Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) Issues Earnings Results, Meets Estimates
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemDigital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR – Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46, Zacks reports. Digital Realty Trust had a return on equity of 5.88% and a net margin of 21.41%.The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Digital Realty Trust updated its FY 2026 guidance to 7.950-8.050 EPS.
Here are the key takeaways from Digital Realty Trust’s conference call:
- Digital delivered record leasing—signed $707M of new leases ($423M at DLR share), including the company’s largest-ever 200‑MW AI inference hyperscale lease and a record $98M in 0–1 MW interconnection bookings (21% AI‑oriented).
- Backlog and development ramp—total backlog reached $1.8B ($1.0B DLR share) and the pipeline scaled to $16.5B with ~1.2 GW under construction that is roughly 61–68% pre‑leased and targeting ~11% unlevered yields, giving multi‑year revenue visibility.
- Strong financials and tighter balance sheet—Q1 Core FFO was $2.04 (+15% YoY), management raised full‑year 2026 Core FFO guidance to $8.00–$8.10 (midpoint ~9% growth), and leverage fell to a multiyear low of 4.7x.
- Capital strategy and investment pace—Digital is expanding strategic private capital (closed a $3.25B hyperscale fund and cites ~$10B available plus $8B+ JV dry powder) while increasing CapEx guidance to fund the hyperscale buildout, supporting growth but raising near‑term investment needs.
Digital Realty Trust Stock Up 3.5%
Shares of DLR traded up $7.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $207.06. 1,639,465 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,029,368. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.06. The company has a market cap of $72.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.07. Digital Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $146.23 and a 1-year high of $208.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.
Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Digital Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 135.56%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 4.7% in the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 1,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 53.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 423.1% in the third quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC lifted its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.71% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DLR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Friday. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $190.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Digital Realty Trust from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.68.
Get Our Latest Research Report on DLR
Trending Headlines about Digital Realty Trust
Here are the key news stories impacting Digital Realty Trust this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Q1 results showed FFO and revenue upside and management raised FY26 guidance (Core FFO/FFO and revenue lifted), signaling stronger-than-expected demand. Digital Realty Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
- Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted a large backlog and development pipeline (1.8B backlog / 1.2 GW under construction, ~61% preleased) that gives multi‑year revenue visibility and supports the higher guidance. Earnings Transcript
- Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwinds from AI/cloud are explicitly cited by analysts and the company as driving robust leasing and pricing power — analysts view DLR as a primary beneficiary of structural AI demand. Structural AI Demand Article
- Positive Sentiment: Several firms materially raised price targets and kept buy/outperform stances (notable lifts: Raymond James to $235, Jefferies to $233, Bernstein to $232, Stifel to $230, Mizuho to $217, Citigroup to $226, BNP Paribas to $224). The analyst momentum is supporting buying interest. Raymond James PT Raise Jefferies PT Raise
- Neutral Sentiment: Company commentary and some reports note supply‑chain and operational hurdles; management says these are being managed but they could pressure execution/timing on builds. Earnings Highlights
- Neutral Sentiment: Valuation is elevated (PE/FFO multiples have risen with the rally), so upside now depends on continued execution and realization of the large pipeline. Analysts’ raised targets imply further upside but also reflect higher expectations. Valuation Note
About Digital Realty Trust
Digital Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: DLR) is a real estate investment trust that owns, acquires and operates carrier-neutral data centers and provides related colocation and interconnection solutions. The company focuses on large-scale, mission-critical facilities that support the physical infrastructure needs of cloud providers, enterprises, network operators and content companies. Digital Realty’s offerings are designed to enable secure, reliable and highly available IT infrastructure with an emphasis on power density, cooling, and physical security.
Digital Realty’s product set spans wholesale data center space, turnkey build-to-suit facilities, and retail colocation suites, complemented by interconnection services that allow customers to establish private and public connections to networks, cloud on-ramps and other ecosystem partners.