Digital Realty二季度电话会披露上调2026年核心FFO指引并强化数据中心租赁增长叙事

Earnings Call Insights: Digital Realty Trust (DLR) Q2 2026
"Digital Realty's momentum accelerated in the second quarter with record core FFO per share, supporting another increase to our full year guidance." (President, CEO & Director Andrew Power)
Management highlighted record leasing signals across product pillars, including "$108 million of bookings in our 0-1 megawatt plus interconnection business" and said the quarter delivered "a record 25-plus percent" renewal spread. (Senior VP of Public & Private Investor Relations Jordan Sadler)
CEO Andrew Power said hyperscale demand remained broad-based and noted post-quarter activity: "Subsequent to quarter end, we signed 2 additional hyperscale leases in the U.S., representing another $410 million of annualized GAAP base rent at 100% share or $205 million at Digital Realty share." (President, CEO & Director Power)
Management detailed strategic actions tied to its three pillars, including an expanded development runway and private capital scaling. CEO Andrew Power said the company "announced the expansion into the Kansas City Metro, securing 600 megawatts of utility power that begins to ramp in early 2028 with a long-term runway of up to 2 gigawatts of utility power" and added the planned acquisition of Columbia Capital "will meaningfully scale our private capital platform, adding more than $9 billion of fund commitments." (President, CEO & Director Power)
"Digital Realty delivered double-digit growth across virtually every major operating and financial metrics during the second quarter" and ended the quarter with leverage "at 4.7x." (Chief Financial Officer Matt Mercier)
"We are raising our 2026 core FFO per share guidance, excluding net promote income by $0.15 at the low end and $0.10 at the high end to a new range of $8.15 to $8.20 per share." (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
Management raised several operating assumptions, including: "cash renewal spreads of 9% to 11%" and "Same capital cash NOI growth of 4.25% to 5.25% on a constant currency basis" plus higher investment: "CapEx, net of partner contributions is expected to increase by $750 million from last quarter to $4.25 billion to $4.75 billion." (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
CFO Matt Mercier added capital recycling expectations were lifted: "we have added another $500 million to our dispositions and JV capital guidance." (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
The company reported core FFO of $2.65 per share, including net promote income, and said, "Excluding net promote income, core FFO was a record $2.13 per share, up 14% year-over-year." (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
Management reported a larger contracted revenue runway, stating, "Our total backlog reached a new record of $1.9 billion" and that in 2H 2026, "$635 million of annualized rent is scheduled to commence." (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
CFO Matt Mercier described notable one-time and episodic items impacting quarterly earnings, including: "we received $113 million of proceeds" tied to an insurance recovery, and "Digital Realty realized roughly $200 million of promote income associated with the Blackstone transaction." (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
On organic growth, the company reported: "Same capital cash NOI growth strengthened further in the second quarter, increasing 8.9% year-over-year" and added, "On a constant currency basis, same capital cash NOI increased 7.2%." (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
Eric Luebchow, Wells Fargo: asked how management underpins "multiple years of 10% growth" amid higher CapEx and deal accretion; Chief Financial Officer Mercier said the growth algorithm combines "renewal execution," hyperscale leasing and backlog, "another record in our 0-1 and interconnection demand," and private capital that provides "fee income."
Nicholas Del Deo, MoffettNathanson: asked how the asset mix may shift across colo/connectivity, on-balance sheet hyperscale, and off-balance sheet vehicles; President, CEO & Director Power said the company is growing colo/connectivity largely "on balance sheet," cited "142 new logos this quarter," and described hyperscale momentum with "$1.4 billion of signings" year-to-date including early July.
Michael Rollins, Citi: asked about development/power timing and a framework for fee income scaling; President, CEO & Director Power cited "north of $20 billion of projects under development" and "63-and-change percent pre-leased," while Chief Financial Officer Mercier said normalized fee income was "around $45 million" in Q2 and tied scaling to "$10 billion, $12 billion of capital" deployable in private capital structures.
Madison Rezaei, Bernstein: asked if AI broadening is changing hyperscale counterparties and underwriting; President, CEO & Director Power said AI-related wins were present in smaller deployments, noting "roughly 20%" of the $108 million in 0-1 megawatt bookings, while large footprint capacity remained focused on "traditional strong investment-grade credit names."
Jonathan Atkin, RBC: asked about openness to neocloud/LLM customer credit and demand vertical trends; President, CEO & Director Power said the scenario was "more hypothetical than reality" for DLR’s large deals, and Chief Revenue Officer Colin McLean pointed to a "record channel quarter" with "nearly 40% of our bookings" through channel and said interconnection is becoming a greater part of the proposition.
Jonathan Petersen, Jefferies: asked whether Kansas City signals a broader move into newer markets and timing; Chief Investment Officer Gregory Wright said the market "is going to quickly become the seventh largest data center market in the U.S." and that power "is starting in '28 and it's going linear from there on out."
Michael Ng, Goldman Sachs: asked if Singapore renewal spreads were unusual or repeatable; Chief Financial Officer Mercier said it reflected a "very supply-constrained market" and added, "while we might not see this every quarter," management sees "a healthy opportunity to reprice our contracts going forward."
Analysts’ tone was slightly positive and detail-oriented, with repeated probing on multi-year growth durability, renewal pricing sustainability, development/power timing, and credit mix (e.g., "walk through some of the puts and takes" and questions on whether renewal math "gets better"). (Multiple analysts)
Management’s tone was positive and confident in prepared remarks and remained steady in Q&A, repeatedly emphasizing execution and visibility (e.g., "our business is firing on all cylinders" and "we entered the second half of 2026 with a high degree of confidence"). (President, CEO & Director Power; Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
Compared with Q1, management language appeared more assertive on pricing and growth runway, anchored by higher renewal spreads and another guidance raise; analysts in Q2 focused more on multi-year mechanics, fee income scaling, and new-market expansion, versus Q1’s heavier emphasis on supply chain constraints and commencements lag. (Current vs. prior transcript)
Guidance moved higher again: in Q1, CFO Matthew Mercier raised 2026 core FFO guidance to "$8 to $8.10 per share," while in Q2, CFO Matt Mercier raised 2026 core FFO per share guidance (excluding promote) to "$8.15 to $8.20 per share."
Renewal spreads were a key swing factor: Q1 reported "$193 million of renewal leases" at a blended "5%" cash increase; Q2 reported "over $261 million of renewals" with cash re-leasing spreads "over 25%." (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
Backlog expanded and became more material to the investment narrative: Q1 said total backlog was "$1.8 billion"; Q2 said it reached "$1.9 billion" and highlighted scheduled commencements extending into 2027 and beyond. (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
Strategic activity broadened in Q2, with management emphasizing four transactions across growth pillars and detailing planned acquisitions (Teraco stake and Columbia Capital) versus Q1’s emphasis on new market entries (e.g., Telepoint) and land/power positioning for hyperscale. (President, CEO & Director Power)
Management cited seasonality and investment ramps as near-term offsets: CFO Matt Mercier said Q3 core FFO excluding promote could "moderate slightly" due to "seasonal ramp in net utility and R&M expenses," "a pickup in CapEx spending," and "asset recycling activity." (Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
Management framed leasing and development as episodic and capacity-constrained: CEO Andrew Power said hyperscale leasing "can be episodic from quarter-to-quarter" and CFO Matt Mercier characterized constrained markets as driving repricing opportunities but not necessarily repeating at the same magnitude each quarter. (President, CEO & Director Power; Chief Financial Officer Mercier)
Digital Realty’s leadership described Q2 as a record execution quarter, pairing a higher 2026 core FFO outlook (excluding promote) with record small-deployment bookings, sharply higher renewal spreads, and a larger backlog that management said supports multiple years of double-digit growth. Management also tied its longer runway narrative to increased development CapEx, expanded power access in Kansas City beginning in 2028, and a scaled private capital platform, while acknowledging quarterly variability in hyperscale leasing and a seasonal expense ramp that could moderate near-term results.