As the senior housing sector adopts artificial intelligence, certain names will rise above the rest, according to Jefferies. The productivity boost and cost savings from AI comes in addition to the tailwinds the sector is seeing from the aging population . People are living longer, with the first baby boomers turning 80 this year, while fertility rates are declining. "Advanced analytics are enhancing sales execution and pricing discipline across senior housing portfolios, directly supporting same-store NOI [net operating income] growth," wrote analyst Jonathan Petersen said in a Wednesday note. "Platforms such as Ventas OI and Welltower Business System aggregate large proprietary datasets to inform pricing, marketing spend, and leasing velocity at the unit level." These advances in AI are also improving how real estate investment trusts deploy capital at the property level, he added. Welltower has the largest AI edge over its competitors, said Petersen, who has a buy rating on the stock. It also has a 1.4% dividend yield. WELL YTD mountain Welltower year to date The company, whose portfolio consists of more than 2,500 senior and wellness housing communities, has been building its proprietary data science and machine learning platform for a more than a decade. In 2023, it integrated OpenAI to launch its internal AI solutions. CEO Shankh Mitra said at a recent conference that Welltower has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build out its data science platform, which has allowed the company to "quite effectively allocate capital." Earlier this month, the REIT announced it has licensed a customized version of its data science platform to Public Storage. "While real estate is the world's largest asset class, it has historically been characterized as a local, 'gut-feel' industry that has proven to be one of the most unscalable businesses," Mitra said in a press release announcing the partnership. "While some have attempted to scale the business through service models, we believe that the only way to truly scale this business is through the data generated by the assets." Shares of Welltower have gained more than 12% year to date. Another name Petersen likes is American Healthcare REIT , which he believes will also benefit from AI. The company, which became public in 2024, pays a 1.9% dividend. In December, he named it his top play on the aging population for 2026, citing its low cost of equity and its "growing investment pipeline." The stock is up about 12% so far this year.
