Public Storage: 10-K Risk Factor Changes

In response to high inflation, the Federal Reserve has significantly increased the benchmark federal funds rate since early 2022. These actions have significantly increased interest rates. As a result, if we issued new debt or preferred shares or refinanced our indebtedness, our debt service costs or preferred share dividend yields would be, based on current interest rates, significantly higher than current financing costs. These interest rate increases have also adversely impacted the relative attractiveness of the dividend yield on our common shares. Increases in our cost of capital impact our assessment of the yields we consider appropriate to support pursuing property acquisition and development opportunities and thus can impact our external growth prospects. The degree and pace of these changes have had and may continue to have adverse macroeconomic effects that have and may continue to have adverse impacts on our tenants, including as a result of economic recession, increased unemployment, and increased financing costs. For more information on interest rate risk, see Part II, “Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk”.