Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
Orin's own judgment of how firmly the evidence points one way — not the chance the price goes up.
Digital Realty's Q2 2026 revenue surged 28.9% YoY to $1.924B with diluted EPS of $1.21 versus a $0.483 estimate, confirming that AI-driven data center demand is accelerating, and the company is expanding capacity globally with the new 24 MW KIX15 facility in Osaka.
However, the stock trades at 82.4x earnings versus a peer median of 65.8x (a 25.2% premium), total debt reached $24.18B as of FY2025, and the company just priced an additional €1B of 5.1% notes due 2036 plus CHF510M of Swiss bonds in early October 2026, extending balance-sheet leverage. Insiders have been net sellers over 24 months with zero open-market acquisitions, and the stock sits below its 50-day moving average of $186.77 as of 9 Oct. The secular AI infrastructure thesis is intact and smart money is modestly constructive, but the premium valuation and accelerating debt issuance warrant patience for evidence that leasing momentum translates into deleveraging rather than further capital intensity.
What could go wrong
- Debt accumulation. Total debt rose from $18.0B at FY2024 to $24.18B at FY2025, and the company just issued €1B Euro notes and CHF510M Swiss bonds in October 2026, increasing interest burden and refinancing risk.
- Valuation premium. At 82.4x PE versus a peer median of 65.8x, DLR trades at a 25.2% premium; any deceleration in revenue growth or AI capex cycle could compress the multiple sharply.
- Insider selling. Over 24 months, insiders executed 5 dispositions with zero open-market acquisitions, netting -62,541 shares for -$10.88M; no insider cluster buying signals confidence from management.
- Erratic quarterly gross profit. Q1 2026 gross profit was -$62.1M and Q4 2025 was -$24.2M, swinging to +$162.1M in Q2 2026, suggesting cost recognition volatility that could cloud margin visibility.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: Q2 2026 results and earnings vs estimates · peer comparison · FY25 fundamentals · news, 6 Oct. Orin's read on DLR; not advice.
How has the share price moved?
Up 0.5% over twelve months, from $178.14 on 27 Oct 2025 to $179.01 at the Tue 27 Oct 2026 close. Its highest close in that time was $203.91 on 20 Apr 2026; the last close is 12.2% below it.
- Green line: the closing price each trading day.
- Grey line: the average closing price over the last 50 trading days.
- Dashed amber line: the same over the last 200 trading days — a slower, smoother line.
- Bars along the bottom: shares traded each day — green when it closed higher than the day before, rose when lower (the most, 11.4M, on 30 Jun 2026).
- Flags: the company's filings, on the day they were made (a 10-Q is the quarterly report and a 10-K the annual report; an 8-K reports a major event).
On file
All DLR filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | $7.3B | 0.1% |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $5.4B | 0.2% |
| Vanguard Capital Management | $4.0B | 0.1% |
| State Street | $3.7B | 0.1% |
| Norges Bank | $3.5B | 0.3% |
| Blackstone | $2.2B | 6.7% |
| Geode Capital Management | $1.7B | 0.1% |
| Bank of America | $1.6B | 0.1% |
| Canada Pension Plan Investment Board | $1.2B | 0.7% |
| Morgan Stanley | $1.2B | 0.1% |
119 of the 815 filers we track · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 69 Form 4 filings; open-market trades net −$10.9M. Of the 50 on hand, 0 were open-market purchases and 3 sales — the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about DLR
Orin answers questions about DLR from its filings, transcripts and numbers — with the source behind every claim. Your own desk starts with 3 free days, card required.
Start 3 free days →How is it priced, against its own past and its sector?
Priced at 82.5× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close) — higher than in 3 of its last 5 fiscal years (middle 44.3×); the typical Real Estate company on the NYSE is at 42.4×.
| Measure | Now | Its usual | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 82.5×above usual | 44.3× | 42.4× |
| P/S | 9.70×above usual | 8.69× | — |
| EV/EBITDA | 24.3×above usual | 20.4× | — |
| P/B | 2.3×near usual | 2.3× | — |
- "Its usual" is the middle of its own last 5 fiscal years.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
P/S: the company's total market value divided by one year of revenue. Used when there is no profit to measure.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
P/B: the share price divided by the book value per share — what the company owns minus what it owes, as its accounts record it. When book value is tiny, P/B swings wildly and says little.
What do the analysts who cover it publish?
The analysts' average 12-month price target is $222 (from $197 to $240) — 24% above the Tue 27 Oct close price. That is their published opinion, not Orin's.
$222
$197 – $240 · +24% against the last close
- 20 buy or overweight
- 3 hold
- 0 underweight or sell
Price target: the share price an analyst publishes for about 12 months ahead. It is the opinion of the firm that wrote it; the average is across the firms that cover the company.
Overweight / underweight: analysts' rating words: overweight means the firm expects the stock to do better than the others it covers, underweight worse. Their words, not Orin's.
How is it priced next to the companies it is compared to?
Priced at 82.5× its last 12 months of profit. Only 2 of the 3 companies it is compared to made a profit (EQIX 64.1×, IRM 68.5×), so there is no typical P/E.
| Company | Market value | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross margin | Net margin | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DLRDigital Realty Trust, Inc. | $66B | 82.5× | 24.3× | n/a | 11.7% | 3% |
| APLDApplied Digital Corp. | $6B | lost money | n/m | 20.2% | −54.2% | −28% |
| EQIXEquinix, Inc. | $99B | 64.1× | 26.9× | n/a | 15.6% | 11% |
| IRMIron Mountain Incorporated | $31B | 68.5× | 13.8× | n/a | 5.9% | n/m |
- APLD: lost money over the last 12 months, so no P/E.
- IRM: return on equity is not meaningful (n/m) — book value is below zero.
- DLR, EQIX, IRM: gross margin is not used (n/a) for a bank, an insurer or a property trust — what it sells is money or space, not goods.
- APLD: EV/EBITDA is not meaningful (n/m) — its cash exceeds its market value plus debt, or the business lost money before depreciation.
- The list of companies is the data vendor's choice, so it can include a company a person would not have picked.
Market value: the share price times the number of shares — what the whole company is priced at.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
Gross margin: the share of each $1 of sales left after the direct cost of making what was sold.
Net margin: the share of each $1 of sales kept as profit after every cost. Below zero, the company lost money.
ROE: return on equity: one year of profit as a share of the shareholders' money in the business (its book value).
Is it priced high or low compared with its own past?
Priced at 82.5× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close). It has no full fiscal year on file since its history starts, so there is nothing of its own to compare with.
- Now82.5×
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
Fiscal year (FY): the company's own 12-month accounting year, which need not match the calendar year.
How has its sector been priced?
Real Estate companies on the NYSE were priced at a typical 42.4× their yearly profit (Tue 27 Oct close).
- Now42.4×
- Each year is the middle of that calendar year's daily sector P/E; "Now" is the Tue 27 Oct close figure, the same one in the table above.
Sector P/E: the middle P/E of the companies in the same sector on the same stock exchange, as the data vendor works it out each day.
What does a cash-flow model say a share is worth?
Neither version of the cash-flow model gives a usable value.
- Standard: comes out below zero, so it is not shown.
- Levered: comes out below zero, so it is not shown.
Discounted cash flow: a model's estimate of what the company is worth today, from the cash it is forecast to make in future years. Small changes in the forecast move it a lot, and it says little about a company that loses money.