Canadian Halal Investor.

NYSE Shariah screener · October 2026

Is W. P. Carey Inc. (WPC) Halal?

FAIL

W. P. Carey Inc. · NYSE: WPC · Real Estate

The short answer

No - W. P. Carey Inc. (WPC) fails this Shariah stock screen on the debt gate. W. P. Carey, the diversified net-lease REIT with 1,682 properties leased to 371 tenants across 25 countries, runs a permissible rental business with no disclosed haram tenant industries, and its interest income of $6.345 million is only about 0.37% of FY2025 revenue ($1,716.5 million) - well under the 5% ceiling. But its interest-bearing debt of $8,722.7 million is about 58.1% of its ~$15.02 billion market capitalisation ($63.83 per share, October 2, 2026), far above the 33% ceiling. High leverage is typical of net-lease REITs, but the screen applies one ceiling to all companies. Zoya and MuslimXchange also mark WPC not Shariah-compliant. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling - consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

Gate 1 — Business activity: PASS

Gate 1 — business activity: PASS. W. P. Carey Inc., an internally managed diversified net-lease real estate investment trust, earns rental income from commercial real estate. Per its FY2025 Form 10-K (filed February 11, 2026), at December 31, 2025 the portfolio comprised 1,682 properties net leased to 371 tenants across 25 countries — predominantly single-tenant industrial, warehouse and retail facilities considered critical to tenants' operations. Roughly 61% of annualised base rent is from the United States and about 33% from Europe. Office was exited (Net Lease Office Properties spin-off, November 2023, plus the retained-office sale programme completed in 2024) and self-storage was exited (63 properties sold in 2025, the remaining 11 in the first half of 2026).

The 10-K discloses tenant industries by annualised base rent: packaged foods and meats 9.6%, food retail 9.4%, home improvement retail 6.2%, auto parts 5.3%, automotive retail 5.0%, education services 3.9%, pharmaceuticals 3.1%, leisure facilities 2.8%, hotels and resorts 1.1%, plus 64 industries each under 1% that are not individually enumerated. No casino, gaming, alcohol, tobacco or cannabis tenant industries are disclosed ('casino' does not appear in the 10-K). On the disclosed industries, the business passes gate 1; the sub-1% industries cannot be individually assessed and are disclosed here for transparency.

Gate 2 — Debt and cash: FAIL

Gate 2 — interest-bearing debt: FAIL (58.1%, ceiling 33%). Per the FY2025 Form 10-K (filed February 11, 2026), interest-bearing debt, net, was $8,722.7 million at December 31, 2025: senior unsecured notes $6,950.3 million, unsecured term loans $1,196.4 million, unsecured revolving credit facility borrowings $435.4 million and nonrecourse mortgage notes payable $140.6 million. About 92% is fixed rate at a weighted-average rate of 3.1%. Operating lease liabilities of $144.3 million (71 land-lease arrangements) are carried in other liabilities, not in Debt, net — excluded as they are not interest-bearing debt.

$8,722.7 million of interest-bearing debt against a market capitalisation of about $15.02 billion (Finnhub, October 2, 2026; $63.83 per share) is 58.1%, far above the 33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents of $155.3 million at December 31, 2025 represent about 1.0% of market cap. High leverage is typical of net-lease REITs, but the screen applies the same ceiling to all companies, so W. P. Carey fails gate 2.

Gate 3 — Non-compliant income: PASS

Gate 3 — non-compliant income: PASS (0.37%, ceiling 5%). W. P. Carey's FY2025 Form 10-K separately discloses 'interest income on our cash deposits' of $6.345 million for FY2025 (down from $31.8 million in FY2024 as cash balances fell following investment activity and debt repayments). Against FY2025 total revenue of $1,716.5 million, that is about 0.37% — far under the 5% ceiling.

For transparency: 'income from finance leases and loans receivable' of $90.9 million sits inside operating revenue — it is rental-type income from the net-lease business, not separately disclosed interest income — and $11.3 million of dividends from a Lineage equity investment are equity income, not interest.

Key figures used

Frequently asked questions

What does W. P. Carey do?

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC) is an internally managed diversified net-lease real estate investment trust. Per its FY2025 Form 10-K, at December 31, 2025 its portfolio comprised 1,682 properties net leased to 371 tenants across 25 countries - predominantly single-tenant industrial, warehouse and retail facilities considered critical to tenants' operations. Roughly 61% of annualised base rent comes from the United States and about 33% from Europe. The company has exited office (spun off into Net Lease Office Properties in November 2023, with the retained-office sale programme completed in 2024) and self-storage (63 properties sold in 2025, the remaining 11 in the first half of 2026).

Is W. P. Carey's business Shariah compliant?

W. P. Carey earns rental income from net-leased commercial real estate - industrial, warehouse and retail properties - not from interest-based lending, and the 10-K discloses no casino, gaming, alcohol, tobacco or cannabis tenant industries ('casino' does not appear in the filing). Its largest disclosed tenant industries by annualised base rent are packaged foods and meats (9.6%), food retail (9.4%), home improvement retail (6.2%), auto parts (5.3%), automotive retail (5.0%), education services (3.9%), pharmaceuticals (3.1%), leisure facilities (2.8%) and hotels and resorts (1.1%), with 64 further industries each under 1% not individually enumerated. On the disclosed industries, the business passes this screen's first gate, though tenants in the sub-1% group are not named so only the disclosed list can be assessed.

Why does W. P. Carey fail this Shariah stock screen?

W. P. Carey fails this screen on leverage. Its FY2025 Form 10-K (filed February 11, 2026) reports interest-bearing debt, net, of $8,722.7 million at December 31, 2025: senior unsecured notes of $6,950.3 million, unsecured term loans of $1,196.4 million, unsecured revolving credit facility borrowings of $435.4 million and nonrecourse mortgage notes of $140.6 million. Operating lease liabilities of $144.3 million (71 land-lease arrangements) are carried separately and excluded - they are not interest-bearing debt. $8,722.7 million against a market capitalisation of about $15.02 billion (Finnhub, October 2, 2026) is 58.1%, far above the 33% ceiling. High leverage is typical of net-lease REITs, but the screen applies the same debt ceiling to all companies, so the result is FAIL.

How much interest income does W. P. Carey earn?

W. P. Carey's FY2025 Form 10-K separately discloses 'interest income on our cash deposits' of $6.345 million for FY2025 (down from $31.8 million in FY2024 as cash balances fell following investment activity and debt repayments) against total FY2025 revenue of $1,716.5 million - about 0.37%, far under the 5% ceiling. For transparency: 'income from finance leases and loans receivable' of $90.9 million sits inside operating revenue (it is rental-type income from the net-lease business, not separately disclosed interest income), and dividends of $11.3 million from a Lineage equity investment are equity income, not interest.

What do third-party Shariah screeners say about W. P. Carey?

Zoya publishes a WPC page and currently flags the stock as not Shariah-compliant (last updated October 2026) - consistent with this screen's debt-gate result - though the FAQ text on its page is internally inconsistent about interest income (one entry claims $97.3 million, another says no separate disclosure), so treat its published reasoning with caution. MuslimXchange also publishes a WPC page and marks it currently not Shariah compliant (updated September 10, 2026). I could not verify a Musaffa rating page for WPC, and ShariaPortfolio publishes no per-stock rating pages. Third-party screeners apply different assumptions and update on different schedules - always check the latest screening before investing.

Sources

Screened 2026-10-02 from published company figures and market data. Figures change; this page is educational, not financial advice and not a religious ruling.

Screened with our two-gate Shariah screening methodology (business-activity gate, then AAOIFI-style financial ratios).