Shares of Macerich (MAC) plummeted 5.13% in Friday's trading session, underperforming the broader market. The decline followed Macerich's Q4 2024 earnings release, which revealed a disappointing drop in funds from operations (FFO) and a challenging outlook for the retail REIT.

The key factors contributing to Macerich's stock plummet are as follows:

- FFO per share for Q4 2024 came in at $0.47, marking a 17.5% year-over-year decline. This missed analysts' expectations, despite Macerich meeting the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

- While revenues increased year-over-year and beat estimates, same-center net operating income (NOI) decreased by 0.4% in Q4 2024 compared to the prior year. This indicates that Macerich is facing challenges in maintaining its profitability and operating efficiency.

- Macerich's operating expenses, including shopping center expenses, management companies' operating expenses, and leasing expenses, all saw significant year-over-year increases. Higher expenses weighed on the company's profitability.

- Analysts expressed concerns about Macerich's high debt-to-EBITDA ratio, which remained elevated at slightly below 8 times at year-end 2024, despite some improvement. This heavy debt burden could limit the company's financial flexibility and future growth prospects.