Equinix and Digital Realty report sustained AI data center leasing momentum across North America and APAC.
AI-focused earnings beats, easing inflation at 3.4%, lower Treasury yields, and reduced expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike are drawing attention back to assets tied to data centers and power infrastructure. This mix is lifting broad indices while stoking concern about missing out on companies that could benefit if AI demand and lower rates support valuations.
**Equinix**
Equinix runs a global network of data centers that host and connect the digital infrastructure behind cloud computing, AI workloads, and everyday internet services. The company generates approximately US$9.9 billion in revenue from designing, building, and operating its IBX data centers, which form the core of its business model. With a market cap of roughly US$103 billion, Equinix is one of the largest players in the data-center REIT space.
The company sits at the heart of AI and cloud traffic, with management highlighting rising demand from hyperscalers and AI service providers, record interconnections, and plans for US$5 billion to US$6 billion of 2026 capex to add capacity. However, Equinix carries a high price-to-earnings ratio, significant debt funded through recent long-dated notes, and a 2% dividend that income investors will scrutinize against that leverage. The combination of AI-driven growth, premium valuation, and balance sheet risk makes Equinix a stock where the details matter significantly for long-term holders.
**Iron Mountain**
Iron Mountain helps organizations manage and secure both physical records and digital data—from paper archives and secure shredding to cloud-adjacent data centers and asset lifecycle services—across heavily regulated industries. Most of its roughly US$7.6 billion in revenue comes from the Global RIM Business at approximately US$5.5 billion, with close to US$1.0 billion from its Global Data Center Business and just over US$1.0 billion from Corporate and Other segments. The company carries a market cap of about US$36.2 billion.
Iron Mountain operates at the intersection of compliance-heavy records storage and growing demand for data center and digital services. Recent record quarterly results, higher 2026 guidance, and strong data center leasing momentum illustrate this transition, though the stock trades on a high price-to-earnings ratio and carries meaningful leverage with negative equity and uncovered dividends. For investors considering AI infrastructure alongside yield-oriented REITs, the balance between growing cash flows and balance sheet risk warrants closer inspection.
**NRG Energy**
NRG Energy is an energy and home services company supplying retail electricity, home automation, smart security, power generation, and energy management to households and large data centers across the U.S. and Canada. Most of its US$33.1 billion in revenue comes from the East segment at approximately US$16.9 billion and Texas at roughly US$11.0 billion, with smaller contributions from West/Other at about US$3.0 billion and Vivint Smart Home near US$2.3 billion. The company has a market cap of around US$25.0 billion.
NRG Energy operates at the intersection of AI-driven power demand and home energy services. A 1.2 GW Texas project with a cloud and AI hyperscaler, expected to run for at least 15 years, demonstrates how data center load growth can translate into long-term contracted earnings. Management describes the possibility of a power demand super cycle. However, heavy reliance on natural gas, dependence on external borrowing, and dividends not well covered by free cash flow create higher financial and regulatory risk if conditions deteriorate. For investors considering the AI infrastructure theme, NRG reflects a mix of earnings growth expectations and real balance sheet trade-offs that may warrant closer attention.