Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR)

Digital Realty reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $1.9 billion on 29 October, 21 percent above the same quarter a year earlier 1.

Net income was $194 million, and $0.48 per share for common stockholders, against $0.15 a year earlier 1.

Bookings signed in the quarter, a record, are expected to generate $855 million of annual base rent at 100 percent share, or $627 million at the company's own share 1. Leases signed but not yet started add up to a record $2.5 billion of annual base rent at 100 percent share, or $1.8 billion at its own share 1.

Chief executive Andy Power said the results "underscore the global strength of customer demand for connectivity-rich environments" 1. The company raised its 2026 outlook for core funds from operations per share, a real estate investment trust's measure of cash earnings, to $8.30 to $8.35 1.

On 19 October the company closed the purchase of about 16 percent more of Teraco, the South African platform, taking its stake from 61 percent to about 77 percent 110. It also closed $1.4 billion of initial commitments to a new strategy for stabilized hyperscale data centers in North America 1.

The open question is how fast the backlog turns into rent, since new leases signed in the quarter start on average 17 months later 1.

Digital Realty traces its growth to its first property acquisition in 2002, and its chief executive describes a "20-plus year track record" 34.

The company says it received its first investment-grade credit ratings in 2009 and completed its first private capital venture, a vehicle in which outside investors put up money beside its own, in 2013 4.

Data Center Frontier reported in October 2019 that Digital Realty agreed to acquire Interxion, a European provider with 53 carrier-neutral data centers in 11 countries, in an all-stock deal estimated at $8.4 billion 9.

The outlet called it the largest acquisition in the data center industry's history, passing Digital Realty's own $7.6 billion purchase of DuPont Fabros Technology 9. It said the purpose was to expand the company's presence in both colocation and interconnection in Europe 9.

On 1 August 2022 the company completed the acquisition of a majority interest in Teraco, which its annual report calls the largest and most densely interconnected data center platform in South Africa 3.

Revenue was $5.48 billion in 2023, $5.55 billion in 2024 and $6.11 billion in 2025 3.

The annual report credits $447.1 million of added 2025 rent from completed development and lease-up, mainly in Northern Virginia, Johannesburg and Portland 3. Sales and contributions of properties in 2024 and 2025 took away $205.3 million 3.

Selling or contributing buildings to partners produced gains on disposition of properties of $995.6 million in 2025 3. Net income attributable to the company was $1.31 billion in 2025 against $602.5 million in 2024 3.

One example came in May 2025, when the company contributed operating data centers and development projects to a new fund for about $937 million of gross proceeds and a gain of about $873 million 3. After a later contribution it owns a 20 percent stake in each asset in that fund 3.

Converge Digest reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $1.6 billion, up 16 percent from a year earlier 7. In April the company acquired about 1,440 acres at Astra Enterprise Park near Kansas City for total consideration of $482 million 2.

In June 2026 it acquired the 64 percent of two Northern Virginia joint ventures it did not already own, for about $3.5 billion including $1.2 billion of cash and 12.3 million shares 2.

What it sells

Digital Realty rents space, power and cooling inside data centers, which house corporate computer systems and handle the exchange of data 3. Small deployments of 0 to 1 megawatt run from one cabinet to 75 cabinets, can start in days and generally sign contracts of 2 to 5 years 3.

Larger deployments above 1 megawatt can be executed in weeks, are built to the customer's needs and generally sign contracts of 5 to 10 or more years 3.

In the third quarter the 0 to 1 megawatt category added $130 million of annual rent at the company's share, and interconnection added $22 million 1. Hyperscale bookings, the largest cloud customers' leases, were $474 million at its share 4.

Interconnection and ServiceFabric

Interconnection sells the links between customers: a cross connect is a physical connection between two customer-defined end points in a Digital Realty facility, and ServiceFabric is a platform for ordering connections across sites 3.

The annual report counts over 232,000 cross connects, and says ServiceFabric offers virtual network orchestration to 305+ cloud on-ramps 3. In June 2026 the company added ServiceFabric MCP, which Converge Digest said lets AI software provision connections and is available across more than 800 data centers 8.

Where the revenue comes from

Rental and other services brought in $5.97 billion in 2025, and fee income and other, mostly construction fees and joint venture management fees, $143.8 million 3. Outside the United States earned 48.2 percent of revenue 3.

Customers

The annual report counts more than 5,000 customers, and the largest was about 11.7 percent of annualized recurring revenue at the end of 2025 3. On the October call management cited more than 6,000 customers 4.

Examples it lists include AT&T, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, LinkedIn, Meta Platforms and Oracle 3.

Sites and capacity

At 30 September 2026 the company's 311 data centers, including 88 held through unconsolidated entities, contain about 3.2 gigawatts of IT capacity 1. It also reports about 9.8 gigawatts of buildable IT capacity under development or held for future development 1.

Consolidated occupancy was 90.7 percent at 30 September 2026, up from 89.3 percent at the end of 2025 2. At the end of 2025 Northern Virginia led the property table with 16 buildings and 5.2 million rentable square feet, 95.1 percent occupied 3.

The people

Andrew Power is president and chief executive, Matthew Mercier chief financial officer, Gregory Wright chief investment officer, Christopher Sharp chief technology officer and Colin McLean chief revenue officer 1. The company had 4,282 full-time employees at the end of 2025, of whom 1,948 were in North America, 2,040 in EMEA and 294 in Asia Pacific 3.

Rivals

The annual report names Equinix and NTT, Global Switch Holdings and various private operators in the U.S. as competitors 3. Andy Power said on the October call that newer entrants to hyperscale data centers have emerged, but most lack the scale, balance sheet or funding to pursue the largest opportunities 4.

Problems and pressures

Utilities cost $1.43 billion in 2025, up 7.0 percent, and the annual report says new taxes or rules on energy use could raise costs further 3.

Andy Power told listeners that communities and officials ask how data centers affect utility bills, water and noise, and that the company has signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge 4. The annual report says the company is not party to any legal proceeding it believes would have a material adverse effect 3.

The umbrella, in words

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that runs its business through its operating partnership, Digital Realty Trust, L.P. 3. Its main brands are PlatformDIGITAL, the global platform, ServiceFabric for connections, Turn-Key Flex for ready-to-use space and Powered Base Building for customers who build their own halls 3.

At the end of 2025 it owned 49 percent of Ascenty in Latin America and 39 percent of Digital Core REIT, which trades in Singapore as DCRU 3. It also held 20 percent of each asset in its North America fund 3. It owns half of MC Digital Realty, a joint venture with Mitsubishi, and half of Digital Realty Bersama in Indonesia 3.

In 2026 the company acquired Columbia Capital, an investment firm that Converge Digest said manages more than $9 billion in fund commitments 52. The quarterly report puts the consideration at about $690.1 million 2. Since 19 October 2026 its Teraco ownership has been about 77 percent 110.

Vanguard Portfolio Management reported 29,513,833 shares, 8.58 percent of the common stock, at 31 March 2026 on Schedule 13G 11. Norges Bank reported 5.5676 percent at 30 June 2026 12. The company has Series J, K and L preferred stock listed beside its common stock 1.

On land, the annual report says the company's land and space held for or under construction could accommodate over 3,500 megawatts of additional capacity, including more than 1,000 megawatts in Northern Virginia 3.

On 29 October the company said it expects 2026 revenue, excluding promote income, of $7.050 to $7.125 billion and adjusted EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, of $3.800 to $3.850 billion 1.

It expects net development spending of $4,250 to $4,750 million and dispositions or asset contributions of $1,500 to $2,000 million 1. It expects cash rent increases on renewal leases of 10 to 12 percent 1.

Investor relations head Jordan Sadler said the backlog gives "strong visibility through next year and into 2028" and supports a multiyear double-digit growth expectation 4.

Converge Digest reported that the Kansas City site is backed by an energy service agreement providing 600 megawatts of utility power by early 2028, scaling to 2 gigawatts at full buildout 5.

In the third quarter the company bought land near Indianapolis to support over one gigawatt of IT capacity and land in the Charlotte area to support up to 600 megawatts 1. A joint venture with Rönesans Infrastructure is to build data centers in Türkiye, starting with Ankara and more than 22 megawatts 1.

Converge Digest reported that two of the three Northern Virginia facilities acquired from Blackstone are expected to stabilize in the first half of 2027 and the third in the first half of 2028 6. Digital Realty said the deal is expected to raise core funds from operations per share beginning in 2027 6.

Under the Teraco agreement the company has the right to purchase the remaining interest from the rollover shareholders for a one-year period beginning on 1 February 2028 2. Its next scheduled public appearances are Nareit REITworld on 17 and 18 November, the UBS conference on 1 December and the Wells Fargo summit on 7 December 1.

Andy Power said the company expects its strategic private capital platform to play an important role in the perpetual capitalization of hyperscale data centers 4.