Digital Realty’s DLR portfolio of data centers globally is well-positioned to benefit from the growing digital transformation, cloud computing and proliferation of artificial intelligence. A solid tenant base assures stable revenues. It also carries out strategic investments in land, infrastructure and acquisitions, which is encouraging. The company’s healthy balance sheet position will likely aid its growth endeavors. However, competition in its industry and concentration of assets are concerning.

Last month, DLR reported its fourth-quarter 2024 constant-currency core funds from operations (FFO) per share of $1.73, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.69. Results reflected steady leasing momentum with better rental rates amid rising demand. However, higher operating expenses undermined the performance to an extent.

What is Supporting DLR?

With the growth in cloud computing, the Internet of Things and Big Data, and an increasing number of companies opting for third-party IT infrastructure, data-center REITs like Digital Realty are experiencing a booming market. The company witnessed a second consecutive quarter of record leasing activity in its 0-1 megawatt and interconnection segments, bringing the total leasing to $1 billion for 2024.

DLR has a high-quality, diversified customer base comprising tenants from cloud, content, information technology, network, and other enterprise and financial industries. The company is poised for growth, with more than 5,000 global customers and growing. Its tenant roster includes several behemoths, with a majority being investment grade. This assures stable revenue generation for the company.

Digital Realty is expected to ride on its growth curve backed by strategic investments in land, infrastructure and acquisitions. During the fourth quarter of 2024, Digital Realty closed on the following acquisitions, a 6.7-acre parcel in Richardson, TX, for $15 million to support the development of up to 100 MW of incremental IT capacity, a 156-acre land parcel in Charlotte, NC, for $160 million with up to 400 MW of IT capacity and a three-acre land parcel in Madrid, Spain, for $26 million with up to 24 MW of IT capacity.

Digital Realty has a solid balance sheet with ample liquidity. The company exited the fourth quarter of 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $3.87 billion. Its debt maturity schedule is well-laddered, with a weighted average maturity of 4.2 years and a 2.7% weighted average coupon as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Its capital-recycling efforts aimed at bolstering balance sheet strength and driving long-term growth are encouraging. For 2025, it expects to carry out dispositions/joint venture capital in the range of $0.5-$1.0 billion. With proceeds from asset sales and growth in cash flows as the signed leases commence, the company is expected to experience an improvement in net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA.

What is Affecting Digital Realty?

DLR faces intense competition in its industry. Given the solid growth potential of the data center real estate market, competition is expected to increase in the upcoming period from existing players and the entry of new players. Amid this, there is likely to be aggressive pricing pressure in the data-center market.

Although the company has been focusing on expanding its global footprint, some of its assets are concentrated in certain regions. As of Dec. 31, 2024, Northern Virginia, Chicago and Frankfurt accounted for 14.2%, 5.1% and 4.8%, respectively, of the company's total annualized rent.Therefore, its performance is susceptible to the economic condition of these regions.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have lost 16.5% over the past three months, underperforming the industry’s decline of 2.4%. Analysts seem bearish on it, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 FFO per share having been revised marginally southward over the past month to $7.05.

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are SL Green Realty SLG and Welltower WELL, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SL Green Realty’s 2025 FFO per share is pegged at $5.52, which implies year-over-year growth of 9.7%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Welltower’s 2025 FFO per share is pinned at $4.88, which indicates an increase of 13% from the year-ago period.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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