How Can I Beat the S&P 500? What the Evidence Says
The honest answer to the most asked question in investing: how many people beat the index, why it is so hard, why investors trail even their own funds, and how daily market context fits in.
Realty Income Corporation, real estate (market value $52.5 billion), an S&P 500 member: how it compared with the S&P 500, how it behaved in every crash since 2008, its risk‑adjusted returns and what analysts said. Data as of Oct 30, 2026.
Exent re-checks this page every day. Ratings appear 30 days after they are published; the top‑ranked analysts’ calls are not counted here, they are in Gems.
What do the best‑ranked analysts on O say now? See it in Exent Gems →
Over the 5 years to Oct 30, 2026, Realty Income Corporation (O) returned +7.6% including dividends, versus +75.9% for the S&P 500 (SPY). It lagged the index by 68.3 percentage points, or +1.5% a year against +12.0%.
| Period | O | S&P 500 | O per year | S&P 500 per year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | +3.6% | +12.0% | +3.6% | +12.0% | Lagged |
| 3 years | +41.8% | +87.4% | +12.3% | +23.3% | Lagged |
| 5 years | +7.6% | +75.9% | +1.5% | +12.0% | Lagged |
| 10 years | +60.8% | +316.3% | +4.9% | +15.3% | Lagged |
Total return with dividends reinvested, from month-end prices to Oct 30, 2026. Beating the index on raw return is only half the story: the next section adjusts for the risk taken. See also how to beat the S&P 500.
O is in the S&P 500 (members as of Oct 20, 2026); the list shows every member’s return against the index.
In the 12 months to 30 days ago, 23 analysts published 167 ratings on O. Their latest calls were 27% Buy, 68% Hold and 5% Sell. 5 of them rank 4★ or higher in Exent’s analyst scoring, which is based on each analyst’s past price‑target hit rate and returns.
The consensus 12‑month price target was $67.85 (range $60.00–$75.00), +17.8% from the last price. Remember that the average analyst’s target is hit only about half the time: how accurate are price targets?
| Top‑ranked analyst covering | Firm | Stars | Price‑target hit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| ??? | ??? | 4.7★ | 32.5% |
| ??? | ??? | 4.7★ | 34.6% |
| ??? | ??? | 4.6★ | 52.3% |
| ??? | ??? | 4.6★ | 39.2% |
| ??? | ??? | 4.5★ | 49.6% |
Ratings are shown with a 30‑day delay. Who the top‑ranked analysts on O are, their live calls and the median target of only the top‑rated analysts are in Exent Gems.
The average analyst’s target is reached about 53.1% of the time; Exent Gems is built on the top 50 of Exent’s ranking,where some reached 90% or more over the last two years. Unlock the top 50 analysts.
O beat the S&P 500 in 2 of the 9 full calendar years shown.
| Year | O | S&P 500 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (to Oct 30, 2026) | +5.6% | +11.7% | −6.1% |
| 2025 | +12.2% | +17.7% | −5.5% |
| 2024 | −2.1% | +24.9% | −27.0% |
| 2023 | −4.5% | +26.2% | −30.7% |
| 2022 | −7.0% | −18.2% | +11.2% |
| 2021 | +24.1% | +28.7% | −4.6% |
| 2020 | −11.6% | +18.3% | −29.9% |
| 2019 | +21.2% | +31.2% | −10.0% |
| 2018 | +16.0% | −4.6% | +20.6% |
| 2017 | +3.7% | +21.7% | −18.0% |
Over 5 years, O had a Sharpe ratio of −0.01 against 0.58 for the S&P 500, so it earned less return per unit of risk than the index. Its annualized volatility was 19.9% and its beta 0.65: it tended to move about 0.7× as much as the market.
| Metric | O | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Annual return | +1.5% | +12.0% |
| Volatility (annualized) | 19.9% | 15.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | −0.01 | 0.58 |
| Sortino ratio | −0.02 | 0.91 |
| Max drawdown (month-end) | −31.5% | −23.9% |
| Beta to the S&P 500 | 0.65 | 1.00 |
Sharpe divides return above cash by total volatility; Sortino counts only downside volatility. Both use monthly returns and the 1–3 month T‑bill ETF (BIL) as the risk‑free rate.
O’s deepest fall in the crises below was −50.7% in the global financial crisis (2007–09), against −56.5% for the S&P 500. The last column turns that into money: what a $100,000 position would have lost from peak to trough.
| Crisis | O | S&P 500 | Loss on $100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global financial crisis (2007–09) | −50.7% | −56.5% | −$50,660 |
| 2018 trade-war selloff | −9.2% | −20.2% | −$9,150 |
| COVID crash (Feb–Mar 2020) | −48.4% | −34.1% | −$48,440 |
| 2022 inflation bear market | −23.5% | −25.4% | −$23,460 |
| 2025 tariff selloff | −10.6% | −19.0% | −$10,630 |
| Window | O max drawdown |
|---|---|
| Last 1 year | −11.1% |
| Last 3 years | −26.5% |
| Last 5 years | −34.5% |
| Last 10 years | −48.4% |
Peak‑to‑trough declines from daily prices inside each crisis window. A crash replay does not predict the next crisis; it shows how much room a holding needs. Run the same replay on a whole portfolio with the crash test.
Correlation runs from −1 (moves opposite) to +1 (moves in lockstep). Over the last 60 months of monthly returns, O’s correlation with the S&P 500 was 0.51, with the Nasdaq‑100 0.29, with long Treasuries (TLT) 0.62 and with gold (GLD) 0.39.
Adding a 5% O position to an S&P 500 portfolio would have moved its 5‑year volatility from 15.5% to 15.2%.
| Least correlated large caps | Correlation | Most correlated large caps | Correlation |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRWD | −0.11 | MCD | 0.70 |
| DELL | −0.09 | DUK | 0.69 |
| NET | −0.07 | AMT | 0.67 |
| SNOW | −0.05 | KO | 0.65 |
| PANW | −0.04 | PLD | 0.65 |
Holdings that are highly correlated behave like one position in a selloff. See how to find hidden overlap.
| Date | Rating and target | Analyst |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2 | New coverage Hold | Linda Tsai |
| Sep 24 | Downgrade Buy → Hold | Greg McGinniss |
| Sep 24 | Downgrade Buy → Hold | Nicholas Yulico |
| Sep 21 | Target cut Hold | James Kammert |
| Sep 16 | Target cut Hold | Haendel St. Juste |
| Sep 4 | Target cut Hold | Richard Hightower |
| Sep 1 | Target cut Hold | John Kilichowski |
Named analysts’ rating and price‑target changes on O in the 5 weeks to Oct 4, 2026, shown 30 days after publication (the free analysts’ calls 3 days after). The top‑ranked analysts’ calls are in Exent Gems. See all of the latest analyst upgrades and downgrades.
Of the 266 analyst price targets on O set from 2019 until a year ago, 56.0% were reached within 12 months (data to Oct 20, 2026), 12.6 points below the 68.6% hit rate of the median stock in Exent’s study of 794 stocks. Targets that were reached took a median of 84 days. The median target sat 9.1% above the share price on the day it was set.
Where analysts said O would be by now: a year ago, 7 analysts had a price target on O, and the median of their latest targets was $62.00. On Oct 20, 2026 O closed at $56.35, 9.1% below it.
| After | Calls | Move on the call | 3 months vs S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upgrades of O | 12 | +0.7% | −6.7% |
| Upgrades, all stocks | 11,514 | +2.5% | +3.4% |
| Downgrades of O | 10 | −1.0% | +1.9% |
| Downgrades, all stocks | 10,700 | −3.0% | −1.6% |
The move on the call runs from the close before the rating change to the close after it; the last column is the stock’s return minus the S&P 500’s over the next three months. Averages of rating changes on O through Sep 15, 2026; analysts are not named here. Do analyst upgrades move stocks?
O beat the consensus earnings‑per‑share estimate in 1 of its last 12 quarterly reports, through the one on Aug 5, 2026, and the revenue estimate in 12 of 12. From the close before each report to the close after it, the stock moved 1.2% on average, up or down, against 6.8% for the average report across the 1,002 US stocks Exent tracks. It rose after 3 of the 12 reports. In 1 of the 1 beats the stock still fell.
| Report | EPS vs estimate | Revenue vs estimate | Stock move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | $0.37 vs $0.40 | +1.5% | −0.9% |
| May 6, 2026 | $0.33 vs $0.40 | +3.3% | −2.8% |
| Feb 24, 2026 | $0.32 vs $0.38 | +2.8% | −1.0% |
| Nov 3, 2025 | $0.34 vs $0.40 | +5.5% | −3.2% |
| Aug 4, 2025 | $0.22 vs $0.40 | +5.4% | +1.1% |
| May 5, 2025 | $0.28 vs $0.36 | +4.9% | −0.3% |
| Feb 24, 2025 | $0.23 vs $0.38 | +4.5% | −1.5% |
| Nov 4, 2024 | $0.30 vs $0.36 | +5.4% | −0.1% |
Reported earnings per share against the consensus estimate, revenue surprise in percent, and the stock’s price change over the two sessions around the report. How stocks move after earnings
In fiscal 2025 (the year to Dec 31, 2025), O’s largest reported region was the United States, with 100.0% of its $2.2 billion revenue.
By business, the largest segment was Product And Service, Retail, with 100.0% of $4.3 billion revenue (+7.9% on the year before).
From O’s annual filings; segment growth compares fiscal 2025 with the year before. Regions are as each company reports them, so one company’s “Asia Pacific” is not another’s. China counts the regions a company reports as China, Greater China or Hong Kong; a separately reported Taiwan is not counted. Which S&P 500 companies depend most on China?
As of Oct 20, 2026, 11 members of Congress had disclosed 35 trades in O (20 buys and 15 sales) in STOCK Act disclosures filed with the House and Senate. The latest public trade is dated Mar 27, 2026.
| Trade date | Member | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 27, 2026 | Alan Armstrong | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Dec 19, 2025 | Gilbert Cisneros | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Nov 12, 2025 | Gilbert Cisneros | Sale | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Aug 5, 2025 | Gilbert Cisneros | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| May 12, 2025 | Jefferson Shreve | Sale | $50,001–$100,000 |
| Apr 1, 2025 | Julie Johnson | Sale | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Feb 13, 2024 | Ro Khanna | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Nov 3, 2023 | Ro Khanna | Sale | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Oct 31, 2023 | Ro Khanna | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Sep 6, 2023 | Ro Khanna | Sale | $1,001–$15,000 |
Amounts are the ranges members report, not exact values. The STOCK Act gives members up to 45 days to disclose a trade, so trades appear weeks after they are made. See every member’s disclosed trades
In the 12 months to Oct 20, 2026, O insiders made no open‑market purchases and 3 sales worth $873,554, according to SEC Form 4 filings. The last open‑market purchase on record was on Jan 12, 2021.
After the 2 insider purchases of $10,000 or more since 2012, O lagged the S&P 500 by an average of 16.0 percentage points over the next 12 months; none of them was followed by a beat (a small sample). Across all 17,865 insider purchases in Exent’s study, the average was +17.2% and the median +1.0% against the index.
| Date | Insider | Role | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 12, 2021 | Huskins Priya Cherian | Director | $517 |
| Jan 11, 2021 | Huskins Priya Cherian | Director | $357 |
| Jan 8, 2021 | Huskins Priya Cherian | Director | $356 |
| Nov 30, 2020 | Huskins Priya Cherian | Director | $4,021 |
| Jun 12, 2013 | Fahey Greg | Senior VP, Controller | $10,028 |
The table lists the latest open‑market purchases on record, leaving out the last 30 days. The chart counts Form 4 purchases and sales by calendar quarter. Purchases are open‑market buys; sales include planned sales under 10b5‑1 trading plans. Do insider buys beat the market?
As of the Sep 30, 2026 settlement date, 4.49% of O’s float was sold short: 42.4 million shares, or 4.0 days of average trading volume to cover. A year earlier (Oct 15, 2025) it was 4.10%. The median across the 997 US stocks Exent tracks was 4.77%, so O is less heavily shorted than most.
From FINRA short‑interest reports, filed twice a month; the bars show the short share of the float at each month‑end. Days to cover divides the shares short by the average daily volume. The most shorted stocks
At the end of Q2 2026 (Jun 30, 2026), 1,517 institutions reported holding O in 13F filings, up 19 from the quarter before and up from 1,346 a year earlier. Their reported holdings add up to 81.3% of O’s shares. In the quarter 799 institutions added to their positions and 486 cut them.
Investment managers with over $100 million in US equities file 13F reports within 45 days of each quarter end, so this is the latest complete quarter. Holdings can add up to more than 100% when shares are lent and counted twice. Which stocks institutions are buying and selling
O’s diluted share count rose 161.9% over the five fiscal years to fiscal 2025 and rose 3.2% in fiscal 2025 alone. Each share now owns a smaller slice of the company. The median change across the 1,005 US stocks Exent tracks was −0.1%.
Stock‑based compensation was $30.8 million in fiscal 2025, 0.5% of revenue. O did not buy back shares in fiscal 2025.
Weighted‑average diluted shares from O’s annual income statements; stock‑based compensation and buybacks from its cash‑flow statement. Stock dilution and stock‑based compensation, explained
In Exent’s Oct 20, 2026 snapshot, O’s Piotroski F‑score was 6 out of 9; 62% of scored stocks reach 6 or more. The Altman Z‑score is not meaningful for real estate companies, so it is left out.
The Altman Z‑score combines five balance‑sheet and earnings ratios into one bankruptcy‑risk score: below 1.81 is the distress zone, 1.81–2.99 grey, above 2.99 safe. It is not meaningful for banks, insurers and REITs. The Piotroski F‑score counts nine yes/no tests of profitability, leverage and efficiency; 8–9 is strong, 0–2 weak. Both come from the latest annual statements. Which stocks have the highest bankruptcy risk?
On its latest earnings call (Aug 5, 2026), O’s executives and analysts mentioned AI 1 time, against 0 on the call before (May 6, 2026); the average across 455 S&P 500 calls that quarter was 12.9. After AI, the most mentioned topic was data centers (30). Tariffs and recession did not come up.
| Mentions | Aug ’26 | May ’26 | Feb ’26 | Nov ’25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI | 1 | 0 | 14 | 6 |
| AI agents | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Data centers | 30 | 11 | 3 | 2 |
| Tariffs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Recession | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Word counts in the full transcript of each call, prepared remarks and Q&A, newest first. “AI” also counts generative AI and large language models; “AI agents” counts agentic AI. Which companies talk most about AI?
As of Oct 20, 2026, 42 of the 304 ETFs Exent tracks held O. Its largest weight is in SCHH (Schwab U.S. REIT ETF), at 3.91% of the fund.
| ETF | Fund | Weight of O |
|---|---|---|
| SCHH | Schwab U.S. REIT ETF | 3.91% |
| VNQ | Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF Shares | 3.34% |
| SDY | State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF | 1.95% |
| VOT | Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Fund | 1.21% |
| FDVV | Fidelity High Dividend ETF | 0.76% |
| DYNF | iShares U.S. Equity Factor Rotation Active ETF | 0.70% |
| USMV | iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF | 0.58% |
| IWS | iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF | 0.51% |
Owning several of these funds stacks the same position. How much do VOO, QQQ and VTI overlap?
Sumit Roy, O’s President, Chief Executive Officer, received total pay of $16.3 million for fiscal 2025, up 6.6% from $15.2 million for fiscal 2024, according to the company’s proxy statement filed with the SEC on Mar 25, 2026. 56% of it came as stock and option awards, valued when they were granted rather than when they pay out. The median CEO pay across the 378 S&P 500 companies Exent tracks was $17.2 million, so O’s CEO earned less than most.
| Pay component | Amount | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | $1.0 million | 6.2% |
| Stock and option awards | $9.1 million | 56.3% |
| Incentive plan (cash) | $5.0 million | 30.6% |
| Other | $1.1 million | 6.9% |
| Other top executives | Role | Total pay, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Neil M. Abraham | Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and President, Realty Income International | $5.3 million |
| Mark E. Hagan | Executive Vice President, Chief Investment Officer | $5.3 million |
| Michelle Bushore | Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Secretary | $3.9 million |
| Jonathan Pong | Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer | $3.7 million |
Figures from the summary compensation table of the proxy statement; awards count at their grant‑date value, so one large multi‑year grant can make a single year stand out. CEO pay across the S&P 500
Exent matches every holding to the index with the most similar risk. For O that is SPY (the S&P 500). Comparing a holding with an index that carries very different risk makes good results look bad and risky ones look clever. Read why the S&P 500 is the wrong benchmark for most portfolios.
Returns are total returns from month‑end adjusted closing prices (dividends reinvested) through Oct 30, 2026. Crisis drawdowns and trailing maximum drawdowns use daily prices. Analyst coverage counts ratings published in the last 12 months, shown with a 30‑day delay. Full method: Exent methodology.
Company data as of Oct 20, 2026. The move around an earnings report runs from the close before it to the close after it; a price target counts as hit when the stock closed at or beyond it within 12 months (Exent analyst data). Revenue by region and segment, share counts and executive pay come from company filings; insider trades from SEC Form 4, short interest from FINRA, institutional ownership from 13F filings, Congress trades from STOCK Act disclosures filed with the House and Senate, federal contracts from USAspending.gov. Filings from the last 30 days are shown as counts only.
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Historical figures are calculated by Exent from market data and are for education only; they are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
Wall Street’s average O price target is 17.8% above the latest share price. See what the best‑ranked analysts on O say now in Exent Gems.
No. O returned +60.8% (+4.9% a year) over the 10 years to Oct 30, 2026, versus +316.3% (+15.3% a year) for the S&P 500, including dividends.
Yes. As of Oct 20, 2026, O (Realty Income Corporation) is one of the 503 stocks in the S&P 500.
O fell −50.7% from peak to trough during the global financial crisis (2007–09), versus −56.5% for the S&P 500.
O fell −48.4% from peak to trough during the covid crash (feb–mar 2020), versus −34.1% for the S&P 500.
O fell −23.5% from peak to trough during the 2022 inflation bear market, versus −25.4% for the S&P 500.
Over the 5 years to Oct 30, 2026, O’s Sharpe ratio was −0.01 and its Sortino ratio −0.02, versus 0.58 and 0.91 for the S&P 500.
O’s 5‑year annualized volatility was 18.9%, higher than the S&P 500’s 17.0%, with a beta of 0.65.
Among large US stocks, the lowest correlations with O over the last 60 months were CRWD (−0.11), DELL (−0.09), NET (−0.07). Its correlation with long Treasuries (TLT) was 0.62 and with gold (GLD) 0.39.
O beat the consensus earnings-per-share estimate in 1 of its last 12 quarterly reports through Aug 5, 2026, and the revenue estimate in 12 of 12. The stock moved 1.2% on average, up or down, from the close before each report to the close after it.
Sumit Roy, O’s President, Chief Executive Officer, received $16.3 million in total pay for fiscal 2025, including a $1.0 million salary and $9.1 million in stock and option awards valued at grant, according to the proxy statement filed with the SEC on Mar 25, 2026. The median S&P 500 CEO received $17.2 million.
Yes. As of Oct 20, 2026, 11 members of Congress had disclosed 35 trades in O (20 buys and 15 sales) in STOCK Act disclosures filed with the House and Senate.
As of the Sep 30, 2026 settlement date, 4.49% of O’s float was sold short (42.4 million shares, 4.0 days to cover), according to FINRA short-interest reports. A year earlier it was 4.10%.
Yes. O’s diluted share count rose 161.9% over the five fiscal years to fiscal 2025 and rose 3.2% in the latest year. Stock-based compensation was 0.5% of revenue.
Exent ranks Wall Street analysts by their track record. Gems shows who the top‑ranked analysts on O are, their latest calls and the stocks where several of them agree.
Educational content, not investment advice. Examples are illustrative; past performance does not guarantee future results.