
Portfolio quality is really a question about what happens when a tenant fails.
What is Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.'s moat score?
Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (ESRT) scores 67 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #6 of 20 scored companies in REIT - Diversified, the top 30%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 21 companies in REIT - Diversified. Its strongest defense is Portfolio Quality & Diversification (81/100) and its weakest is Operational Efficiency (50/100).
How does Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. compare with other REIT - Diversified companies?
Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. ranks #6 of 20 scored companies in REIT - Diversified by moat score. The widest moat in REIT - Diversified is Gladstone Commercial Corporatio (GOOD) at 78/100. The companies ranked closest are W. P. Carey Inc. REIT (WPC) at 71 just above it and American Assets Trust, Inc. (AAT) at 66 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — REIT Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 21 companies in REIT - Diversified. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. scored with the REIT Specialized template?
A REIT is a portfolio of buildings financed with debt and required to distribute most of its taxable income. Reported earnings are dominated by depreciation on assets that often appreciate, so net income says very little; the real question is how much cash the properties distribute, and how securely. The REIT template scores what determines that: rent pricing, distributable cash, cost of capital, and the discipline behind growth.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.?
The REIT Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and ESRT scores: Rent Pricing Power (68), AFFO Strength (54), Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital (67), Capital Recycling & Growth (75), Operational Efficiency (50), Portfolio Quality & Diversification (81). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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