Digital Realty signed new data center leases in the third quarter that are expected to generate $855 million of annualized rent, a total the company called a record, and it raised its full-year revenue forecast for the third time this year. The Austin, Texas-based REIT also disclosed $742 million of land purchases in the quarter, including a site near Indianapolis meant to support more than one gigawatt of IT capacity and one in the Charlotte area meant to support up to 600 megawatts.
The figures come from Digital Realty’s third-quarter earnings release and financial supplement, dated Oct. 29, 2026.
Record bookings and a $2.5 billion backlog
The $855 million figure is measured at 100% share, meaning it includes partners’ stakes in joint ventures. At Digital Realty’s own share, bookings were $627 million, which the company also described as a record. That total included $130 million from the 0-1 megawatt category, which covers smaller enterprise and colocation deployments, and $22 million from interconnection, the fees customers pay to link directly to networks and to each other inside Digital Realty’s buildings. The company said the combined $152 million in those two categories was likewise a record.
By region, Asia Pacific accounted for the largest share of new leases at Digital Realty’s share, about $283 million of annualized rent on 79.7 megawatts, followed by the Americas at about $243 million on 75.6 megawatts and Europe, the Middle East and Africa at about $78 million on 29.5 megawatts. Across all regions, the company signed 184.8 megawatts at its share, and 267.2 megawatts at 100% share.
Those leases do not turn into revenue right away. The weighted-average gap between signing and the start of rent on new leases was 17 months, and Digital Realty ended September with what it called a record backlog of signed-but-not-commenced leases: $2.5 billion of annualized rent at 100% share and $1.8 billion at its share.
Existing tenants are paying more, too. Renewal leases covering $261 million of annualized cash rent were signed at rates 11.8% higher on a cash basis and 17.0% higher on a GAAP basis.
“Digital Realty extended its track record of execution in the third quarter with record leasing, an expanding backlog, and another quarter of double-digit earnings growth,” President and CEO Andy Power said in the release. “These results underscore the global strength of customer demand for connectivity-rich environments, trusted execution, and a well-capitalized partner with the reach and capabilities to support their evolving requirements across the digital infrastructure landscape.”
Earnings and a higher outlook
Total revenue was $1.9 billion, 21% higher than a year earlier and 10% above the second quarter when $201 million of second-quarter promote income, a performance fee earned from a fund partnership, is excluded. Net income available to common stockholders was $185 million, or 48 cents a share, up from 15 cents a year earlier. Funds from operations (FFO), the standard REIT earnings measure, was $1.97 a share, versus $1.65. Core FFO, which strips out certain one-time items, was $2.10 a share, up from $1.89. Adjusted EBITDA rose 13% from a year earlier to $978 million.
Digital Realty raised its 2026 Core FFO outlook, excluding net promote income, to $8.30 to $8.35 a share. It now expects total revenue of $7.050 billion to $7.125 billion for the year, excluding promote income. That is up from $6.850 billion to $6.950 billion in July and $6.600 billion to $6.700 billion when it first issued guidance in February. The company also lifted its expected renewal rent increases to 10% to 12% on a cash basis and its “same-capital” cash net operating income growth to 5.25% to 5.75%. Its development capital spending forecast was unchanged at $4.25 billion to $4.75 billion.
We covered Digital Realty’s second-quarter results in July. The third quarter shows the leasing pace has continued to build since then.
Land for gigawatt-scale campuses in Indianapolis and Charlotte
The $742 million of land bought during the quarter is the clearest sign of how large Digital Realty expects the next round of development to be. The company listed:
- Land near the Indianapolis metro area to support more than one gigawatt of IT capacity.
- A site in the Charlotte metro area to support up to 600 megawatts.
- Two parcels in the Chicago metro area for an aggregate of 360 megawatts.
- Land next to its Fort Gillem campus in Atlanta for hyperscale and enterprise colocation capacity.
- Smaller sites near its Ostend campus in Frankfurt, Germany, and near Crete, Greece.
The Indianapolis purchase comes as data center growth meets local resistance in parts of that market. The city of Indianapolis has finalized a data center moratorium through 2027. Digital Realty described its site only as “near the Indianapolis metro area” and did not say which jurisdiction it falls in or when it plans to build. More broadly, homebuilders have complained that data center developers are outbidding them for land.
After the quarter ended, Digital Realty bought land near Brussels for about $17 million and the freehold under its campus in Dugny, France, for about $90 million. It also acquired an additional 16% stake in Teraco, its South African data center business, from minority shareholders for about $688 million, principally by issuing 3.4 million shares, lifting its ownership from 61% to about 77%. And it closed $1.4 billion of initial cornerstone equity commitments for a new perpetual capital vehicle that will own stabilized hyperscale data centers in North America.
Funding the build
Digital Realty carried about $19.5 billion of debt at Sept. 30, and its net debt was 5.2 times adjusted EBITDA, up from 4.7 times at the end of June. It sold about 2.4 million shares through its at-the-market equity program during the quarter at an average of $191.84, raising roughly $450 million, and about $2.9 billion year to date. In October it issued β¬1 billion of 5.125% euro notes due 2036 and three tranches of Swiss franc bonds totaling about CHF508 million in net proceeds.
More data center and digital infrastructure coverage is in RealtyWire’s Technology & AI section.
