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Where AI Belongs in Your Business


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Overview

This one’s back from the vault. AI tools keep piling up, so the question John Jantsch and Ryan Levesque take on here matters more now than when it first aired. Where should AI save you time, and where does a personal touch let you charge more?

Levesque runs AI every day inside his own company. He explains how he decides what gets automated (the back office comes first) and what he won’t hand off. He and Jantsch also get into why work that doesn’t scale can set you apart and how letting customers see your process supports higher prices. Levesque also shares a 30-second morning habit that shapes the rest of his day.

Running a consultancy, an agency or a growing business? You’ll walk away with ideas you can test this week.

Guest Bio

Ryan Levesque has built and exited 2 companies with a combined value of more than $100 million, and he’s made the Inc. 5000 list 7 times as CEO. He wrote Ask, a No. 1 national bestseller and Inc.’s marketing book of the year, and he founded the ASK Method. His latest book is Return to Real: The Last Human Advantage in an Age of Artificial Everything. In it he argues that the things our bodies and spirits are hungry for are the same things customers will pay a premium for.

Key Takeaways

  • Point AI at the back office first, the work that sits furthest from your customer. The email sequences and social posts that make your first impression need a human voice.
  • Choose a few moments that won’t scale and handle them yourself. A voice memo to every new customer or a handwritten note to every new client shows a kind of care software can’t fake.
  • Show your work. Let customers see how things get made and who makes them. The story behind the work is part of what they pay for.
  • Make something before you scroll. Use the first minutes of your day, while your head is clear, to write or build before email and social media pull you in.
  • Publish your own thinking on a schedule. For nearly 2.5 years Levesque has sent a weekly email, often 2,000 to 4,000 words long. He credits it with bringing in more opportunity than anything else he’s done in 20 years of business.

Great Moments

  • [04:19] Having a website used to set a business apart. Now, Levesque says, people are surprised when they reach a live human on a customer service call.
  • [05:27] Two photos of his sons taken 7 years apart, a $70 million deal that collapsed at the last minute, and a summer spent living in a tent on a Vermont farm.
  • [09:45] His “touch earth before touching a screen” routine: walk outside barefoot, put your feet on bare ground and take one deep breath.
  • [12:57] The morning he read an email sent under his name, hated it and slammed his laptop shut. That led to “The Embarrassing Confession” and his comparison of freshly squeezed orange juice to the canned kind.
  • [16:39] A painting bought for about $10,000 sold for $450 million after it was attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Levesque ties that story to Steinway’s documentary and to the time-lapse video he made of hand-illustrating his book.

Memorable Quotes

  • What doesn’t scale for you also will not scale for your competitor. And therein lies the competitive advantage. Doing the things that your competitor will not be willing to do.” – Ryan Levesque
  • “It’s not about being anti AI or being pro AI, it’s about finding the right places to put AI into your business.” – Ryan Levesque
  • “What the world is craving is what I describe as the freshly squeezed version of orange juice that you get at Sunday brunch in a world where everybody else is serving the watered-down stuff that comes in a can.” – Ryan Levesque
  • “When you combine those two simple practices, touch earth before you touch screen, and create before you consume, it’ll shift your day, which will shift your week, which will shift your month, which will shift your year.” – Ryan Levesque
  • “For those of us who are knowledge workers, for those of us who spend time in front of a computer, we have to find an outlet that reconnects us to our body, that reconnects us to the analog, that reconnects us to the physical world.” – Ryan Levesque

Resources

4 Free Night Certificates (Category 1-4)


The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Chase is offering a bonus four free night certificates, good on category 1-4 properties when you spend $5,000 within the first three months of account opening the Chase World of Hyatt card.

Card Basics

  • This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months 
  • Annual fee of $95
  • Card earns at the following rates:
    • 4x points per $1 spent on Hyatt hotels (they advertise this as 9x, but it’s 4x plus the 5x you normally get anyway)
    • 2x points per $1 spent on local transit and commuting (including taxis, mass transit, tolls and ride-share serivces)
    • 2x points per $1 spent on restaurants, cafes and coffee shops
    • 2x points per $1 spent on airline tickets purchased directly from the airlines
    • 2x points per $1 spent on fitness clubs and gym memberships
    • 1x points per $1 spent on all other purchases
  • Receive up to two free nights annually:
    • One free night at any category 1-4 Hyatt property every year after your card member anniversary
    • An additional free night at any category 1-4 Hyatt property if you spend $15,000 during your card member anniversary year
  • Status:
    • World of Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as the card is open
    • 5 qualifying night credits towards your next tier status every year
    • An additional 2 qualifying night credits towards your next tier every time you spend $5,000 on the card (no limit)

Our Verdict

One less free night certificate than the previous offer and different to the 75k offer. Advantage to this new offer is that it only requires $5,000 in spend rather than $15,000. Probably won’t add this new offer to the best credit card bonus page. 

The Iran war has cost U.S. households nearly $2,000 each. New strikes could keep the bill climbing



On Oct. 8, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that “we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd.” On Nov. 2, the day before Americans voted, U.S. forces struck Iran’s Qeshm Island.

U.S. officials told CNN the Qeshm attack was a defensive response to Iranian forces using surface-to-air missiles against U.S. assets. In a Fox News interview that aired that night, Trump suggested there had been no recent fighting.

The Qeshm attack was not an isolated event. Officials told ABC News that limited “defensive strikes” had been carried out in recent weeks and not publicized to avoid signaling a return to major combat operations.

The strikes are small next to earlier phases of the war. But they come at a fragile moment for energy markets, which had just priced in hopes of a diplomatic exit, and as the U.S. heads into heating season.

Gilbert Metcalf, a visiting professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a former deputy assistant secretary for environment and energy at the U.S. Treasury Department, says the strikes raise the odds of the outcome markets fear most.

“The risk to global oil markets and, by extension, the global economy as we head into winter is the potential for Iranian strikes against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz or against oil and gas infrastructure in the region,” Metcalf tells Fortune. “Continued strikes against Iran, albeit so-called ‘defensive strikes,’ only increase the likelihood of their undertaking those attacks.”

Even restraint from Tehran may not help much. “Even if the Iranians hold back, any increased military activity in the region heightens the risk of retaliation, which adversely affects markets,” he says. “Oil prices will remain persistently high in the face of these risks, and this is particularly concerning as we move into winter and the need for oil and gas for home heating.”

What the war has cost so far

U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that began Feb. 28 set off a regional war, according to the Congressional Research Service. Iran has retaliated against targets across the Middle East, including a pumping station on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, and has used attacks on commercial shipping to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz.

The two sides agreed to a ceasefire in April and signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17. The agreement collapsed within weeks amid renewed fighting and formally expired in August. By September, the CRS described the conflict as a war of attrition.

The price tag keeps rising. The U.S. military has spent more than $47 billion on the war, Reuters reported on Oct. 27, citing Pentagon data. That is up from the $37.5 billion Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth estimated in July, and more than $29 billion of it goes to replacing expended munitions.

Households are paying, too. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, estimates the war has cost the average U.S. household nearly $2,000, CNN reported. About $1,100 of that comes from higher energy and transportation costs, with higher interest rates and a share of military spending making up the rest.

“Nationwide, that adds up to $265 billion,” Zandi wrote on X on Oct. 12.

Much of the pain runs through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about 20 million barrels of oil a day before the war. Qeshm Island, about 14 miles from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, is central to Iran’s ability to control traffic through it, and Iran has stepped up attacks on commercial ships transiting the strait in recent weeks, according to ABC News.

There is no easy workaround. Metcalf told Fortune last month that even Saudi Arabia’s plan to send 10 million barrels of oil a day around Hormuz may barely move prices.

The midterm relief rally may not hold

Energy costs hung over the campaign. Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate on Nov. 3, and Vice President JD Vance put it bluntly: “The reason we lost is the war.”

Oil reacted quickly. Brent crude fell more than 9% on Nov. 4 as traders bet the results would push the White House toward a deal, CNBC reported, and Trump said he had no immediate plans to strike Iran.

Iran has long been expected to wait out the vote. In September, Fortune’s Jordan Blum reported that Tehran was unlikely to let the war end until after the midterms. Mediators were awaiting U.S. and Iranian responses to their latest proposal as of Nov. 2, CNN reported.

Metcalf isn’t convinced the relief will last. “The blue wave sparked hopes that the Iran war might be resolved diplomatically and, not surprisingly, oil prices fell sharply,” he says. “That optimism may be short-sighted if Trump decides that, with the election behind him, he can increase military pressure on Iran.”

Saan Dapat Ilagay ang ₱500,000 Ngayong 2026? | High-Yield Savings & Investments



Saan dapat ilagay ang ₱500,000 ngayong 2026? Kung mayroon kang kalahating milyong piso na ipon, malaking tanong kung saan ito dapat ilagay para magkaroon ng mas magandang potential return habang isinasaalang-alang ang safety, liquidity, taxes, at lock-in periods.
Sa video na ito, gagamit tayo ng ₱500,000 bilang example at i-rank ang iba’t ibang high-yield savings at investment options sa Pilipinas ngayong 2026—kabilang ang digital banks, Pag-IBIG MP2, at Treasury Bills (T-Bills).

Hindi lang natin titingnan kung alin ang may pinakamataas na interest rate. Ipapakita rin natin ang actual sample computations para makita kung magkano ang maaaring maiuwi mong net income pagkatapos ng applicable taxes, at kung gaano kadaling ma-access ang iyong pera kapag kailangan mo ito.

💰 Ano ang malalaman mo sa video?
✅ Digital Bank Boosters – paano gumagana ang boosted interest rates at qualifying requirements
✅ GoTyme & MariBank – simple, liquid savings options
✅ Pag-IBIG MP2 – tax-free dividends at compounding potential
✅ Treasury Bills / T-Bills – short-term government-backed investment
✅ ₱500,000 interest computations – gross vs. net earnings
✅ Withholding tax – magkano ang nababawas sa interest
✅ Liquidity – gaano kadaling ma-access ang iyong pera
✅ Lock-in periods – bakit mahalagang malaman ang withdrawal restrictions
✅ MP2 vs. T-Bills vs. Digital Banks – iba’t ibang strengths at trade-offs
✅ 2026 Asset Allocation Blueprint – isang sample na hatian para sa ₱500,000

At higit sa lahat, sasagutin natin ang mas importanteng tanong:
Hindi lang “Alin ang may pinakamataas na rate?”
Kundi “Saan pinakamagandang ilagay ang ₱500,000 ko?”
Sa dulo ng video, ipapakita ang sample 2026 Asset Allocation Blueprint kung paano maaaring hatiin ang ₱500,000 sa liquidity, long-term growth, at government-backed investments.
Kung interesado ka sa ₱500,000 investment strategy, high-yield savings accounts, digital banks in the Philippines, Pag-IBIG MP2, Treasury Bills, passive income, at personal finance, panoorin ang buong video bago magdesisyon kung saan mo ilalagay ang pera mo.

⚠️ DISCLAIMER: Ang video na ito ay para sa general information at educational purposes lamang at hindi personal financial advice. Ang interest rates, terms, taxes, eligibility requirements, at investment conditions ay maaaring magbago. I-verify ang latest information mula sa official sources bago gumawa ng financial decision.

#500000Investment #PagIBIGMP2 #TreasuryBills #DigitalBanks #HighYieldSavings #InvestingPhilippines #PersonalFinancePhilippines #Investment2026 #TheBrownInvestor

source

2027 Tax Brackets And Standard Deduction From The IRS


Key Points

  • The IRS raised all seven federal income tax brackets for 2027, and the 37% rate now starts above $661,375 for single filers and $793,650 for married couples filing jointly.
  • The 2027 standard deduction rises to $16,600 for single filers and $33,200 for married couples, while the child tax credit climbs to $2,300 per child.
  • These numbers apply to income earned in 2027 and the tax return filed in 2028, not the return due in April 2027.

The IRS released its 2027 tax brackets on November 5, 2026, raising the income limits for every federal tax bracket and the standard deduction for every filing status. The tax rates stay at 10% through 37%, but more of each paycheck now lands in the lower brackets.

The IRS announcement covers almost 70 provisions, and the full tables sit in Revenue Procedure 2026-35. You can compare every figure below with the 2026 federal tax brackets.

The new figures apply to income earned from January 1 through December 31, 2027, and to returns filed in 2028. The return you file this coming spring still uses the 2026 standard deduction and brackets. Retirement account limits will be announced soon, since the IRS announces 401(k) contribution limits separately each November.

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What Are The 2027 Federal Income Tax Brackets?

The 2027 bracket thresholds rose about 3.2% from 2026. Single filers pay 10% on their first $12,800 of taxable income, up from $12,400. Married couples filing jointly pay 10% on their first $25,600.

You can estimate your own bill with our income tax calculator.

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2027 Federal Income Tax Brackets
Tax Rate Single Married Filing Jointly
10% $0 – $12,800 $0 – $25,600
12% $12,801 – $52,025 $25,601 – $104,050
22% $52,026 – $109,125 $104,051 – $218,250
24% $109,126 – $208,325 $218,251 – $416,650
32% $208,326 – $264,550 $416,651 – $529,100
35% $264,551 – $661,375 $529,101 – $793,650
37% $661,376+ $793,651+
Source: IRS. The College Investor.

The top 37% rate applies above $661,375 for single filers and $793,650 for married couples filing jointly. A bracket only applies to the income inside it, which is why your effective tax rate runs well below your top rate.

Short-term capital gains are taxed at these same rates, while long-term gains use separate 0%, 15% and 20% capital gains brackets.

How Much Is The 2027 Standard Deduction?

The 2027 standard deduction is $16,600 for single filers and married individuals filing separately, $33,200 for married couples filing jointly and $24,925 for heads of household. That’s $500 more for single filers and $1,000 more for joint filers than in 2026. Most households take the standard deduction because it beats their itemized deductions.

The personal exemption stays at $0 for 2027. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made that permanent. Filers 65 and older can still claim the separate $6,000 senior deduction through 2028, which isn’t part of this adjustment.

What Other Tax Breaks Change For Families In 2027?

The child tax credit rises to $2,300 per child in 2027, up $100 from 2026. Up to $1,800 of it is refundable. Working families with three or more children can claim an Earned Income Tax Credit of up to $8,496, up from $8,231.

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Key Tax Numbers For 2027
Tax Item 2026 2027
Standard Deduction (Married Filing Jointly) $32,200 $33,200
Standard Deduction (Single) $16,100 $16,600
Standard Deduction (Head Of Household) $24,150 $24,925
Child Tax Credit (Per Child) $2,200 $2,300
Refundable Child Tax Credit $1,700 $1,800
Maximum Earned Income Tax Credit $8,231 $8,496
Annual Gift Tax Exclusion $19,000 $20,000
Estate Tax Exclusion $15,000,000 $15,480,000
Health FSA Contribution Limit $3,400 $3,500
Transit And Parking Benefit (Monthly) $340 $350
Maximum Adoption Credit $17,670 $18,250
Source: IRS. The College Investor.

Workplace benefits rise too. Employees can put $3,500 into a health FSA, and plans that allow carryovers can roll over up to $700. The monthly limit for transit passes and parking rises to $350. Pre-tax benefits like these also lower your adjusted gross income, which can cut your payment on an income-driven repayment plan.

Adoptive parents can claim a credit on up to $18,250 of qualified adoption expenses, and up to $5,280 of that credit is refundable. That sits alongside the family tax credits we track each year, which now rise with inflation.

What Does The 2027 Gift Tax Exclusion Mean For 529 Plans?

The annual gift tax exclusion rises to $20,000 per recipient in 2027, up from $19,000. Most families treat that number as the 529 plan contribution limit, so a parent or grandparent can put $20,000 into each child’s account without filing a gift tax return. A married couple can give $40,000 per child.

Five-year superfunding lets one contributor put up to $100,000 into a 529 plan in 2027 and spread it over five years for gift tax purposes. Married couples can superfund $200,000 per child, a big lever for grandparents helping pay for college.

The lifetime estate and gift tax exclusion rises to $15,480,000 per person, so very few families will ever owe federal gift tax.

How Much Will The 2027 Tax Changes Save You?

Inflation adjustments keep your taxes from rising when your pay only keeps up with prices, so the savings at the same income are small. We ran four households through the 2026 and 2027 rules with identical wages in both years, using the standard deduction and the child tax credit for kids under 17. A married couple earning $120,000 with two children would owe $336 less in 2027.

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Same Paycheck, Lower Tax Bill In 2027
Household 2026 Federal Tax 2027 Federal Tax Savings
Single, $60,000 $5,020 $4,952 $68
Single, $100,000 $13,170 $12,890 $280
Married, $120,000, Two Kids $5,640 $5,304 $336
Married, $200,000 $26,340 $25,779 $561
Source: IRS. The College Investor.

A single filer earning $60,000 saves just $68, so don’t budget around a tax cut. The real benefit shows up when you get a raise of about 3.2%, because that raise won’t push more of your income into a higher bracket.

You can run your own numbers in our income tax calculator.

What Isn’t Changing For 2027?

The Lifetime Learning Credit still phases out between $80,000 and $90,000 of modified adjusted gross income, or $160,000 to $180,000 for joint filers. Congress stopped indexing those limits after 2020, so the credit shrinks in real value each year. Families paying tuition should compare it with the other tax breaks for tuition and student loans.

The 2027 401(k) and IRA limits haven’t been released yet. Last year the IRS published them on November 13. The 2027 HSA limits are already announced at $4,500 for self-only coverage and $9,000 for family coverage, per our HSA contribution limits page.

What Should You Do Now?

  1. File your 2026 return with 2026 numbers. The return due in April 2027 uses the 2026 tax brackets, not these new figures.
  2. Check your withholding in January. Review your first 2027 paycheck and update your Form W-4 if you married, had a baby or changed jobs.
  3. Set your FSA election during open enrollment. Choose up to the new $3,500 limit only if you’ll spend it, since most of a health FSA balance is use-it-or-lose-it.
  4. Plan 529 gifts at $20,000 per child. Starting January 1, 2027, parents and grandparents can gift money to a 529 plan at the higher exclusion.
  5. Watch for the 2027 retirement limits. We’ll update our 401(k) and income limits page as soon as the IRS releases them.

Editor: Colin Graves

The post 2027 Tax Brackets And Standard Deduction From The IRS appeared first on The College Investor.

Cloudflare’s appeal won’t fix what’s broken in Delaware’s Chancery Court



The morning after we wrote in Fortune about a controversial Chancery Court decision involving Cloudflare, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster moved with uncommon speed to certify an interlocutory appeal of his ruling to the Delaware Supreme Court.

Corporate boards might read that as a sign the system is correcting itself. They shouldn’t, at least not yet.

The appeal was necessary because Laster used an unusually expansive reading of “good faith” to enjoin the Cloudflare board’s decision about its capital structure.

A vague standard

With corporate anchoring fees rivaling personal income taxes as Delaware’s primary source of revenue, Delaware’s wise leaders, including its governor and its legislature, saw this exodus coming, and tried to stem its root cause. In March 2025, Delaware passed Senate Bill 21 (SB 21), the most significant rewrite of its corporate code in a generation, to stop the flow of companies out of the state. SB 21 was generally recognized to have been a direct response to a run of activist rulings from the Court of Chancery, which were widely seen as blatant judicial overreach.

The spirit of SB 21 is simple: if a board routes a possibly “conflicted” deal through a committee of independent directors with real power to reject it, the deal is considered “kosher.” This means no injunctions, no damages, no trial.

Indeed, Laster’s 142-page opinion concedes the legitimacy of SB 21 and its applicability to this case. He held the directors were independent. He held they were not negligent. He wrote that their process showed “all the outward signs of diligent and careful effort.” By his own account, virtually every requirement the legislature wrote was met by the Cloudflare board.

He enjoined the transaction anyway, on a novel basis. SB 21 does require that the committee act “in good faith,” but Laster’s route was to re-define what good faith entails – even though the legislative intent of SB 21 and the surrounding debate in the legislature, clearly shows that the Delaware legislature intended SB 21 to be more deferential to independent boards, not less.

The term “good faith” was not a third level of diligence beyond the duty of care and duty of loyalty, but merely presumed to be the spirit of board actions. Before this, good faith had been previously generally assumed, in deference to independent boards, with nary any heightened review threshold, much less any invocation to enjoin a transaction.

Instead, he pointed in part to the fact that the board used Signal to communicate about sensitive strategic information they presumably did not want competitors obtaining, irrespective of litigation, and to a CEO who was known to have a hot temper, even though the temperament of the entrepreneur is irrelevant to good faith and typical of creative businesses in technology, media, fashion and the like.

From those disconnected scraps, the court inferred that the committee was serving the founders rather than bargaining against them, or what Laster, borrowing from the 2011 Southern Peru case, called “a controlled mindset”, as proof of possible lack of good faith by the committee.

In analyzing Laster’s novel interpretation of what “good faith” means, readers might ask whether Laster was merely applying the statute, SB 21, rather than inventing a new standard. But that flies in the face of the legislative history of SB 21, which clearly suggests the intent of the Delaware legislature was to try to drive greater predictability and greater deference to independent boards, rather than drive more elevated scrutiny of those same boards. Against that backdrop, Laster’s idiosyncratic, broader reading of ‘good faith’ substantively guts the protections SB21 was meant to provide.

But even more importantly, and legally salient; Laster’s interpretation of ‘good faith’ is far from what “good faith” has always historically meant in Delaware, from a legal perspective. The existing Delaware definition of bad faith is grounded in scienter, the requirement of showing that individuals acted with knowledge and intent of wrongdoing, together with the requirement that each board member be assessed individually to determine whether a majority intentionally acted in bad faith. That is the Disney line of cases.

 In 2006, the Delaware Supreme Court defined bad faith as “intentional dereliction of duty, a conscious disregard for one’s responsibilities,” and held that gross negligence, “without more, cannot constitute bad faith.” Stone v. Ritter that same year made good faith a “subsidiary element” of the duty of loyalty rather than a freestanding duty. And Lyondell in 2009 held that directors who merely “failed to do all that they should have” breached only their duty of care, while “only if they knowingly and completely failed to undertake their responsibilities” could they be found disloyal.

Startlingly, Laster largely set aside that definition in practice. A board’s understandable use of Signal to communicate about sensitive strategic information, or a CEO known to have a hot temper, amounts to nothing even remotely resembling scienter, which is knowing or willful misconduct. The opinion likewise faults the committee for not obtaining a fairness opinion while conceding, in its own footnote, that “Delaware courts have stated that there is no duty to obtain a fairness opinion.” Under Lyondell, a process that could have been better is a question of care, not loyalty, and Laster found no failure of care.

Most tellingly, he acknowledged that without what he called the defendants’ “credibility problems,” he “could have concluded” the safe harbor applied. In other words, the statute’s protection now turns on whether a trial judge likes the witnesses.

If a board can be independent, informed, and diligent and still be found to have acted in bad faith, directors are left without a clear rule to follow. That uncertainty is exactly what is pushing companies to reincorporate elsewhere.

A disputed record, headed to the Supreme Court

Laster’s certification also characterizes the facts in ways we believe are wrong, and it is the trial court’s account of the record that the Supreme Court will review.

He wrote that “the Committee looked for and found an academic who would say that…maintaining founder control would be good for the Company.” Our research, published for years in academic outlets and in Fortune, describes when dual-class shares fail as well as when they work. We have found that well-governed, founder-led companies with dual-class shares have, as a group, outperformed, and that such structures should expire when they no longer make sense or are abused. Laster also suggested that the company’s financial advisors had data disputing our conclusions. However, in reality, the financial advisors did not, have any such counter evidence,  as their own presentations make clear.

He also ruled on the credibility of parties he never met, relying on a one-hour hearing on the paper record alone. The Supreme Court therefore has no firsthand insight from the trial judge to which it could defer.

Reversal without relief

The Delaware Supreme Court has reversed Laster in more than 30 decisions, but it has repeatedly remanded those cases back to his courtroom. For example, the Boardwalk Pipeline litigation, stemming from Loews’ 2018 buyout of Boardwalk’s public unitholders, has bounced between the two courts for eight years and remains unresolved. Litigation on that scale is a costly distraction for management and boards, on top of fees that can run from $60 million to more than half a billion dollars per company.

For example, when the Delaware Supreme Court reversed him in his controversial Aruba decision in 2019, they issued a rare rebuke with withering criticism, noting that Laster’s opinion “could be seen” as “a results-oriented move to generate an odd result compelled by his personal frustration at being reversed in Dell,” that the approach “was in no way dictated by a rational reading of Dell,” that his agency-cost reasoning was “not grounded in the record,” and that by injecting a valuation theory the plaintiff “had not itself posited,” he “injected due process and fairness problems into the proceedings.”

While that sounds like a promising development, the court had the power to reassign remanded cases to a different judge, and has not done so. This undermines their own reversal of the Chancery Court, repeatedly throwing the firm back into the arms of its previous judge to invent a serious of unique reasons to derail the deal.

What boards should take from this

Certifying an appeal is not the same as a predictable legal regime, and predictability is what boards cite when they leave Delaware. Until the Supreme Court clarifies what “good faith” requires of an independent, diligent board in a predictable and non-arbitrary way, and until appellate reversals carry real consequences on remand, directors should assume that a sound process may not be enough to protect their decisions in Chancery.

As the Roman poet Juvenal asked, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” Who guards the guards?

Disclosure: Cloudflare’s special committee retained us, given our widely recognize expertise as governance scholars, to present our published research on when dual-class share structures help and hurt companies, as it deliberated its own structure based upon our analysis of the total universe of major firms with such arrangements. We were not asked to opine on the terms of Cloudflare’s proposed reclassification, did not do so, and take no position on its design. We have no relationship with Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

One in four broker pricing searches is now for non-QM loans


Loansifter, Optimal Blue’s pricing engine for brokers, handles about a million searches a month from roughly 6,000 brokers, he said. Each search pings well over 100 wholesale lenders, and Optimal Blue believes it covers nearly all the large ones.

“All of the wholesale lenders of size are putting their rate sheets onto Loansifter because it’s such a big platform, you sort of have to be on there if you want volume from these brokers,” O’Connell said.

The product mix across all channels has held steady, he said, with investor and debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans at 33% of non-QM activity in September, bank statement loans at 30% and other programs at 37%, according to the report. Brokers carry a bigger share of non-QM than retail does, he said, so the growth of the channel is helping drive the category.

“They’re going to go wherever the business is,” O’Connell said.

What is behind the growth

Non-QM’s share of locks is up 478 basis points from a year earlier, and its volume rose 8% in September while total volume fell 2%, according to the report. It was a negligible share in 2021 and 2022, O’Connell said.

Atmos Rewards Global Getaways: Up to 50% Off Awards


Atmos Rewards Global Getaways: Up to 50% Off Awards

Alaska Airlines is back with another round of Atmos Rewards Global Getaways, and this month’s deals are focused on winter and spring travel.

Through November 7, 2026, Atmos Rewards members can save up to 50% on award travel to nine destinations in Hawaii, Europe and Asia. Travel must take place between December 1, 2026, and May 12, 2027.

Here are the starting one-way award prices:

To book, just search award travel at alaskaair.com or hawaiianairlines.com by selecting “use points.” The discounted rates should show automatically in the results.

These Global Getaways are part of Atmos Members Day, which Alaska holds on the first Wednesday of each month with special offers and program updates for members.

Binance hack prompted US regulators to check in on bank systems, sources say




Binance hack prompted US regulators to check in on bank systems, sources say

FrontView REIT (FVR) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript


Image source: The Motley Fool.

DATE

Nov. 5, 2026

CALL PARTICIPANTS

  • Chairman and Chief Executive Officer – Stephen Preston
  • President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary – Pierre Revol

Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected]

TAKEAWAYS

  • Adjusted Funds from Operations (AFFO) — $9.7 million, or $0.33 per share, representing approximately 7% growth at the midpoint of full-year guidance.
  • Total Revenue — $18.6 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2026, increasing from $16.8 million in the prior-year period.
  • Net Income — $3.0 million, or $0.08 per share, compared to $5.5 million in the prior-year quarter.
  • Occupancy Rate — 99.4% as of quarter-end, with only two vacant properties remaining in the portfolio.
  • Acquisitions — 16 properties acquired for $50.6 million at an average capitalization rate of 7.56% and a weighted average lease term of 6.4 years.
  • Dispositions — five properties sold for $17.1 million at an average capitalization rate of 6.56%, generating a 100 basis point positive spread over acquisitions.
  • Annualized Base Rent (ABR) — $69.8 million across 327 properties, growing 19% since the first quarter as a public company.
  • Leverage Ratio — Net debt to annualized adjusted EBITDAre decreased to 5.0x from 5.6x at the beginning of the year.
  • Adjusted Net Debt to Annualized Adjusted EBITDAre — 4.5x when including the undrawn Series A preferred stock.
  • Total Liquidity — $174 million, comprised of $5 million in cash, $139 million in revolving credit facility capacity, and $30 million in undrawn preferred stock.
  • Common Stock Dividend — $0.215 per share, representing an AFFO payout ratio of 64.7%.
  • Full-Year 2026 AFFO Guidance — $1.32 to $1.34 per share, maintained by management.
  • Net Investment Guidance — approximately $120 million for the full year 2026.
  • Recurring Cash G&A — $2.7 million for the quarter, with full-year expectations of approximately $10.5 million.
  • Tenant Concentration — Top 10 tenants represent 20.1% of rent, with the largest tenant, Verizon, at 2.5%.
  • Organic Growth — Contractual escalators and below-market rents drive 1.5% to 2% of annual organic growth.
  • Asset Management Gains — $7 million in gains on repositioning sales generated year to date.
  • Interest Rate Swaps — $200 million swapped at 3.66% and $100 million at 3% through March 2028, resulting in a 3.4% blended fixed SOFR rate.
  • Portfolio Exposure — Texas and Florida markets increased to 17.8% of ABR from 11.6% at the end of 2024.
  • Market Value Creation — Six successful re-tenanting outcomes achieved an estimated value of $29 million against a combined purchase price of $19 million.

SUMMARY

FrontView REIT, Inc. (FVR -0.78%) reported results focused on the execution of its real estate first strategy and capital recycling. Management reported increasing the portfolio to 327 properties while reducing concentration in the top 10 tenants to 20.1%. The company stated it funded acquisitions through a combination of dispositions and equity, leading to a reduction in leverage to 5.0x net debt to adjusted annualized EBITDAre. The company maintained its full-year guidance for AFFO and net investment activity while reporting that occupancy remains near full capacity at 99.4%.

  • Management reported a 117% average recovery rate on new leases, with CEO Preston stating, “We own exceptional real estate with a diverse tenant base in vibrant markets where the quality of the real estate drives rents and values higher over time.”
  • CEO Preston noted the strategic acquisition of a Spec’s Liquor in San Antonio for $2.6 million, which was purchased at approximately 18% below the asking price and 50% of replacement cost.
  • The company reported that 79.2% of its rent is derived from top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), focusing on high-traffic retail corridors.
  • CFO Revol indicated that the company can more than double its asset base with similar levels of general and administrative expenses, stating, “We have already built much of the infrastructure needed to support a significantly larger company, positioning us to generate meaningful operating leverage as we grow.”
  • Management reported that it has $40 million in properties under letter of intent or purchase agreement at yields higher than those achieved in the third quarter.
  • The company recently invested $2.7 million in a Dallas-based joint venture redevelopment project, targeting a mid-to-high teens internal rate of return.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

  • ABR: Annualized Base Rent, the sum of monthly base rents for the next year without accounting for concessions or escalations.
  • AFFO: Adjusted Funds from Operations, a measure that adjusts FFO for recurring capital expenditures and non-cash items.
  • Cap Rate: Capitalization Rate, the ratio of net operating income to the property’s purchase price or market value.
  • EBITDAre: EBITDA for Real Estate, a performance measure that excludes gains/losses on asset sales and impairments.
  • MSA: Metropolitan Statistical Area, a geographical region with a high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area.
  • SOFR: Secured Overnight Financing Rate, a benchmark interest rate for dollar-denominated derivatives and loans.
  • WALT: Weighted Average Lease Term, the average time remaining on the leases in a portfolio, weighted by rental income.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the FrontView Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to Pierre Revol, CFO. Pierre, please go ahead.

Pierre Revol: Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone, for joining us for FrontView’s Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. I will be joined on the call by Steve Preston, Chairman and CEO. Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that this presentation contains forward-looking statements. Although we believe these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated due to several factors. I refer you to the safe harbor statement in our most recent filings with the SEC for a detailed discussion of the risk factors relating to these forward-looking statements. This presentation also contains certain non-GAAP financial metrics.

Reconciliation of non-GAAP financial metrics to the most directly comparable GAAP metrics are included in the exhibits furnished to the SEC under Form 8-K, which include our earnings release, supplemental and investor presentation. These materials are available on the Investor Relations page of our company’s website. With that, I’m now pleased to introduce Steve Preston. Steve?

Stephen Preston: Great. Thank you, Pierre, and good morning, everyone. We had our second anniversary as a public company this October, and our portfolio and prospects could not be stronger. We own exceptional real estate with a diverse tenant base in vibrant markets where the quality of the real estate drives rents and values higher over time. We are small enough that every good investment moves the needle, and we have a low levered balance sheet and high retained free cash flow to support our growth. These attributes, combined with our experienced team and competitive market advantages, attractively position us to capitalize on growth opportunities, especially in the current environment. Turning to our investor presentation.

On Page 5, we added a slide that shows the progress we have made. Since the first quarter as a public company, we have grown annualized base rent by 19% to $69.8 million in the portfolio from 307 to 327 properties, while increasing occupancy from 97.7% to 99.4%. We reduced casual dining tenancies from 15.6% of rent to 9.1%, grew Texas and Florida from 11.6% to 17.8% and lowered net debt to adjusted annualized EBITDA from 5.5x to 5x or 4.5x, including our undrawn preferred. Our largest tenants have changed as well. At the end of 2024, our top tenants were Fast Pace Urgent Care, Verizon, Adams Auto Group, Oak Street Health and IHOP.

A year ago, Dollar Tree was our largest tenant at 3.6% of rent and our top 10 tenants comprised 24.3% of rent. Today, we have reduced Dollar Tree from 14 leases to 8 and Fast Pace from 8 leases to 4. Our top 5 tenants are Verizon, Raising Cane’s, Best Buy, Bank of America and LA Fitness, 3 of which are investment grade. Importantly, our exposure to both Raising Cane’s and Bank of America was increased through proactive asset management, either by replacing a weaker existing tenant or unlocking additional value from our frontage.

These are just a few examples that demonstrate the opportunity we find by owning great real estate in great locations with a team that knows how to create value from our existing portfolio. Diversification continues to be a key strength of the portfolio. Our largest tenant, Verizon, is only 2.5% of rent, the lowest amongst net lease peers and our top 10 stands at only 20.1%. To put that in perspective, Realty Income, the largest net lease REIT owns nearly 16,000 properties compared to our 327, yet has a greater concentration amongst its top 10 tenants. Our diversification is intentional.

Our real estate first strategy continues to evolve with 79.2% of our rent coming from top 100 MSAs, 92% of our properties near shopping centers and a median rent of just $176,000 per property. Why does this matter? Because as we outlined on Page 7 of our investor presentation, our strategy starts with great real estate. We target fungible buildings, attractive markets, strong frontage and replaceable rents. So if a tenant vacates, our real estate turns the tenant exit into an upgrade or when we choose to sell, buyers pay up for the real estate and the low rents. Thus far this year, we generated $7 million of gains on the repositioning sales.

Our differentiated real estate first acquisition strategy drives these structural advantages. Importantly, operating in the public markets has only strengthened our model, providing greater access to capital and allowing us to pursue more opportunities while maintaining our disciplined approach. As we grow, we can continue to compound these advantages, creating long-term shareholder value. Pages 8 and 9 of our investor presentation shows what this means in practice and captures what makes FrontView different. Page 8 illustrates what happens when a tenant leaves. In net lease, that is the moment of truth. With a specialized building or a weak location or high rents, there are a few good alternatives.

Downtime is long and the landlord usually ends up accepting lower rent, funding tenant improvements or selling at a big discount to purchase price. Our frontage assets attract competitive lease and purchase offers, giving us flexibility to re-tenant, redevelop, divide a property into multiple leases or sell depending upon what creates the most value. Look at the results. When Twin Peaks parent went into bankruptcy, we re-leased our Winston-Salem site to Panda Express and Jaggers at a 92% increase in rent. When Tricolor liquidated, we upgraded the site to Avis on a 10-year lease. When Walgreens closed, our Durham store, we replaced it with Amazon with no tenant improvement allowance.

We converted the Miller Ale House into a 15-year Raising Cane’s ground lease with no landlord capital, and we created a new Bank of America ground lease on unused land in front of our Walmart. And this quarter, we delivered another example of successful proactive management. Our Wendy’s in Stone Mountain, Georgia operated by Meritage had below-market rent expiring in March of ’27. We have already signed a 15-year chased ground lease that would commence upon Wendy’s expiration at a 53% increase in rent. Across these 6 outcomes, we estimate the value of these sites are now approximately $29 million against a combined purchase price of about $19 million.

That is nearly 53% in value creation, driven by the quality of the underlying real estate and our ability to capture it. More importantly, these are not isolated examples as if we have averaged over 117% on new leases, as shown on Page 10. Page 9 illustrates the other side of our real estate first strategy, which is what happens when we sell. With weaker real estate, a tenant problem often leads to an auction where recoveries can be less than $0.30 on the dollar. With our real estate, 1031 investors, developers and end users compete. And across all of our sales, we have sold above our cost, whether the property was occupied, dark or vacant.

In July, we sold our dark Hops n Drops at 150% of our cost, and we sold our Sleep Number and AT&T property to a developer at 120% of our cost, while Sleep Number was in Chapter 11. In May, we sold a Friendly’s, a shrinking chain with 2 prior bankruptcies at a 5.35% cap rate and 131% of our cost. Earlier this year, we sold a vacant former Take 5 at 191% of cost. We also got ahead of the Twin Peaks and Meritage bankruptcies, selling those properties before the filings at 120% and 113% of our cost, respectively. The common thread is that buyers are underwriting the real estate, not simply the lease for the tenant.

This quarter, we sold 5 properties, including the Hops n Drops and the Sleep Number for $17.1 million at a 6.56% cap rate. Since our IPO, we have sold 56 properties for $128 million, including vacant properties with our 42 occupied properties selling at a 6.8% cap rate. Over the same period, we acquired 104 properties for $370 million at a 7.7% cap rate. That is approximately 90 basis points of positive spread while simultaneously upgrading the portfolio. This is what we mean by real estate first investing, protecting the downside through the quality of the real estate, creating upside through active asset management and recycling capital at attractive spreads to compound growth. Turning to acquisitions.

We acquired 16 properties in Q3 for $50.6 million at a 7.56% average cap rate with a median purchase price of about $2.65 million and median rent of about $208,000. Our lease term on acquisitions is lower by design. We selectively buy well-located properties with shorter terms and below market rents when we perceive the opportunity for development-like upside without the risks associated with ground-up development. For example, the Indiana veterinary clinic we discussed last quarter is at final stages of being extended for 10 years, creating substantial value in the lease. Another example is the 20,000 square foot Spec’s situated on 1.88 acres on the cover of our investor presentation.

Spec’s is the largest wine and spirits retailer in Texas, family owned since 1962 with more than 200 stores. Our property is in the legacy shopping center in San Antonio, alongside Best Buy and Main Event near U.S. 281 and Loop 1604, which carry more than 238,000 vehicles a day and across from an HEB-anchored center. More than 225,000 people live within a 5-mile radius with an average household income above $130,000. Spec’s has been in the center since 2012 and in 2019, more than doubled its footprint by moving into its current 20,000 square foot store. What makes this deal stand out is the rent and the price.

Spec’s pays about $10 per square foot with 2 5-year fixed options at $11 per square foot and then $12 per square foot in a submarket where rents are estimated at about $20 today. The seller asked a 6.25% cap rate. We sourced the property off-market through a long-standing relationship and worked through complications with the center’s declaration that frankly kept other buyers away. Ultimately, we acquired it for $2.6 million, approximately 18% below the asking price at a 7.6% cap rate and just $132 per square foot, roughly half of replacement cost. We fully anticipate Spec’s to renew, pushing the yield on cost to 9.1% at the time of the second option.

In the unlikely event that Spec’s leaves, we get a box back at half of market rent. This transaction demonstrates our ability to create value at acquisition through sourcing, asset selection, certainty of execution and the relationships we have built over the years across a fragmented marketplace. In August, we also invested $2.7 million in a joint venture with an existing FrontView partner to re-tenant a well-located property with Frontage near downtown Dallas, where in-place rents are significantly below market. The project is income producing today, and we are targeting a mid-to-high teens IRR on the investment and potentially north of 20% if rents surpass initial estimates.

While a relatively small investment, we see meaningful value creation potential, a growing pipeline of opportunities for exactly the type of real estate we want to own long term. Turning to the portfolio. We ended the quarter at 99.4% occupied with only 2 vacancies, including the former Smokey Bones, which is out for lease execution and a small gas station, which has now been sold. We had no new additions to our watch list and our 50 basis point bad debt placeholder for 2026 remains largely unidentified. With the new Chase lease, we have no remaining exposure to Meritage. Looking ahead, our pipeline remains very active.

Recent movements in interest rates have allowed us to source more opportunities at higher yields while maintaining our focus on high-quality real estate in attractive locations with replaceable rents. We currently have over $40 million under LOI or purchase and sale agreement at yields above those achieved in the third quarter. Depending on closing timing, we are well positioned to meet or exceed our full year net investment guidance of approximately $120 million. In closing, one of FrontView’s most important competitive advantages is the depth of our involvement in every aspect of the business. I take as much pride in the details of an individual $2 million acquisition as I do in the broader strategy and direction of our company.

We combine the strategic vision and discipline of an institutional platform with the entrepreneurial intensity and asset level knowledge of a founder-led business. That combination is fundamental to how we operate and what makes FrontView different. Our shareholders aren’t simply investing in a portfolio of properties. They’re investing in an operating philosophy, disciplined capital allocation and a team that understands how and where value is created. This combination positions FrontView to deliver sustainable, sector-leading long-term shareholder value. Before I turn the call over, I am pleased to announce that our Board has appointed Pierre Revol as President of FrontView, in addition to his role as Chief Financial Officer.

Pierre has been a true partner to me in building this company, and we share a common vision for FrontView from our long-term strategy and capital allocation to the details of individual investments. This appointment reflects the strength of the leadership team we’ve built and our commitment to scaling FrontView while preserving the entrepreneurial culture and attention to detail that define our company. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Pierre.

Pierre Revol: Thank you, Steve, and thank you to the Board of Directors for your confidence and support. I look forward to continuing to work alongside a talented team to build FrontView into a differentiated net lease platform. As Steve mentioned, a highlight this quarter was our capital deployment, where we generated a 100 basis point spread between our acquisitions and dispositions. We funded close to 100% of our acquisitions this year with dispositions and equity, reducing net debt to adjusted annualized EBITDAre from 5.6x at the beginning of the year to 5x at quarter end. Pro forma for the final preferred draw on November 10, leverage declines further to 4.5x, well below our leverage range of 5x to 6x.

In terms of capacity, this allows us to complete our 2026 investment plan and fund an additional $80 million of net investment in 2027 while maintaining leverage at or below 5.5x. If we repeated our 2026 net investment guidance of approximately $120 million in 2027, leverage would be close to 5.8x, still comfortably within our targeted range. Turning to the quarter. Contractual cash rents increased $777,000 sequentially to $16.7 million, driven by net acquisitions and contractual rent increases, partially offset by dispositions. Percentage rent increased to $131,000, but we expect the run rate to be close to $50,000 quarterly.

Mortgage interest income was $228,000, including a $3.7 million short-term take-back loan on the sale of Sleep Number and AT&T property, which was repaid during the quarter. As a result, mortgage interest income in the fourth quarter will decrease to $196,000. Unlike the first half of the year, where we generated $495,000 of other income, we only had $11,000 this quarter. As we said previously, other income is episodic. In total, adjusted cash revenue increased 4.4% to $17.1 million or 5.6%, excluding other income.

Notably, with our portfolio almost fully leased and continued success in re-tenanting properties, non-reimbursable property expenses declined to just $216,000 or 1.3% of adjusted cash revenue compared to $405,000 or 2.6% of cash revenue a year ago. Adjusted cash NOI, including the full impact of acquisitions and dispositions was $17.4 million. Adjusting for percentage rent, repayment of the short-term loan and slightly higher expected slippage, our exiting run rate adjusted cash NOI is approximately $17.2 million. Importantly, this excludes the impact of 6 new leases highlighted on Page 10, with 4 commencing in the fourth quarter contributing $485,000 of annualized rent and another 2 commencing in 2027, adding $699,000.

In total, these leases represent $1.2 million in annualized rent, a 19.3% increase over the prior leases, highlighting the embedded organic growth within the portfolio. As Steve mentioned, in August, we made an investment in a Dallas redevelopment project, which we account for as an unconsolidated joint venture. It contributed $19,000 to AFFO in the first partial quarter and the contributions will grow as rent steps up at the project. Recurring cash G&A was $2.7 million. And for the full year, we expect cash G&A of approximately $10.5 million, excluding nonrecurring expenses. As shown on Page 23, our G&A is about 1.5% of gross assets versus peers at closer to 0.5%.

While this is higher than our peers, we have already built much of the infrastructure needed to support a significantly larger company, positioning us to generate meaningful operating leverage as we grow. We could more than double our asset base with the similar levels of G&A. Year-to-date, we have acquired 43 properties for $144.5 million, including closing costs and invested $2.7 million in the joint venture. We also sold 20 properties for $47.4 million, including proceeds from a short-term seller financing, bringing our net capital deployment to approximately $100 million. We funded these investments with $50 million of common equity, $43 million of Series A preferred and retained free cash flow.

As a result, we grew the portfolio while reducing leverage over the year. We ended the quarter with $174 million of liquidity. And since year-end, our leverage ratio declined to 30.6% from 34.5% and our AFFO payout ratio improved to 64.7% from about 69%. Fixed charge coverage ratio remains strong at 3.5x. On October 15, we extended our revolver and term loan to October 2028 with an option to extend to October 2029 and added a ratings-based pricing grid that would lower our borrowing costs with an investment-grade rating. As a reminder, our term loan and revolver are part of a single credit facility established at our IPO.

We swapped $200 million of term loan with a fixed 1-month SOFR rate of 3.66% and subsequently swapped another $100 million on our revolver at approximately 3%. Both swaps run through March of 2028, giving us a blended fixed SOFR rate of approximately 3.4%.We have close to 1.5 years to evaluate our options before these swaps mature. As we build a more laddered balance sheet, we expect to term out and fix more of our floating rate debt. In the meantime, our prefunded equity covers our 2027 acquisitions with the balance financed through our revolver until we term it out. In terms of our share count, we settled 1.7 million shares.

We sold forward last quarter for $32.7 million and $6.7 million of the Series A preferred converted to common, adding an additional 392,000 shares. Also, OP unitholders converted 869,000 units to common. Together, our common shares outstanding increased by about $3 million to 26.6 million and total shares, including OP units increased by about $2.1 million to 31 million. On November 10, we will issue the remaining $30 million of preferred, completing the $75 million investment. That brings our Series A preferred outstanding to $68.3 million or about $1.15 million of quarterly dividends at a 6.75% dividend rate.

We are maintaining 2026 AFFO of $1.32 to $1.34 per share, which represents approximately 7% growth at the midpoint and includes $0.02 of other income earned in the first half of the year. Our guidance implies $0.33 per share in the fourth quarter with no other income assumed as the contributions from our acquisitions and strong operations is partially offset by dilution from the equity settled and the final draw of our preferred in November. Before we open the line, I want to leave you with the 4 new pages from our investor presentation that we believe help frame the investment opportunity with you. First, Page 7. Our growth is structural.

Contractual escalators and below-market rents drive 1.5% to 2% of annual organic growth. On top of that, our low payout ratio allows us to retain and reinvest free cash flow, adding approximately 3% to annual growth. Combined, that gives us 4.5% to 5% growth before raising and accretively deploying any new capital. Second, Page 23. Analysts expect FrontView to grow AFFO per share meaningfully faster than our peers at 6.8% this year and 5.5% next year compared to 5.1% and 4%, respectively. Put simply, investors are paying roughly the same multiple for FrontView, but getting meaningfully more growth. Third, Page 24.

The chart on the left shows how we can generate outsized growth in relatively modest acquisition volumes with 100 to 150 basis point spread to our cost of capital. The table on the right highlights a significant runway ahead for us. Unlike larger peers, we don’t need to chase portfolios or find new ways to deploy capital. Assuming 15% annual asset growth, we have approximately 10 years before we need to acquire more than $500 million annually. This allows us to continue compounding growth by acquiring granular, high-quality properties that fit FrontView’s model for years to come. Finally, Page 25.

Based on November 3’s closing price, Frontview trades an implied cap rate of approximately 7.5%, which does not reflect the underlying value and quality of our real estate portfolio. While net lease generally do not trade on NAV alone, our portfolio gives us strategic flexibility. If the public markets are not reflecting the value of our assets, we can create value by monetizing select properties in the private market and recycle that capital to new acquisitions at attractive spreads. A year ago, when we announced the prior investment from Maewyn, we said our overriding objective was creating shareholder value and that our size is a structural advantage. Since then, we’ve done what we said we would do.

We delivered top quartile AFFO per share growth, reduced leverage, improved NOI margins and demonstrated through numerous case studies how our real estate creates value. Importantly, we’ve earned the confidence of institutional investors who have committed new equity capital to support our growth, giving us the capacity to fund our acquisition plans into 2027. We have a clear strategy, significant capacity to grow and a track record of execution. We will continue building FrontView the same way, one disciplined investment at a time. With that, I’ll turn the call over to the operator to open it up for Q&A. Operator?

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Jamie Feldman with Wells Fargo.

James Feldman: Congratulations here. Nice to see things going well. I guess just looking at your last few quarters of investments, you’ve got WALT declining. You’ve got cap rates going up. Can you just talk through how to think about the WALT piece of what you’re buying? And is there something different in what you’re underwriting? Or do you just happen to find better deals and we’re looking too much at that as a trend?

Stephen Preston: Yes. No, good. Thanks for the question. First, we’re focusing on great locations, replaceable rents and then, of course, diversification. This quarter and last quarter, we acquired a few shorter-term properties, as we know. We have strong operating performance on them, and we have the opportunities to extend those leases and we really get to create value. So we see spreads in the sort of 100 to 200 basis point arena. We — again, having performance metrics and relationships with the tenants helps us feel very good about those types of assets.

And what’s really kind of interesting in the space is that how many sellers just don’t try to extend terms and leave a lot of value on the table. They don’t have the relationships, they’re unsophisticated, and that’s where we get to step in. We really view these opportunities like development-like, but without taking on any kind of construction risk, which is really important. I think that echoed in our San Antonio Spec’s Liquor, we’re buying that at about a 7.6% cap rate with 3 years left with $10 a foot rent in a $20 market.

Pierre Revol: I would just add to that, Jamie, that if you just look at our track record on renewals and how we do, we have a really strong experience in terms of what happens when we get access to a lease and that’s sort of core to how we invest in and look at properties.

James Feldman: Okay. And then I guess going back to some of your earlier comments just about the market is changing, it feels like you’ll get more opportunities. Can you talk more about what you do expect to see? Do you think it will shift at all the types of assets you’re buying? And then anything coming out of the election that you think is kind of interesting that might change what might come to market, especially on the bonus depreciation side?

Stephen Preston: I’ll say that cap rates are up a little bit. What we’re seeing in the market is we’re seeing assets that are coming back to us that we otherwise would have bid on and lost out on to higher pricing. So as circumstantial buyers, it’s tougher to achieve capital. We’re starting to see more opportunities. So this is actually a really great time for us, and we expect to take full advantage of the market. I do not see anything different. It’s more of that same quality, that same great real estate, that same replaceable rents. I mean that’s the MO since we founded the business in 2016, and that’s what we expect to continue going forward.

Pierre Revol: Do you want to comment on the election, but — it’s new election. I don’t think that anything really changed immediately. we still target Texas and Florida, we increase those exposures. So a lot of our pipeline continues to be in those markets. And we continue to strategically look at these markets because the population growth, the demand, our experiences when we get a property, everything we bought in Texas has had a really good outcome and a lot of stuff in this quarter, like the San Antonio deal we talked about have been really positive.

And so I think that this market continues to see a lot of demand, and we’re seeing that across our portfolio when we target these funded properties that we want to continue to build within these markets.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Eric Borden with BMO Capital Markets.

Eric Borden: Congrats to Pierre. I know you’re not providing ’27 guidance on the call, but you’ve previously outlined 4.5% to 5% structural growth for new capital. How should we think about the carryover from this year’s acquisitions and signed leases relative to the full year impact of the common equity and the preferred funding for next year?

Pierre Revol: Thank you, Eric. I appreciate it. So I think our plan, as we laid out in our investor presentation is there is structural growth from the escalators and the free cash flow and we can fund it this year. So what really will dictate 2027 guidance is the structural growth piece of it. But we will be borrowing on the line as we grow into next year. And so rates do impact. I also mentioned that we had the swaps. And so if we do anything on the swaps, that would also have an impact. That’s basically where I am thinking about 2027.

We’re in early stages, and we’ll provide an update when we get closer to February when we provide guidance for the year.

Eric Borden: Okay. And then you talked about $40 million under LOI or contract versus the approximately $27 million of net investment implied in fourth quarter. How much of that pipeline could close this year? And then what disposition amount should we weigh that against the $40 million?

Stephen Preston: Yes. We’ve got an opportunity to close a bulk of that this year. Obviously, it depends on due diligence. Planning for dispose, we’re expecting something in the $50 million or so range. So it looks like the guidance looks pretty good and in check for the rest of the year.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Anthony Paolone with JPMorgan.

Anthony Paolone: Echo the congrats, Pierre, on the title. On the 2027 expirations, I think, 6.5%, you sound pretty confident in terms of recapture and your rents and so forth. But just trying to think through, should we expect any downtime? Or how does that net into things just from an earnings point of view, like yes.

Stephen Preston: Maybe I can just comment globally on sort of where we sit right now for ’27. We are effectively done for ’26. So far in ’26, 116.4% recovery. We have 3 left. One is a very small, it is called a plop hole. We’re-leasing that to a new tenant. We have a T-Mobile that’s renewing. We have Sherwin-Williams right now, we’re negotiating to sell to a bank. So 2026 for history was very accretive, and we expect ’27 to be the same. We’re about 6.5%, 6.7% ABR, 34 total.

Of that 10 are already complete, and we feel like we’ve got visibility all the way through into Q3 right now and are expecting very similar results to ’26 with recovery rates. So again, we view these as assets and opportunities. And historically, the data suggests and points to that.

Anthony Paolone: Okay. Got it. And then second question, in the prior call, you talked about looking at net lease development and it looks like you have a small venture there. Just any additional color or progress towards those goals or what you’re seeing on that front?

Stephen Preston: Yes. We actually are looking at a couple of development opportunities on the heels of the joint venture that we just completed in Dallas. And we like to see that as a great way to access other value-add opportunities and channel additional deal flow. So look to see a couple of those opportunities coming for us in the next quarter. And I think you’ll be very happy with what you see and the risks and the relative level of returns and value enhancement creation that those will bring to the shareholders.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Jana Galan with Bank of America.

Jana Galan: Congrats, Pierre. Maybe a big picture question. Your opening remarks really focused on the ability to be granular and maximize value at each location. Do you think that there’d be a size where that stops being — you’re unable to kind of continue that focus. But so curious how you’re thinking about that and any kind of technology you’re implementing to be able to scale that ability?

Stephen Preston: Yes. I think that’s the beauty of the size, and Pierre pointed that out in his remarks, that we have literally years and years to go where we have to exceed significant acquisition cadence. And the $100 million to $300 million a year is going to drive growth for very many years to come, and that allows us to keep with this strategy and continue to acquire this great real estate and have these great opportunities and be that circumstantial buyer to drive value and drive better cap rates across the marketplace. So we’re very excited. It’s a very broad market. It’s very deep, add a little development, add some joint ventures into the mix.

There’s a long way we can go with this, and we’re really excited.

Pierre Revol: And I would just add on your AI question and how that allows us to scale. The improvements in AI are phenomenal. Like we can get more access to tenants on financials on how we process everything today. In fact, we recently had a Board meeting, and I’m sitting next to one of our Board members at Welltower and like he told me the amount of AI investment that they’ve had versus what we’ve had, we can catch up to that a lot quicker even at our small size just given what’s available. And so I think we can truly scale.

If you go to Page 24 again, that table on the right does highlight how little we have to do relative to peers. So I mean, just bring it out to 2029, 2030, you’re doing $150 million to $200 million, $250 million of acquisitions in a market that’s in the billions. And we are using AI in a lot of ways, not only to run processes, but also to source new transactions. And we’re seeing a lot of benefits from that. And I think that is part of what we can do today to scale the business.

Jana Galan: And then maybe just on kind of the tenant credit quality. Bad debt has trended really well this year. Just curious, any updates there?

Stephen Preston: No changes, buying great tenants, continuing to do that as we go. And again, obviously focusing on our low rents. But the credit watch list, as we mentioned, is very minimal, and we know we expect that in the foreseeable future.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Matthew Erdner with Jones Trading.

Matthew Erdner: You guys touched on it a little bit already in terms of leverage in that 80, 120 kind of range for next year. I guess what would make you guys be willing to increase to that higher end of leverage versus the lower end?

Pierre Revol: I think on the leverage side, we’re comfortable within the 5 to 6x. It’s just about the opportunities that we see. We’re not shying away from acquisitions. The entire point of that comment is to show how much capacity we do that we are effectively funded through 2027. We’re comfortable — like our target is really to stay around 5.5x. But if we want to go a little bit higher if we find the right opportunities, we will go there. And if we’re able to raise equity accretively, that would be another component to issue. Right now, just on the cost of capital, taking recent stock prices, we’re around 6.6%, 6.7% cost of capital.

So it’s not — based on our acquisitions, it’s close 90 to 100 basis point spread. So it’s not too far off. But I highlighted in our presentation, we think that our NAV is a lot higher. So those are considerations. But we are in — I think it comes down to our cost of capital and the types of acquisitions that we see in the market that would dictate whether or not we push higher on the acquisition numbers.

Matthew Erdner: Got it. Appreciate the comments there. And then as it relates to investment spreads, you guys had 100 basis points this quarter. I guess as most of the pruning has been done in terms of dispositions, should we expect that number to marginally expand throughout 2027? Or is that 100-point mark kind of a good idea to have in mind?

Pierre Revol: Yes. I think look, this quarter, 100 is pretty strong. I don’t think you can factor that in as going forward as a number. I think it was a little bit less than that in the fourth quarter. At the same time, I would just highlight — I know a lot of people don’t care about impairments and gains, but we had 0 impairments this quarter and close to $4 million in gains. And so there’s a lot of — our gains over impairments are like 7x. So we’re seeing a lot of benefit in our dispositions. People are buying our properties.

There’s a lot of demand for our types of properties, and that gives us an additional source of capital if we ever try to use that.

Stephen Preston: Yes. I’d just add. We have sold about $128 million at a 6.8 cap rate since the IPO, and we think it’s healthy to continue to prune and to sell assets, but most of that optimization is definitely complete and behind us.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Rob Simone with Compass Point.

Kenneth Billingsley: This is Ken Billingsley for Rob. I have a question for you. On Slide 11, you listed ABR over the next 5 years is approximately $25 per square foot. If you were to look at market rates and they were all released today, what would that $25 look like?

Stephen Preston: Yes. I — what I’ll say is our median box rent is $176,000 approximately. And you look at that across the portfolio and with the real estate and the location that we have, and I think that feels really, really good. What I’d also add is that our average rent in the portfolio was set in 2014, well before sort of 2020 and COVID and where the massive rental increases have hit us with construction costs rising, et cetera. So I think overall, you look at that and you see that this is a very well rented and below market rent in that portfolio.

Pierre Revol: And I would just add, like I know you’re $22 to $25 on the per square foot, down to the $157,000 in rent per box over the next 5 years. That’s low. Like if you think about where the market is for rents per box, a lot of it, the reason the number looks a little bit higher is because it might be a small building, but it’s all about the acreage in terms of how many — how much land is on that parcel. But I think at 160 over the next 5 years, those are probably very similar to what we produced in 2026.

I mean if you think about this number, 119% we capture on new tenants in 2026. That’s a pretty strong number in terms of where rents are relative to market. In the next 5 years, we do have some low rents with that medium box size of 160,000.

Kenneth Billingsley: So it could be exponentially higher considering that’s 30% of ABR renewing in 5 years.

Pierre Revol: It could be higher. It could be high. It could be — it’s a source of tailwind. I would remark that a lot of these tenants have options, so they will renew on their options. But it only comes down to play when we get a tenant back. If we get a tenant back, then we get — then we are able to access it. But ultimately, it leads to just a very high likelihood of renewal. And that’s why we’re not as nervous around expirations or business.

Stephen Preston: A good example is our Twin Peaks that we talked about last quarter, where we released that to a Panda and the Jaggers. We had $138,000 of rent at that time. And then now we have $265,000 of rent. So almost a double of the rent and both of those tenants are now open and operating. So it’s a good litmus test.

Kenneth Billingsley: That’s great. And if you don’t mind, just a follow-up. With less supply out there, is there anything that you or potential tenants are doing that’s creative as you’re looking over the next few years, just as they’re looking for space?

Pierre Revol: In terms of expanding space for tenants, is that what you mean?

Kenneth Billingsley: Right, either. As they’re looking to expand, maybe they’ve underdeveloped. And so with no real new supply, is there just anything that they have done maybe are looking to do in the next 5 years that’s creative or different from what they’ve done over the last 10 years?

Pierre Revol: It makes. . .

Stephen Preston: You’re trying to take. Yes, it makes the versatility of our land and our building work more, obviously, as you have less supply, and it allows us to continue to push rents, and you see that with our re-tenanting exercises that we’ve had across the portfolio.

Pierre Revol: And I think what we’re — what we did with our Dallas Street development is one example. It acts as a new pipeline of opportunities where we can partner with people to access these opportunities as tenants are trying to figure out new ways to add to their footprint or to get to market rents. So I think that you’ll continue to see that. And fortunately, we have these relationships that will allow us to participate in that.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Ronald Kamdem with Morgan Stanley.

Ronald Kamdem: I’d just love to go back to the acquisition pipeline, both in terms of volume and economics because you guys do compete in sort of small or maybe 1031 buyers. I guess I’d just love to hear just what you’re seeing post the sort of rate environment in terms of cap rate movements in terms of opportunities and your ability to capitalize on it.

Stephen Preston: Sure. You bet. Cap rates for Q2 were 7.6. They were up a little bit from Q2. We’ve had a couple of special circumstances as buyers. We actually have sourced a couple of those for next quarter. So we think we can drive up cap rates a little higher into Q4, and then we’ll get to report on that next quarter. Pipeline is very strong. We continue to see a lot of opportunity. And it’s really obviously what we’re looking at and doing great real estate, replaceable rents, it’s exactly what we want to acquire. And I think I mentioned it earlier, but it’s kind of important.

We’ve seen a number of deals that we passed on prior with pricing that we were viewed down on or bid on that have come back to us. And that’s really good to see. So some of the mid-6 pricing is coming back and landing in our buy box. I wouldn’t say that we’re seeing cap rates adjust in the marketplace, so to speak, it’s rather that there’s opportunities coming back to us just with some of the lesser buyers in the space, a little bit tougher to achieve financing from community banks. And then, of course, returns are down a little bit with the higher rates.

When you look at the health of the market, I mean, it’s very healthy. McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, JPMorgan they’re still trading in the 4 cap rates. So there really hasn’t been movement. So it’s really us specialized circumstances that in this market allows us to drive outsized returns really in any market rather, but especially in this market. So look to hopefully see a great Q4 print on the acquisition pipeline.

Ronald Kamdem: Great. That’s helpful. And then I think you guys clearly have leaned in on dispositions here as well, and there’s some — I’m sure there’s some portfolio pruning happening. Just can you just go back, remind us just the bad debt guidance at the beginning of the year versus what’s baked in sort of now after 3 quarters? And is that sort of a good run rate to think about coming in into next year given the health of the portfolio?

Pierre Revol: Sure. So at the end of the year, we talked about 50 basis points. It’s still mostly unidentified, hasn’t changed. There hasn’t really been any additions. The portfolio is performing really strongly. And that’s one of the drivers that resulted in us increasing the midpoint of our AFFO per share guidance from $1.28 when we first set it to the midpoint of $1.33. And so the portfolio continues to perform really well. The 50 basis points is unidentified, and we feel pretty strong about the portfolio. Most notably, like the non-reimbursement property cost has dropped to 1.3%. People are re-tenanting our space a lot faster.

I don’t think you’ve seen any of the other net lease peers put up 6 new tenant leases at 119. So I would say that, that is a pretty good situation to be in when you think about portfolio health.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of John Massocca with B. Riley.

John Massocca: Maybe speaking about the market and kind of after the interest rate moves we saw kind of in the August, September, October time frame, how does that impact the way you think about investments going into 2027? I know you have this runway with capital recycling with some of the capital you have on hand to kind of invest without being beholden to the capital markets. But how are you kind of weighing maybe your spot cost of capital as you look at your return threshold for new investments versus kind of your in-place cost of capital, if you will?

Stephen Preston: Yes. Pierre can take that. But what I’ll just comment on is the market, and I’ll just echo that again that we’re seeing spreads widen for us, again, being that buyer of choice in this marketplace going up against that unsophisticated investor. So as rates continue to see — remain stubborn, I think you’ll see those spreads continue to remain very healthy and wide. So specifically on the market, there’s my contribution there.

Pierre Revol: Yes. And in terms of the cost of capital, stock versus long term, I think that — at least the way I think about cost of capital. I look at — we’re going to be in the bank term loan market for a period of time, just given our size. And so I do look at the 5-year forward curve spread to that. Obviously, we made some amendments to our term loan. So that’s looking around 5%, 6%, 5%, 7% today on the debt cost. And then you can take our AFFO yield using next 12 months, and you’ll see kind of roughly where it lies in and we will be kind of mid-to-high 6s on a WACC.

In terms of how we think about buying things, that’s the most important decision is that where we allocate capital appropriately, if we find deals that make sense for us, we’re actually — if you look at the trajectory, we did go up a little bit in cap rate in the fourth quarter is going higher. Not guaranteed that we’ll do that every quarter, but it’s — we do pay attention to our cost of capital quite closely and make sure that as we deploy capital that is accretive on a per share basis while not diluting the types of real estate that we would go comfortable putting on our website. And I think that we’ll continue to do that.

And I think that, that sort of model will deliver a lot of growth for us and our shareholders.

John Massocca: Okay. And then on the development side, and that potentially grows as a portion of your kind of investment box, what kind of increase in spreads relative to traditional net lease investments or traditional third-party investments, are you looking for, if at all? Are you looking at the same kind of return hurdles?

Stephen Preston: Sure. So first, when we’re looking at development, it’s going to be risk mitigated where leases signed, entitlements in place, site plan approval, zoning, GC contract, et cetera. And our partner is going to take on the pursuit costs. So there’s not a lot of upfront exposure to us. And what we like to see typically historically built in is at minimum 100, but I’d like to see that 100 to 200 basis points in spread. So there’s some real value. And then you’re putting a shovel on the ground and then building this asset and theoretically in under a year, you’re getting that back with 100 to 200 basis point embedded spread.

So there’s a lot of value in it for us and the shareholders. And as I mentioned, there’s a couple of opportunities we’re looking at right now that are specific, and we look forward to sharing those with you in due course.

Pierre Revol: And I would just highlight on the one deal that we did this quarter, as the [ price ] increase, you’ll be upper 8’s into be closer to 10 cap as it stabilizes for fronted real estate in Dallas. Like that is — that’s pretty remarkable and just to be able to get access to that with the trends that we’re seeing, I think that, that makes a ton of sense for shareholders.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Logan Atstein with Wolfe Research.

Logan Epstein: Maybe if I could follow up to the comments you made in the prepared remarks and the prior question. If we just focus on that Slide 7 that you guys added to the deck. If we use that math, it kind of implies a minimum 7-ish percent growth rate at $100 million investment volumes at 100 bps spread. Just curious if you can kind of talk about the potential moving pieces there as you look at the long-term growth rate for the company. I know you mentioned the swaps and returning upside, but curious if you could just hit on any other potential moving pieces there.

Pierre Revol: Thanks, Logan. So that Slide 7 is really the thesis to FrontView. If you think about how most net lease REITs operate, and I’d encourage people to read around most of how we operate in terms of our annual organic growth rate, why our payout ratio is important to keep that low. And then the external investment coming from a smaller base. So it’s structural in terms of the growth. What it doesn’t factor in is changes in interest rates, other things that could affect it. But this is more of a structural growth rate that you could think about from this existing portfolio with the offsets being really just cost of capital and interest rates that could change things.

But this sort of formula in terms of 2 — 1.5% to 2% plus 3% should be the minimum that you should expect for the structural growth within the company.

Logan Epstein: And maybe a follow-up. You talked about in an earlier question that bad debt has trended positively. Just curious if you can touch on whether the move in rates in the broader macro environment has just had any impact across any of the tenants have you discussed with them? And maybe if there is a common theme across any industry types there?

Stephen Preston: I would say not yet. Our tenants are performing very well. We’re in service industry, is essential, mission-critical. We have not seen anything. Rent is coming in on time as expected. And so I think everyone thinks about the consumer for sure. We feel very insulated and especially with, again, that real estate, that quality and then the low rent. So if there is something that comes back to us, we have very good tools to make that accretive and opportunity for us.

Operator: There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Steve Preston for closing remarks.

Stephen Preston: Yes. Thank you, everyone, for your continued interest in FrontView. We look forward to seeing you all at NAREIT in Atlanta and of course, be safe and be healthy. Thank you. Take care.

Operator: This concludes today’s call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.