As of December 3, 2025, Creative Media & Community Trust Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCT) is trading around $3.49 per share, making it a tiny, highly volatile microcap REIT in the U.S. office and multifamily space. [1] Over the past year, the stock has swung between roughly the mid‑single digits and more than $80 on a split‑adjusted basis, reflecting both a 1‑for‑25 reverse split and extreme market volatility. [2] Recent catalysts include a definitive agreement to sell its SBA lending division, the release of Q3 2025 results, and the completion of a new 36‑unit apartment building in Los Angeles, all of which feed directly into how investors are now thinking about CMCT’s 2026 trajectory. [3]
Where CMCT Stock Stands Today
CMCT closed at $3.49 on December 2, 2025, down about 6.9% on the day, with extended‑hours trading briefly lifting the price to around $3.95. [4] That translates into a market capitalization of only a few million dollars — various data providers place it in the roughly $2–4 million range depending on the snapshot date and price used. [5]
Over the last 52 weeks, CMCT’s share price has traded between about $4 and $80 on a split‑adjusted basis, according to WallStreetZen and other market trackers. [6] ChartMill also highlights CMCT as a microcap with a very weak technical profile (technical rating 0/10) and poor fundamentals (fundamental rating 1/10), while noting a 52‑week high near $77.73 and low near $2.56 on its data set. [7]
Short interest is unusually high for such a small REIT. ChartMill’s data suggests short interest of about 48% of the free float, making CMCT a speculative candidate for sharp squeezes in either direction if liquidity dries up or news flow surprises. [8] For traders, that combination of tiny float, high short interest and binary catalysts is the definition of “handle-with-care.”
What Creative Media & Community Trust Actually Does
Creative Media & Community Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on “premier multifamily and creative office” assets in “vibrant” U.S. communities, with properties concentrated in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland, Austin and Sacramento. [9]
As of Q3 2025, CMCT’s portfolio includes: [10]
- 12 office properties totaling roughly 1.3 million rentable square feet
- 4 multifamily properties (696–764 units depending on classification)
- 9 development sites, some currently used as parking
- 1 hotel with 505 rooms in Northern California
- Several unconsolidated joint ventures tied to office and multifamily projects
CMCT is externally managed by CIM Group affiliates, which provide acquisition, development, leasing and property‑management expertise — a structure common in smaller REITs but one that can raise governance and fee questions for some investors. [11]
New LA Multifamily Supply: 1915 Park in Echo Park
On December 2, 2025, CMCT announced the completion of 1915 Park Ave., a 36‑unit modern apartment community in Echo Park, one of Los Angeles’ most sought‑after infill neighborhoods. [12]
Key details from the Business Wire release: [13]
- The project is a six‑story building with studio, one‑ and two‑bedroom units.
- It was built on a former surface parking lot next to an existing CMCT‑related office tower at 1910 W. Sunset Blvd., using a joint‑venture structure with an international pension fund.
- Amenities include a rooftop deck, underground parking and bicycle parking.
- The location sits near Sunset Boulevard, metro bus lines and several major freeways, with proximity to Dodger Stadium and Echo Park Lake.
For equity investors, this is not just a feel‑good real estate story; it matters because CMCT has telegraphed a shift toward multifamily growth and “asset‑light” co‑investment models as a key pillar of its strategy. [14] 1915 Park is one of the first tangible completions in that pipeline following earlier commentary that a 36‑unit Echo Park conversion would be delivered in 2025. [15]
The Big Catalyst: Sale of the SBA Lending Division
The most material corporate development this quarter is CMCT’s plan to exit its lending business.
On November 12, 2025, CMCT announced that it had entered a definitive agreement to sell its SBA 7(a) lending division to PG FR Holding, LLC, an affiliate of Atlanta‑based Peachtree Group. [16]
From the company’s own disclosure: [17]
- The purchase price is estimated at about $44 million, net of securitized SBA loan debt, subject to customary closing adjustments.
- After paying down other debt and transaction costs, CMCT expects net cash proceeds of roughly $31 million.
- Closing is contingent on U.S. Small Business Administration consent and other standard conditions.
- Upon closing, long‑time CFO Barry Berlin will resign and join the buyer or its affiliate; Brandon Hill is slated to become CMCT’s Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.
Management frames the transaction as a continuation of its plan to focus on core multifamily and creative office assets, strengthen the balance sheet and improve liquidity — a strategy first laid out in late 2024 and reinforced through multiple refinancings and debt restructurings. [18]
The market reaction to the news was dramatic: Invezz and several news aggregators note that CMCT shares “nearly doubled” intraday on November 12 after the sale was announced, before giving back a portion of those gains. [19]
Q3 2025 Earnings: Losses Narrow, but FFO Still Deeply Negative
On November 14, 2025, CMCT reported results for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. [20]
Headline numbers from the Q3 2025 press release and Quartr’s consolidated earnings summary: [21]
- Net loss attributable to common stockholders:
- $(17.7) million, or $(23.52) per diluted share
- Improved from $(34.8) million in Q3 2024
- Funds from operations (FFO):
- $(11.1) million, or $(14.75) per diluted share
- Core FFO:
- $(10.5) million, or $(13.96) per diluted share
- Total revenues:
- About $26.2 million, down from $28.6 million in the prior‑year quarter
By segment, Q3 2025 looked like this: [22]
- Office
- Portfolio 73.6% leased and 69.8% occupied at quarter‑end
- Same‑store office NOI: $5.0 million, down from $5.4 million a year earlier
- Lease activity: 80,962 square feet of leases signed in the quarter; 159,000 square feet year‑to‑date, up about 69% from the prior‑year period
- Multifamily
- Segment NOI rose to roughly $792,000 from $508,000 year‑on‑year
- Occupancy slipped to 85.3% from 92.0%
- Average monthly rent per occupied unit decreased modestly, and net rent per unit fell more sharply, reflecting concessions and market softness in parts of Oakland.
- Hotel (a 505‑room property in Sacramento)
- Segment NOI decreased to about $850,000 from $1.0 million, due mainly to weaker food & beverage revenue, partly offset by better room revenue as renovation work progressed.
- Lending
- Segment NOI dropped to $314,000 from $688,000, as loan payoffs and lower interest rates reduced interest income ahead of the planned business sale.
In his Q3 commentary, CEO David Thompson highlighted progress on the refinancing plan, an uptick in office leasing, ongoing renovation of the hotel’s public spaces, and the potential to improve multifamily net operating income as occupancies rise and cost‑saving initiatives take hold. [23] Management also reiterated that the lending sale is central to streamlining the business and generating cash for debt reduction and growth projects. [24]
Leasing Momentum: Office Still Weak, But Activity Is Rising
While absolute occupancy levels remain low versus pre‑pandemic norms, CMCT has shown clear momentum in office leasing during 2025.
A separate Business Wire release on August 13, 2025 reported that CMCT had executed approximately 140,000 square feet of office leases year‑to‑date with 31 tenants, a 55% increase over the comparable 2024 period. [25]
Notable 2025 office leases include: [26]
- A roughly 31,000‑square‑foot lease with a global medical technology company at CMCT’s Penn Field creative office campus in Austin, Texas, bringing that campus to around 93% leased.
- A roughly 12,000‑square‑foot lease with a medical business in Brentwood, California.
- An approximately 11,000‑square‑foot lease with a government agency in Echo Park, Los Angeles.
By Q3, the company could point to about 159,000 square feet of office leases executed in the first nine months of 2025, underscoring that while occupancy is still challenged, leasing velocity has improved meaningfully. [27]
Balance Sheet Moves: Reverse Split and Debt Restructuring
1‑for‑25 Reverse Stock Split
To address Nasdaq’s minimum bid requirement and clean up its capital structure, CMCT executed a 1‑for‑25 reverse stock split of its common stock, effective April 15, 2025. [28] Every 25 pre‑split shares were consolidated into one new share, with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares. GuruFocus notes that the split was expected to lift the nominal share price from roughly $0.26 to about $6.47, without changing total market capitalization. [29]
This reverse split is a major reason historical charts show triple‑digit prices in the past year — those represent split‑adjusted levels, not a massive fundamental rally.
Full Repayment of the Recourse Credit Facility
On April 9, 2025, CMCT announced that it had fully repaid and retired its recourse credit facility, largely by putting non‑recourse, asset‑level mortgages on several properties, including the Sheraton Grand hotel, the Wilshire office portfolio, a Culver City asset and Penn Field in Austin. [30]
The key financings listed in that release include: [31]
- Up to $92.2 million on the Sheraton Grand Sacramento hotel (including future funding)
- About $105 million on the Wilshire office portfolio, with roughly $22.9 million earmarked as leasing reserves
- Roughly $4.6–5.0 million on 8944 Lindblade in Culver City
- About $35.5 million on Penn Field in Austin
These moves reduced CMCT’s reliance on recourse financing, extended maturities and provided reserves for leasing and hotel renovations, at the cost of higher overall leverage on individual properties. [32]
Dividend Status: No Common Payout, Preferred Dividends Intact
Investors looking at CMCT for income need to distinguish between common stock and preferred stock.
- Common Shares (CMCT):
Dividend.com lists CMCT’s forward dividend at $0.00 with a 0% yield, noting that the payout has been suspended. [33] - Preferred Shares (Series A, A1, D):
CMCT continues to pay quarterly dividends on multiple preferred series. In a September 30, 2025 release and the Q3 earnings statement, CMCT confirmed Q3 2025 dividends payable October 15, 2025 to holders of record on October 5, 2025: [34]- Series A: $0.34375 per share
- Series A1: $0.426875 per share (tied to the federal funds rate + 2.5%, up to a cap)
- Series D: $0.353125 per share
Preferred dividends are senior to common, so ongoing payments there underscore that CMCT is prioritizing obligations to preferred shareholders while common shareholders currently receive no cash income.
What Wall Street Says: CMCT Stock Ratings and Price Targets
Coverage of CMCT is thin, inconsistent and often distorted by its reverse split and microcap status. Still, several data providers publish forecasts and ratings.
MarketBeat: Consensus “Sell,” No Meaningful Target
MarketBeat’s forecast page shows CMCT at $3.49 with a consensus rating of “Sell” based on one active Wall Street analyst, currently Weiss Ratings, which reiterates a “Sell (D‑)” stance. [35]
MarketBeat lists no current consensus price target (N/A), noting that past B. Riley coverage once carried a $1,000 price target, which is clearly a stale, pre‑split artifact and not a realistic 12‑month target at today’s price. [36]
Fintel: Average One‑Year Target Around $4.08
Fintel’s CMCT forecast page aggregates multiple analyst and model estimates and currently shows: [37]
- Projected 1‑year share price:$4.08 (projection date November 17, 2026)
- Price‑target range:$4.04–$4.20
- Implied upside vs. recent trading: roughly high‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit percentage, depending on the reference price used
Fintel also displays an aggregated rating distribution as of December 1, 2025 with no buys, several holds, and multiple sell/strong sell equivalents, indicating broadly cautious sentiment. [38]
ChartMill & Indmoney: Weak Ratings, Small Upside vs. Aggregated Targets
ChartMill assigns CMCT a technical rating of 0/10 and a fundamental rating of 1/10, flagging its tiny market cap, negative FFO and high volatility. [39] The platform cites:
- Average 12‑month price target: about $4.08
- Implied upside: roughly 17% from a reference price near $3.49
- Analyst stance:no buys, a mix of holds and sells
Indmoney, which relies on a somewhat different data feed, shows six analysts with 50% “Sell” and 50% “Hold” ratings, but an average target of $100, which is almost certainly a legacy artifact tied to reverse‑split math and should not be interpreted as a realistic forward target. [40]
Investing.com Consensus: “Neutral,” But Target Data Distorted
Investing.com’s consensus page lists CMCT’s rating as “Neutral”, with zero buy and zero sell recommendations and one hold, but again shows a very high outlier price target near $100 and a 52‑week range from roughly $3 to $78. [41] Like the Indmoney figure, this appears to be affected by the reverse split and not an actionable 12‑month forecast.
Bottom Line on Forecasts
Across data providers, the qualitative message is broadly consistent:
- Little to no active bullish coverage from major Wall Street firms
- Consensus leaning neutral to negative, with some sources aggregating multiple hold and sell‑type ratings and no buys
- Model‑driven targets near $4 per share, implying modest upside from current levels if things go right, but not the kind of target profile one would expect for a high‑conviction recovery story
Given CMCT’s microcap status and history of corporate actions, investors should treat any automated consensus numbers with caution and read underlying assumptions where possible.
Fundamental Outlook: What Could Drive CMCT in 2026?
Looking ahead to 2026, CMCT’s trajectory hinges on a few key levers, many of which management itself highlighted in Q3. [42]
1. Closing and Deploying the Lending Division Sale Proceeds
If the lending division sale closes on the terms outlined, CMCT expects to receive about $31 million in net cash proceeds. [43] Management has indicated that the sale is intended to:
- Strengthen liquidity
- Reduce debt, especially at the corporate level
- Allow further recycling into multifamily and select office projects
For a company with a market cap of only a few million dollars, that capital deployment will be pivotal in determining whether CMCT can stabilize its balance sheet, fund its development pipeline and potentially unlock value for equity holders.
2. Multifamily Lease‑Up and New Projects
CMCT’s multifamily segment NOI already grew year‑on‑year in Q3, despite lower occupancy in Oakland, aided by lower real estate taxes and incremental contributions from joint‑venture assets. [44]
Key watchpoints:
- Leasing velocity and effective rents at 1915 Park and other multifamily properties
- Occupancy recovery from the mid‑80% range back toward the low‑90% levels CMCT enjoyed in 2024
- Progress on additional multifamily development sites in the pipeline
Analyst forecast data compiled by Fintel suggests annual revenue around $112 million for 2025, with improving EPS metrics thereafter, although the company remains loss‑making for now. [45]
3. Office Demand and Lease Economics
Even with better leasing momentum, CMCT’s office occupancy is still below 70%, and same‑store NOI declined in Q3. [46] The portfolio is heavily weighted toward markets like San Francisco and Los Angeles, which face structural headwinds from hybrid work and elevated sublease space.
Positive signs include:
- The Boston Scientific lease at Penn Field, which helped push that campus toward 93% leased. [47]
- Evidence that leasing spreads and terms remain attractive for high‑quality creative office assets in “live‑work‑play” neighborhoods. [48]
Negative pressures include potential rent roll‑downs, higher operating costs and the risk that leasing momentum stalls if the macro backdrop worsens.
4. Hotel Ramp and Renovation Payoff
CMCT’s Sacramento hotel has undergone a multi‑year renovation, with rooms largely completed and public‑space work approaching completion. In Q3, occupancy and RevPAR improved year‑on‑year, but segment NOI remained under pressure due to weak food & beverage performance. [49]
Management has guided to better hotel performance in 2026 and beyond once renovations are fully behind the property and group/transient demand normalizes. [50]
Key Risks: Why CMCT Remains a High‑Risk REIT
Despite intriguing catalysts, CMCT is a high‑risk, speculative stock. Investors and traders should be aware of several key risk factors:
- Microcap and Liquidity Risk
With a market cap in the low single‑digit millions and a float of roughly 750,000 shares, even modest trading activity can produce extreme volatility, gaps and slippage. [51] - High Short Interest
ChartMill’s estimated short float near 48% points to both short‑squeeze potential and a meaningful cohort of sophisticated investors betting on continued weakness. [52] - Persistent Losses and Negative FFO
Despite narrowing losses, CMCT continues to post negative net income, negative FFO and negative Core FFO, with Q3 2025 still showing an $11+ million FFO deficit. [53] - Office Market Headwinds
The company’s office exposure remains large in some of the most challenged U.S. office markets, and office NOI declined year‑on‑year in Q3 despite better leasing activity. [54] - Legal and Reputational Overhang
In early 2025, law firm KlaymanToskes publicized that it represents multiple CMCT investors in FINRA arbitration related to “unsuitable investment recommendations,” underscoring the scale of past investor losses and potential reputational drag. [55] - Data Quality and Forecast Noise
Because of CMCT’s reverse split and small size, several data platforms show obviously distorted historical prices and price targets (for example, $100 or $1,000 targets that make no sense relative to the current $3–4 share price). [56] Anyone analyzing CMCT needs to check whether numbers are split‑adjusted and up‑to‑date.
What to Watch Next
For investors tracking CMCT into 2026, the following milestones are likely to matter most:
- Regulatory approval and closing of the lending division sale, including the actual net proceeds versus the $31 million estimate, and the specific uses of that cash. [57]
- Occupancy and rent trends across the office and multifamily segments, especially at key assets like Penn Field and the Echo Park properties. [58]
- Completion and ramp‑up of 1915 Park, including leasing pace and rent levels relative to underwriting. [59]
- Q4 2025 earnings, currently expected in March 2026, which should provide updated guidance on liquidity, debt and asset sales. [60]
- Any shift in analyst coverage, particularly if new buy‑ or sell‑side research updates the currently stale or noisy consensus landscape. [61]
Final Thoughts
CMCT today is not a conventional income REIT. It is a leveraged, microcap real‑estate restructuring story trying to pivot from a complex mix of office, hotel and SBA lending exposure toward a more streamlined multifamily‑plus‑creative‑office platform.
The lending division sale, Echo Park multifamily completion, and ongoing leasing gains provide a tangible path toward a cleaner balance sheet and perhaps more stable cash flow in 2026 and beyond. At the same time, persistent GAAP and FFO losses, office market uncertainty, high short interest and thin analyst coverage mean CMCT remains squarely in speculative territory.
References
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