PSA vs EXR Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Public Storage and Extra Space Storage are the two largest US self-storage REITs, both benefiting from the same secular demand drivers (housing mobility, life transitions, downsizing) and facing the same near-term headwinds (Sun Belt market oversupply from 2021–2023 development). PSA's brand scale and balance sheet are its primary advantages; EXR's third-party management platform and revenue management technology differentiate it.
PSA vs EXR is the self-storage brand and balance sheet leader (Public Storage) versus the technology-driven revenue management and third-party management platform leader (Extra Space) — both are excellent REITs navigating the same supply cycle headwind with different operational approaches.
EXR holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. PSA has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+5.85% vs -2.90%), though EXR has the better forward P/E setup (29.73x vs 30.81x for PSA). EXR leads on both revenue growth (3.80%) and operating margin (45.88%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for EXR (+11.05%) than for PSA (+7.74%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- prefer the world's largest self-storage REIT with brand-driven customer acquisition and balance sheet scale advantages
- value Public Storage's marketing scale reducing customer acquisition cost vs smaller operators in a commodity storage market
- want a large-cap REIT dividend with conservative financial management and development pipeline for long-term NOI growth
- are comfortable with Sun Belt oversupply headwinds on same-store revenue and European operations currency risk from Shurgard
- prefer Extra Space's technology-driven revenue management and third-party management platform differentiating it from commodity storage peers
- value the third-party management contract business providing fee income, market intelligence, and future acquisition optionality
- want the second-largest self-storage REIT following Life Storage merger with post-merger integration upside as synergies realize
- are comfortable with Life Storage integration complexity and third-party management contract renewal risk
| Metric | PSA | EXR |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 40.4 | 40.6 |
| AI ranki | #1142 | #1126 |
| Latest closei | $300.76 | $139.03 |
| 1M returni | -6.91% | -5.37% |
| 6M returni | +8.45% | +2.24% |
| 1Y returni | +5.85% | -2.90% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | PSA | EXR |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.6K (+6.0%) started 2025-09-18 | $9.74K (-2.6%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $13.49K (+34.9%) started 2021-09-20 | $10.22K (+2.2%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $29.33K (+193.3%) started 2016-09-19 | $35.25K (+252.5%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | PSA | EXR |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $58.55B | $31.54B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 29.94 | 31.55 |
| Forward P/Ei | 30.81 | 29.73 |
| Price/Salesi | 11.21 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 14.14 | 12.77 |
| Analyst targeti | $337.76 | $158.70 |
| Target upsidei | +7.74% | +11.05% |
| Metric | PSA | EXR |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 3.30% | 3.80% |
| Earnings growthi | 45.10% | 6.00% |
| EPS growthi | +45.10% | +6.00% |
| FCF margini | +47.54% | +42.71% |
| Operating margini | 45.70% | 45.88% |
| Profit margini | 41.63% | 27.28% |
| ROIC proxyi | 21.93% | 6.95% |
| Return on equityi | 21.93% | 6.95% |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.83% | 4.54% |
| Payout ratioi | 114.50% | 143.05% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.94 | 1.19 |
| Debt/equityi | 109.63 | 101.67 |
| Current ratioi | 0.22 | 0.89 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.13 | 0.30 |
Over the past year, PSA and EXR have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.87), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | PSA | EXR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +5.98% | -2.57% |
| CAGRi | +5.99% | -2.57% | |
| Volatilityi | 23.07% | 22.77% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.17 | -0.20 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.25 | -0.28 | |
| Max drawdowni | 17.11% | 16.70% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.99% | 9.04% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.98% | 7.01% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.90% | 8.35% | |
| Max daily dropi | 4.16% | 4.91% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.73% | 12.25% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +13.31% | -11.55% |
| CAGRi | +2.53% | -2.43% | |
| Volatilityi | 24.20% | 28.36% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.04 | -0.10 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.05 | -0.14 | |
| Max drawdowni | 37.93% | 51.36% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.71% | 30.13% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 18.75% | 24.83% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 20.74% | 26.73% | |
| Max daily dropi | 8.00% | 10.92% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 12.88% | 14.36% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +95.95% | +145.11% |
| CAGRi | +6.96% | +9.38% | |
| Volatilityi | 23.56% | 26.95% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.21 | 0.30 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.29 | 0.42 | |
| Max drawdowni | 37.93% | 51.36% | |
| Current drawdowni | 16.71% | 30.13% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 13.80% | 15.53% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 16.71% | 19.93% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.53% | 15.47% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 18.98% | 22.18% |
| Category | PSA | EXR |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Public Storage | Extra Space Storage Inc. |
| Sector | Real Estate | Real Estate |
| Industry | REIT - Industrial | REIT - Industrial |
| Core business | Public Storage is the world's largest self-storage REIT, operating 3,000+ facilities with 200M+ net rentable square feet across the US and Europe. Its brand dominance, marketing scale, and technology platform (app-based rentals, smart locks, digital marketing) enable customer acquisition at lower cost than smaller operators. Public Storage recently acquired Simply Self Storage and has a large development pipeline. The PS Business Parks disposition allowed PSA to focus purely on self-storage. | Extra Space Storage is the second-largest self-storage REIT after its acquisition of Life Storage, operating 3,700+ locations across the US. Extra Space's management platform (it manages 1,000+ third-party facilities in addition to its own) provides scale leverage in digital marketing, revenue management algorithms, and operational oversight. Its third-party management business generates fee income and provides optionality to acquire managed properties at favorable pricing. |
| Investor focus | Investors track same-store revenue growth, occupancy rates, realized annual rent per square foot, digital marketing and rental automation platform investments, and acquisition and development pipeline. | Investors track same-store NOI growth, third-party management contract count and growth, Life Storage integration progress, occupancy vs street rates (revenue management performance), and AFFO per share. |
- Brand scale advantage: Public Storage's brand recognition drives customer acquisition from direct search at lower marketing cost per customer than smaller operators
- Technology platform investments in digital rentals, smart locks, and automated entry reduce operating costs per facility vs labor-intensive management
- Balance sheet scale enables acquisitions and developments that smaller self-storage REITs cannot efficiently execute at comparable cost of capital
- Third-party management platform managing 1,000+ outside facilities provides competitive intelligence, future acquisition pipeline, and fee income
- Revenue management algorithms are among the most sophisticated in self-storage, allowing real-time pricing optimization across markets
- Life Storage acquisition created the second-largest self-storage operator with significant facility count to justify national marketing scale
- Self-storage market faced oversupply in many Sun Belt markets as pandemic-era development surged 2021–2023, driving same-store revenue weakness
- Rate discounting to maintain occupancy compresses realized annual rent per square foot during supply-pressured periods
- European operations (Shurgard, partially owned) add currency risk and operating complexity not shared by purely US peers
- Same-store revenue growth has been under pressure from Sun Belt oversupply similar to Public Storage's challenge
- Life Storage integration is a large organizational project — synergy realization requires operational harmonization across both platforms
- Third-party management contracts can be terminated — concentration among few large third-party owner relationships creates some concentration risk
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