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Reverse DCF · PLD

What PLD's Stock Price Is Really Betting On

The short answer

At today's price, Prologis's stock is pricing in about 14.4% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next ten years. The company's actual 5-year FCF growth was 13.3% a year — but that figure is inflated by a one-time 2022 acquisition; the more recent 3-year pace is just 4.8%.

The conclusion

At its current price, PLD implies ~14.4% annual FCF growth for the next 10 years, discounted at 9%.

Prologis's actual 5-year FCF growth averaged 13.3% a year — but the more recent 3-year pace is just 4.8%.

Verdict: it depends heavily on which "history" you believe The required growth rate (14.4%) sits close to the 5-year actual FCF CAGR (13.3%) — but that 5-year figure is inflated by the one-time $23.2B Duke Realty acquisition in 2022. Strip that out and look at the more recent 3-year trend (4.8%), and the market is asking for roughly three times the current pace. This price only makes sense if the newer data-center business delivers meaningfully more growth than warehouse leasing has recently shown.

Required growth vs. historical growth

Market's ask (WACC 9%)
14.4%
5-yr FCF CAGR (incl. Duke Realty deal)
13.3%
3-yr FCF CAGR
4.8%
Core FFO/share CAGR ('23-'25)
7.2%

Required growth from the reverse DCF below. Historical CAGRs from 10-K FY2021–FY2025 cash flow statements. For reference, same-store cash NOI growth — a cleaner read on core warehouse-leasing demand — has decelerated for four straight years, from 9.1% (2022) to 5.7% (2025), widening the gap with the market's 14.4% ask even further.

Sensitivity: what if the discount rate moves?

Required 10-year FCF growth by discount rate (WACC)
WACCRequired growth
7%9.1%
8%11.9%
9% (base case)14.4%
10%16.7%
11%18.9%
12%20.9%

Only at the lowest discount rate tested (7%) does the required growth rate fall below the 5-year actual FCF pace (13.3%). At 10% or above, the required growth rate exceeds even the acquisition-inflated 5-year figure.

What would move this number

  • Using 2025's standalone FCF ($4.12B) instead of trailing-twelve-month FCF ($4.37B) raises the required growth rate to 15.2% — a lower starting base requires faster growth to hit the same target.
  • Lowering the terminal growth rate from 2.5% to 2.0% raises the required growth rate slightly, to 15.1%.
  • Swapping the comparison benchmark from the 5-year FCF CAGR (13.3%) to the 3-year CAGR (4.8%) flips the read from "roughly in line" to "the market wants nearly triple the recent pace" — the single biggest judgment call in this whole analysis.

Show your work

Inputs, sources, model assumptions, and the calculation
  • Share price$140.68 — stockanalysis.com, Aug 20, 2026 close
  • Diluted shares outstanding957.884M — 10-Q Q2 FY2026, weighted-average diluted shares
  • Market cap$134.8B — price × diluted shares (calculated)
  • Total debt$36.44B — 10-Q Q2 FY2026 balance sheet (Jun 30, 2026)
  • Cash$1.77B — 10-Q Q2 FY2026 balance sheet
  • Net debt$34.68B — calculated
  • Trailing-twelve-month FCF$4.37B — FY2025 FCF ($4.12B) − 1H2025 FCF ($2.02B) + 1H2026 FCF ($2.28B)
  • 3-year average FCF (2023-2025)$4.28B — 10-K FY2025/FY2023 cash flow statements
  • Discount rate (WACC)9% base case (7-12% tested)
  • Terminal growth rate2.5% — long-run GDP-level assumption

Normalization check: TTM FCF ($4.37B) is +2.3% above the three-year average ($4.28B) — within the ±40% threshold, so used as-is without adjustment.

Model: free cash flow is assumed to grow at a constant annual rate g for 10 years, then at a 2.5% terminal rate thereafter, solved by bisection for the value of g that equates present value to today's enterprise value (market cap + net debt, $169.4B).

Historical CAGR check: 5-yr FCF CAGR = (2025 FCF ÷ 2021 FCF)^(1/4) − 1 = ($4.119B ÷ $2.497B)^(1/4) − 1 = 13.3%. 3-yr FCF CAGR = (2025 FCF ÷ 2022 FCF)^(1/3) − 1 = ($4.119B ÷ $3.576B)^(1/3) − 1 = 4.8%.

The fine print

This number is a starting point, not an answer
  • Change the discount rate, the FCF base, the projection window, or the terminal growth rate, and the answer moves — see the sensitivity table above.
  • A reverse DCF shows what the market currently expects — it does not say what the stock is "worth."
  • Whether 14.4% growth is realistic depends heavily on whether the data-center business scales the way management projects — not on this math alone.
  • Any investment decision, and its outcome, is your own responsibility.
Built from Prologis's 10-K filings (FY2021–FY2025) and 10-Q (Q2 FY2026), plus a web search for the current share price (stockanalysis.com, Aug 20, 2026). This tells you where to dig deeper — it is not a buy or sell signal.

Frequently asked questions

What growth rate does PLD's stock price assume?

At today's price, Prologis's stock is pricing in about 14.4% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next ten years, at a 9% discount rate.

How does that compare to Prologis's actual growth?

Prologis's 5-year FCF growth (2021-2025) was 13.3% a year, close to the market's ask — but that figure includes a one-time boost from the 2022 Duke Realty acquisition. The more recent 3-year pace (2022-2025) is just 4.8%, well below what the price requires.

What share price was used for this analysis?

This analysis used $140.68, as of the Aug 20, 2026 close.