COPT DEFENSE PROPERTIES

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

1. Organization

COPT Defense Properties (“COPT Defense”) and subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company,” “we,” or “us”) is a fully-integrated and self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) focused on owning, operating, and developing properties in locations proximate to, or sometimes containing, key U.S. Government (“USG”) defense installations and missions (which we refer to herein as our Defense/IT Portfolio). Our tenants include the USG and its defense contractors, who are primarily engaged in priority national security activities, and who generally require mission-critical and high security property enhancements. Our property portfolio is predominantly comprised of office properties and single-tenant data center shells. As of September 30, 2026, our Defense/IT Portfolio included:

•202 operating properties totaling 23.3 million square feet. We owned 24 of these properties totaling 4.3 million square feet through unconsolidated real estate joint ventures;

•eight properties under development that will total approximately 1.1 million square feet upon completion; and

•approximately 930 acres of land controlled that we believe could be developed into approximately 10.4 million square feet of properties.

We also ownedsix other operating properties totaling 2.0 million square feet and approximately 10 acres of other developable land in the Greater Washington, DC/Baltimore region as of September 30, 2026.

We conduct almost all of our operations and own almost all of our assets through our operating partnership, COPT Defense Properties, L.P. (“CDPLP”) and subsidiaries (collectively, the “Operating Partnership”), of which COPT Defense is the sole general partner. CDPLP owns real estate directly and through subsidiary partnerships and limited liability companies (“LLCs”). In addition to owning real estate, CDPLP also owns subsidiaries that provide real estate services such as property management, development, and construction services primarily for our properties but also for third parties, most of which are tenants. Some of these services are performed through a taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”).

Equity interests in CDPLP are in the form of common and preferred units. As of September 30, 2026, COPT Defense owned 97.2% of the outstanding CDPLP common units (“common units”) and there wereno preferred units outstanding. Common units not owned by COPT Defense carry certain redemption rights. The number of common units owned by COPT Defense is equivalent to the number of outstanding common shares of beneficial interest (“common shares”) of COPT Defense, and the entitlement of common units to quarterly distributions and payments in liquidation is substantially the same as that of COPT Defense common shareholders.

COPT Defense’s common shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “CDP”.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

These consolidated financial statements include the accounts of COPT Defense, the Operating Partnership, their subsidiaries and other entities in which COPT Defense has a majority voting interest and control. We also consolidate certain entities when control of such entities can be achieved through means other than voting rights (“variable interest entities” or “VIEs”) if we are deemed to be the primary beneficiary of such entities. We eliminate all intercompany balances and transactions in consolidation.

We use the equity method of accounting when we own an interest in an entity and can exert significant influence over but cannot control the entity’s operations. We discontinue equity method accounting if our investment in an entity (and net advances) is reduced to zero unless we have guaranteed obligations of the entity or are otherwise committed to provide further financial support for the entity.

When we own an equity investment in an entity and cannot exert significant influence over its operations, we measure the investment at fair value, with changes recognized through net income. For an investment without a readily determinable fair value, we measure the investment at cost, less any impairments, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes for an identical or similar investment of the same issuer.

These interim financial statements should be read together with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto as of and for the year ended December 31, 2025 included in our 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The unaudited consolidated financial statements include all adjustments that are necessary, in the opinion of management, to fairly state our financial position and results of operations. All adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. The consolidated financial statements have been prepared using the accounting policies described in our 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Reclassifications

We reclassified certain amounts from prior periods to conform to the current period presentation of our consolidated financial statements with no effect on previously reported net income or equity.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

Effective June 30, 2026, we retrospectively changed the presentation of our consolidated statements of cash flows from the direct method to the indirect method to align with the presentation commonly used by the real estate industry.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In November 2024, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued guidance requiring disaggregated disclosure of specified information about certain expense categories included in expense line items on the consolidated statements of operations in the notes to the financial statements. This guidance is effective for us for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026 and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. We expect to apply this guidance prospectively to financial statements issued for reporting periods after the effective date. We are currently assessing the application of this guidance on our future consolidated financial statements.

In November 2025, the FASB amended existing hedge accounting guidance under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”) to more closely align with the economics of an entity’s risk management activities by increasingly enabling entities to achieve and maintain hedge accounting for highly-effective economic hedges of forecasted transactions. This guidance is effective for us for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026. Early adoption is permitted. We expect to apply this guidance prospectively to financial statements issued for reporting periods after our adoption of the guidance. We do not expect that the application of this guidance will materially affect our future consolidated financial statements.

Effective January 1, 2026, we adopted guidance issued by the FASB that provides a practical expedient for use in estimating expected credit losses on non-lease revenue related accounts receivable and contract assets. The practical expedient permits an entity to assume that current conditions as of the balance sheet date do not change for the remaining life of the asset. This guidance was applied prospectively and did not affect our consolidated financial statements.

3. Fair Value Measurements

Recurring Fair Value Measurements

The fair values of our interest rate derivatives, as disclosed in Note 9, are determined using widely accepted valuation techniques, including a discounted cash flow analysis on the expected cash flows of each derivative. This analysis reflects the contractual terms of the derivatives, including the period to maturity, and uses observable market-based inputs, including interest rate market data and implied volatilities in such interest rates.

The carrying values of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable, other assets (excluding investing receivables), and accounts payable and accrued expenses are reasonable estimates of their fair values because of the short maturities of these instruments. For our disclosure of investments in sales-type leases fair values in Note 5, we estimated the fair value predominantly based on the acquisition price of our most recent investment on April 23, 2026 (see Note 5) (categorized within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy). The fair values of our investing receivables, as disclosed in Note 7, were based on the discounted estimated future cash flows of the loans (categorized within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy); the discount rates used approximate current market rates for loans with similar maturities and credit quality, and the estimated cash payments include scheduled principal and interest payments. For our disclosure of debt fair values in Note 8, we estimated the fair value of our unsecured senior notes based on quoted market rates for our senior notes (categorized within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy) and estimated the fair value of our other debt based on the discounted estimated future cash payments to be made on such debt (categorized within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy); the discount rates used approximate current market rates for loans, or groups of loans, with similar maturities and credit quality, and the estimated future payments include scheduled principal and interest payments. Fair value estimates are made as of a specific point in time, are subjective in nature and involve uncertainties and matters of significant judgment.

4. Properties, Net

Operating properties, net consisted of the following (in thousands):

On April 23, 2026, we acquired approximately 17 acres of land for a purchase price of $43.0 million, subject to a ground lease underlyingtwo fully-leased operating properties located at 15020 and 15030 Conference Center Drive in Chantilly, Virginia (included in the NoVA Defense/IT sub-segment of our Defense/IT Portfolio reportable segment). We recorded this transaction as an investment in a sales-type lease (see Note 5).

We sold non-operating properties during the nine months ended September 30, 2026 for $28.3 million and recognized gain on sales of $14.7 million.

5. Leases

Lessor Arrangements

We lease real estate properties, comprised primarily of office properties and data center shells, to third parties. These leases encompass all, or a portion, of properties, with various expiration dates. Our lease revenue is primarily comprised of: fixed-lease revenue from operating leases, including contractual rent billings under leases recognized on a straight-line basis over lease terms and amortization of lease incentives and above- and below-market lease intangibles; and variable-lease revenue, including tenant expense recoveries, lease termination revenue, and other revenue from tenants that is not fixed under leases.

As discussed in Note 4, in connection with our acquisition of land subject to a ground lease on April 23, 2026, we recorded an investment in a sales-type lease of $43.2 million. Our consolidated balance sheets included net investments in sales-type leases totaling $48.2 million as of September 30, 2026 and $3.8 million as of December 31, 2025, which approximated the estimated fair value of these investments.

The table below presents our composition of lease revenue recognized (in thousands):

Lessee Arrangements

As of September 30, 2026, our consolidated balance sheet included $52.4 million in right-of-use assets associated primarily with land leased from third parties underlying certain properties that we are operating with various expiration dates. Our property right-of-use assets and property lease liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets consisted of the following (in thousands):

As of September 30, 2026, our operating leases had a weighted average remaining lease term of 44 years and a weighted average discount rate of 7.4%, while our finance leases had a weighted average remaining lease term offive years and a weighted average discount rate of 8.0%. The table below presents our total property lease cost (in thousands):

The table below presents the effect of property lease payments on our consolidated statements of cash flows (in thousands):

Payments on property leases were due as follows (in thousands):

(1)Represents the three months ending December 31, 2026.

6. Real Estate Joint Ventures

Consolidated Real Estate Joint Ventures

The table below presents information pertaining to our investments in consolidated real estate joint ventures, which are each variable interest entities (dollars in thousands):

(1)We fund all capital requirements. Our partner receives distributions of $1.2 million of annual operating cash flows, plus certain fees for leasing and development, and we receive the remainder.

Unconsolidated Real Estate Joint Ventures

The table below presents information pertaining to our investments in unconsolidated real estate joint ventures accounted for using the equity method of accounting (dollars in thousands):

(1)Included $35.8 million and $36.4 million reported in “investments in unconsolidated real estate joint ventures” and $24.6 million and $22.8 million for investments with deficit balances reported in “other liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively. Investments with deficit balances are attributable to JV distributions of nonrecourse debt refinancing proceeds in excess of our equity in B RE COPT DC JV III LLC and B RE COPT DC JV II LLC; we are obligated to fund our share of future cash flow requirements, if any, of these joint ventures.

(2)Our investment in B RE COPT DC JV II LLC was lower than our share of the joint venture’s equity by $6.3 million as of September 30, 2026 and $6.5 million as of December 31, 2025 due to a difference between our cost basis and our share of the joint venture’s underlying equity in its net assets. We recognize adjustments to our share of the joint venture’s earnings and losses resulting from this basis difference in the underlying assets of the joint venture.

7. Investing Receivables

Investing receivables consisted of the following (in thousands):

The balances above included accrued interest receivable, net of allowance for credit losses, of $3.7 million as of September 30, 2026 and $3.8 million as of December 31, 2025.

Our notes receivable from the City of Huntsville funded infrastructure costs in connection with our LW Redstone Company, LLC joint venture (see Note 6) and carry an interest rate of 9.95%.

The estimated fair value of these receivables approximated the amortized cost basis of the receivables as of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025.

8. Debt, Net

Our debt consisted of the following (dollars in thousands):

(1)The weighted average interest rate on the Revolving Development Facility was 5.2% as of September 30, 2026.

(2)The facility matures in October 2029, with the ability to extend such maturity by a 12-month period at our option, provided that there is no default under the facility and we pay an extension fee of 0.250% of the total amount available under the facility.

(3)The weighted average interest rate on the Revolving Credit Facility was 4.8% as of September 30, 2026.

(4)The facility matures in October 2029, with the ability for us to extend such maturity bytwo six-month periods at our option, provided that there is no default under the facility and we pay an extension fee of 0.0625% of the total availability under the facility for each extension period.

(5)The interest rate on this loan was 4.8% as of September 30, 2026.

(6)This facility matures in January 2027, with the ability for us to extend such maturity by a 12-month period at our option, provided that there is no default under the facility and we pay an extension fee of 0.125% of the outstanding term loans under the facility.

(7)These notes have an exchange settlement feature under which the notes may, under certain circumstances, be exchangeable at the option of the holders. Upon exchange, the principal amount of notes is payable in cash, with the remainder of the exchange obligation, if any, as determined based on the exchange price per common share at the time of settlement, payable in cash, common shares, or a combination thereof at our election. As of September 30, 2026, the exchange rate of the notes equaled 33.6253 of our common shares per $1,000 principal amount of notes (equivalent to an exchange price of approximately $29.74 per common share).

All debt is owed by the Operating Partnership. While COPT Defense is not directly obligated by any debt, it has guaranteed CDPLP’s Revolving Development Facility, Revolving Credit Facility, term loan facility, and Unsecured Senior Notes.

Certain of our debt instruments require that we comply with a number of restrictive financial covenants. As of September 30, 2026, we were compliant with these financial covenants.

On March 16, 2026, we repaid at maturity $400.0 million in 2.25% Senior Notes due 2026 (the “2.25% Notes”).

The table below presents interest expense recognized on the 5.25% Exchangeable Senior Notes due 2028 (the “5.25% Notes”) (in thousands):

Our debt matures on the following schedule (in thousands):

(1)Represents the three months ending December 31, 2026.

(2)Represents scheduled principal amortization and maturities only and therefore excludes net discounts and commissions and deferred financing costs of $19.3 million.

We capitalized interest costs of $2.2 million in the three months ended September 30, 2026, $1.3 million in the three months ended September 30, 2025, $5.7 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2026, and $3.3 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2025.

The table below presents information pertaining to the fair value of our debt (in thousands):

9. Interest Rate Derivatives

The table below presents the key terms and fair values of our interest rate swap derivatives in place during the nine months ended September 30, 2026 (dollars in thousands):

Each of these swaps was designated as a cash flow hedge of interest rate risk and had expired by September 30, 2026.

The table below presents the fair value of our interest rate derivatives as well as their classification on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2025 (in thousands):

The table below presents the effect of our interest rate derivatives on our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (in thousands):

10. Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest

Redeemable noncontrolling interest on our consolidated balance sheets included the ownership interest of our partner in LW Redstone Company, LLC due to the partner’s rights to require us to acquire their interest. The table below presents the activity for redeemable noncontrolling interest (in thousands):

We determine the fair value of the interest based on unobservable inputs after considering the assumptions that market participants would make in pricing the interest. We apply a discount rate to the estimated future cash flows allocable to our partner from the properties underlying the respective joint venture. Estimated cash flows used in such analyses are based on our plans for the properties and our views of market and economic conditions, and consider items such as current and future rental rates, occupancy projections, and estimated operating and development expenditures.

11. Equity

As of September 30, 2026, we had remaining capacity under our at-the-market stock offering program equal to an aggregate gross sales price of $300 million in common shares.

We declared dividends per common share of $0.32 in the three months ended September 30, 2026, $0.305 in the three months ended September 30, 2025, $0.96 in the nine months ended September 30, 2026, and $0.915 in the nine months ended September 30, 2025.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2026, a CDPLP limited partner converted 5,908 common units in CDPLP for an equal number of common shares.

See Note 15 for disclosure of common share activity pertaining to our share-based compensation plans.

12. Information by Business Segment

We havetwo reportable segments: Defense/IT Portfolio; and Other. We also report on Defense/IT Portfolio sub-segments, which include the following: Fort George G. Meade and the Baltimore/Washington Corridor (“Fort Meade/BW Corridor”); Redstone Arsenal (in Huntsville, Alabama); Northern Virginia Defense/IT Locations (“NoVA Defense/IT”); Lackland Air Force Base (in San Antonio, Texas); locations serving the U.S. Navy (“Navy Support”), which included properties proximate to the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, DC, the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in Virginia; and data center shells (properties leased to tenants to be operated as data centers in which the tenants fund the costs for the power, fiber connectivity, and data center infrastructure).

We measure the performance of our segments through the measure we define as net operating income from real estate operations (“NOI from real estate operations”), which includes real estate revenues and other segment items, which is comprised of: property operating expenses; and the net of revenues and property operating expenses of real estate operations owned through unconsolidated real estate joint ventures (“UJV” or “UJVs”) that is allocable to our ownership interest (“UJV NOI allocable to COPT Defense”). Property operating expenses represent costs associated with operating our properties, including property taxes, ground rents, utilities, property management, insurance, repairs, and exterior and interior maintenance, as well as associated labor and indirect costs.

Our chief operating decision maker uses budget to actual comparisons of operating expense information on a consolidated basis and for our Same Property pool (defined as our properties stably owned and 100% operational throughout both the current and prior year) to manage expenses associated with operating our properties.

Amounts reported for segment assets represent long-lived assets associated with consolidated operating properties (including the carrying value of properties, right-of-use assets, net of related lease liabilities, intangible assets, deferred leasing costs, deferred rents receivable, lease incentives, and investments in sale-type leases) and the carrying value of investments in UJVs owning operating properties included in our data center shells sub-segment (totaling $11.2 million and $13.8 million as of September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively), which is net of deficit investment balances in UJVs reported in “other liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheets.

Amounts reported as additions to long-lived assets represent additions to existing consolidated operating properties, excluding transfers from non-operating properties, which we report separately.

The table below presents segment financial information for our reportable segments (in thousands):

The table below reconciles our segment revenues to total revenues as reported on our consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):

The table below reconciles UJV NOI allocable to COPT Defense to equity in income of unconsolidated entities as reported on our consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):

As previously discussed, we provide real estate services such as property management, development, and construction services primarily for our properties but also for third parties. The primary manner in which we evaluate the operating performance of our service activities is through a measure we define as net operating income from service operations (“NOI from service operations”), which is based on the net of revenues and expenses from these activities. Construction contract and other service revenues and expenses consist primarily of subcontracted costs that are reimbursed to us by the customer along with a management fee. The operating margins from these activities are small relative to the revenue. We believe NOI from service operations is a useful measure in assessing both our level of activity and our profitability in conducting such operations. The table below presents the computation of our NOI from service operations (in thousands):

The table below reconciles our NOI from real estate operations for reportable segments and NOI from service operations to net income as reported on our consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):

The table below reconciles our segment assets to our consolidated total assets (in thousands):

The accounting policies of the segments are the same as those used to prepare our consolidated financial statements. In the segment reporting presented above, we did not allocate interest expense, depreciation and amortization, gain on sales of real estate, and equity in income of unconsolidated entities not included in NOI to our real estate segments since they are not included in the measure of segment profit reviewed by management. We also did not allocate general, administrative, leasing and other expenses, interest and other income, net, income taxes, and noncontrolling interests because these items represent general corporate or non-operating property items not attributable to segments.

13. Construction Contract and Other Service Revenues

We disaggregate in the table below our construction contract and other service revenues by compensation arrangement as we believe it best depicts the nature, timing, and uncertainty of our revenue (in thousands):

We recognized an insignificant amount of revenue in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025 from performance obligations satisfied (or partially satisfied) in previous periods.

Accounts receivable related to our construction contract services is included in accounts receivable, net on our consolidated balance sheets. The beginning and ending balances of accounts receivable related to our construction contracts were as follows (in thousands):

Contract assets are included in prepaid expenses and other assets, net on our consolidated balance sheets. The beginning and ending balances of our contract assets were as follows (in thousands):

Contract liabilities are included in other liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets. Changes in contract liabilities were as follows (in thousands):

Revenue allocated to the remaining performance obligations under existing contracts as of September 30, 2026 that will be recognized as revenue in future periods was $27.6 million, of which we expect to recognize approximately $18 million in thethree months ending December 31, 2026, and the remainder in 2027.

We haveno deferred incremental costs incurred to obtain or fulfill our construction contracts or other service revenues as of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025. Credit loss expense or recoveries on construction contracts receivable and unbilled construction revenue were insignificant for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025.

14. Credit Losses on Financial Assets and Other Instruments

The table below presents the activity for our allowance for credit losses for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025 (in thousands):

(1)Included in the line entitled “accounts receivable, net” on our consolidated balance sheets.

(2)Includes insignificant amounts in the lines entitled “accounts receivable, net” and “prepaid expenses and other assets, net” on our consolidated balance sheets.

(3)Included in the line entitled “interest and other income, net” on our consolidated statements of operations.

The table below presents the amortized cost basis of our investing receivables, tenant notes receivable, and sales-type lease receivables by credit risk classification, by origination year as of September 30, 2026 (in thousands):

Our investment grade credit risk classification represents entities with investment grade credit ratings from ratings agencies (such as S&P Global Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., or Fitch Ratings, Inc.), meaning that they are considered to have at least an adequate capacity to meet their financial commitments, with credit risk ranging from minimal to moderate. Our non-investment grade credit risk classification represents entities with either no credit agency credit ratings or ratings deemed to be sub-investment grade; we believe that there is significantly more credit risk associated with this classification. The credit risk classifications of our investing receivables and tenant notes receivable were last updated in September 2026.

None of the investing and tenant notes receivables set forth above were past due, which we define as being delinquent by more than three months from the due date, as of September 30, 2026.

Tenant notes receivable on nonaccrual status as of September 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025 were not significant. We did not recognize any interest income on tenant notes receivable on nonaccrual status during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025.

15. Share-Based Compensation

Restricted Shares

The table below presents restricted shares activity under our share-based compensation plan for the nine months ended September 30, 2026:

Restricted shares granted to employees generally vest based on increments and over periods of time set forth under the terms of the respective awards provided that the employee remains employed by us. Restricted shares granted to non-employee Trustees vest on the first anniversary of the grant date, provided that the Trustee remains in the position.

The aggregate fair value of restricted shares that vested was $5.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.

Profit Interest Units in CDPLP (“PIUs”)

We grantedtwo forms of PIUs: time-based PIUs (“TB-PIUs”); and performance-based PIUs (“PB-PIUs”). TB-PIUs are subject to forfeiture restrictions until the end of the requisite service period, at which time the TB-PIUs automatically convert into vested PIUs. PB-PIUs are subject to a market condition in that the number of earned awards are determined at the end of the performance period (as described further below) and then settled in vested PIUs. Vested PIUs automatically convert into common units in CDPLP if, or when, a book-up event (as defined under federal income tax regulations) has occurred and carry substantially the same rights to distributions as common units.

TB-PIUs

The table below presents TB-PIUs activity under our share-based compensation plan for the nine months ended September 30, 2026:

TB-PIUs granted to senior management team members vest based on increments and over periods of time set forth under the terms of the respective awards provided that the employee remains employed by us. TB-PIUs granted to non-employee Trustees vest on the first anniversary of the grant date, provided that the Trustee remains in the position. Prior to vesting, TB-PIUs carry substantially the same rights to distributions as common units but carry no redemption rights.

The aggregate fair value of TB-PIUs that vested was $3.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.

Performance-Based Awards

On January 1, 2026, we granted certain senior management team members performance-based equity, in the form of either PB-PIUs or performance share units (“PSUs”) as based on the election of the grant recipients. The grant recipients elected to receive, in aggregate,324,870 PB-PIUs (equal to 200% of the target award) and 4,496 PSUs (equal to 200% of the target award). The performance-based equity awards have athree-year performance period concluding on the earlier of December 31, 2028 or the date of: (1) termination by us without cause, death, or disability of the employee, or constructive discharge of the employee (collectively, “qualified termination”); or (2) a sale event.

The number of earned awards following the end of the performance period will be determined based on the percentile rank of COPT Defense’s total shareholder return (“TSR”) relative to a peer group of companies, as presented in the following schedule:

If the percentile rank exceeds the 25th percentile and is betweentwo of the percentile ranks set forth in the table above, then the percentage of the earned awards will be interpolated between the ranges set forth in the table above to reflect any performance between the listed percentiles. If COPT Defense’s TSR is negative when its TSR’s percentile rank exceeds the 50th percentile, then the earned award payout percentage used to arrive at the earned awards would be reduced by 25 percentage points, but in no event to a payout percentage of less than 100% of the target award; however, the resulting reduction in earned awards would subsequently be deemed earned awards if COPT Defense’s TSR becomes positive on any date in the calendar year following the end of the performance period. In addition, regardless of COPT Defense’s TSR relative to the peer group, no less than 100% of the target award will be earned if COPT Defense’s TSR is at least 10% and no less than 50% of the target award will be earned if COPT Defense’s TSR is at least 6%, with linear interpolation if COPT Defense’s TSR is between 6% and 10%.

During the performance period, PB-PIUs carry rights to distributions equal to 10% of the distribution rights of common units, while PSUs do not carry such rights. Performance-based awards do not carry redemption or voting rights.

Following the end of the performance period, we will settle the awards as follows:

•for PB-PIUs, issuing vested PIUs equal to: the number of earned awards; and the excess, if any, of (1) the aggregate distributions that would have been paid with respect to vested PIUs issued in settlement of the earned awards through the date of settlement had such vested PIUs been issued on the grant date over (2) the aggregate distributions made on the PB-PIUs through the date of settlement, divided by the price of our common shares over a defined period of time; and

•for PSUs, issuing fully-vested COPT Defense shares equal to: the number of earned awards; and the aggregate dividends that would have been paid with respect to the common shares issued in settlement of the earned awards through the date of settlement had such shares been issued on the grant date, divided by the price of our common shares over a defined period of time.

If a performance period ends due to a sale event or qualified termination, the number of earned awards is prorated based on the portion of thethree-year performance period that has elapsed. If employment is terminated by the employee or by us for cause, all unvested performance-based awards are forfeited.

The performance-based awards granted on January 1, 2026 had an aggregate grant date fair value of $6.4 million ($39.10 per target-level award) in the form of PB-PIUs and $89,000 ($39.52 per target-level award) in the form of PSUs, which are being recognized over the performance period. The grant date fair values were computed using Monte Carlo models that included the following assumptions: baseline common share value of $27.80; expected volatility for common shares of 23.4%; and a risk-free interest rate of 3.7%.

For PB-PIUs granted to executives on January 1, 2023 that vested on December 31, 2025, COPT Defense’s TSR ranking relative to the peer group companies equated to an earned award payout of 200% of the target award, which resulted in our issuance of 250,070 vested PIUs in settlement of the PB-PIUs with an aggregate fair value of $7.6 million during the first quarter of 2026.

Deferred Share Awards

During the nine months ended September 30, 2026, we issued 3,118 common shares in settlement of vested deferred share awards with a weighted average grant date fair value of $26.89 per award and an aggregate fair value on the settlement date of $99,000.

16. Earnings Per Share (“EPS”)

We present both basic and diluted EPS. We compute basic EPS by dividing net income available to common shareholders allocable to unrestricted common shares by the weighted average number of unrestricted common shares outstanding during the period after allocating undistributed earnings between common shareholders and participating securities under the two-class method. Our participating securities include restricted shares and PIUs and deferred share awards not previously settled by common share issuances. Our computation of diluted EPS is similar except that:

•the denominator is increased to include: (1) the weighted average number of potential additional common shares that would have been outstanding if securities that are convertible into common shares were converted; and (2) the effect of dilutive potential common shares outstanding during the period attributable to a redeemable noncontrolling interest in a joint venture and share-based compensation awards using the if-converted or treasury stock methods; and

•the numerator is adjusted to add back any changes in income that would result from the assumed conversion into common shares that we add to the denominator.

We compute diluted EPS using the treasury stock method for unvested restricted shares, TB-PIUs, and deferred share awards and the if-converted method for exchangeable debt, common units, redeemable noncontrolling interest, PB-PIUs, PSUs, and vested PIUs and deferred share awards not previously settled by common share issuances.

Summaries of the numerator and denominator for purposes of basic and diluted EPS calculations are presented below (in thousands, except per share data):

Our diluted EPS computations do not include the effects of the following securities since the conversions of such securities would increase diluted EPS for the respective periods (in thousands):

The following securities were also excluded from the computation of diluted EPS because their effect was antidilutive:

•weighted average restricted shares and deferred share awards of 585,000 and 502,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively, and 561,000 and 429,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively; and

•weighted average TB-PIUs of 216,000 and 241,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively, and 220,000 and 235,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

Our 5.25% Notes issued in 2023 have an exchange settlement feature under which the principal amount of notes exchanged is payable in cash, with the remainder of the exchange obligation, if any, determined based on the exchange price per common share at the time of settlement, payable in cash, common shares, or a combination thereof at our election. Although we retain the option to pay the value in excess of the principal amount in cash, common shares, or a combination thereof, GAAP requires for diluted EPS reporting purposes that we assume such excess value is fully paid in the form of common shares for periods in which the weighted average closing price of our common shares is higher than the exchange price applicable to such periods. This resulted in us reporting an additional 2.1 million and 1.2 million shares in the denominator for diluted EPS for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, respectively.

17. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation and Claims

In the normal course of business, we are subject to legal actions and other claims. We record losses for specific legal proceedings and claims when we determine that a loss is probable and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. As of September 30, 2026, management believes that it is reasonably possible that we could recognize a loss of up to $5.6 million for certain municipal tax claims; while we do not believe this loss would materially affect our financial position or liquidity, it could be material to our results of operations. Management believes that it is also reasonably possible that we could incur losses pursuant to other claims but do not believe such losses would materially affect our financial position, liquidity, or results of operations. Our assessment of the potential outcomes of these matters involves significant judgment and is subject to change based on future developments.

Environmental

We are subject to various federal, state and local environmental regulations related to our property ownership and operations. We have performed environmental assessments of our properties, the results of which have not revealed any environmental liability that we believe would have a materially adverse effect on our financial position, operations, or liquidity.

In connection with a lease and subsequent sale in prior periods ofthree properties in Dayton, New Jersey, we agreed to provide certain environmental indemnifications limited to $19 million in the aggregate. We have insurance coverage in place to mitigate most of any potential future losses that may result from these indemnification agreements.

Tax Incremental Financing Obligation

Anne Arundel County, Maryland issued tax incremental financing bonds to third-party investors in order to finance public improvements needed in connection with our project known as the National Business Park. These bonds had a remaining principal balance of approximately $20 million as of September 30, 2026. The real estate taxes on increases in assessed values post-bond issuance of properties in development districts encompassing the National Business Park are transferred to a special fund pledged to the repayment of the bonds. While we are obligated to fund, through a special tax, any future shortfalls between debt service of the bonds and real estate taxes available to repay the bonds, as of September 30, 2026, we do not expect any such future fundings will be required.