Equinix, Inc. EQIX is scheduled to report third-quarter 2026 results on Oct. 28, after market close. The company’s quarterly results are likely to display a year-over-year rise in revenues and adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share.
In the previous quarter, this Redwood City, CA-based data center real estate investment trust (REIT) reported an AFFO of $10.78 per share, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.25. The results reflected higher recurring revenues on stronger underlying demand and robust bookings. Non-recurring revenues more than doubled, driven primarily by xScale leasing fees.
Over the preceding four quarters, EQIX’s AFFO per share surpassed the consensus estimate on two occasions and missed in the remaining quarters, with the average beat being 2.05%. This is depicted in the graph below:
Equinix, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Equinix, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Equinix, Inc. Quote
Factors at Play for Equinix
In the third quarter of 2026, Equinix is likely to have benefited from the solid demand for interconnected data center infrastructure. Enterprises’ and service providers’ continued efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into their strategies and offerings and advance their digital transformation agendas are likely to keep demand up in the upcoming years.
Moreover, the demand for Equinix’s interconnected ecosystem is likely to have remained strong, driven by accelerating enterprise cloud adoption and increasing demand from cloud and internet customers for highly interconnected data center space.
The company’s recurring revenue model, which comprises colocation, related interconnection and managed infrastructure services, is expected to have supported stable cash flows in the to-be-reported quarter, boosting the data center REIT’s top line.
Q3 Projections for EQIX
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for colocation revenues is pegged at $1.81 billion, suggesting growth from $1.64 billion in the prior-year period. The consensus mark for interconnection revenues is pinned at $469.6 million, indicating growth from $422 million in the prior-year period.
The consensus mark for managed infrastructure revenues is pegged at $120.3 million, implying an increase from $118 million reported in the prior-year period. The consensus mark for other revenues is pinned at $39.7 million, indicating a rise from $38 million in the prior-year quarter.
For the third quarter of 2026, Equinix projected revenues between $2.525 billion and $2.575 billion, implying a 9-11% increase year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $2.57 billion, indicating an increase of 11% from the year-ago period’s reported figure.
EQIX estimated adjusted EBITDA in the range of $1.275-$1.315 billion for the third quarter.
However, high interest expenses may have partly impeded the company’s quarterly performance.
EQIX’s activities during the to-be-reported period were inadequate to garner analysts’ confidence. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly AFFO per share has been revised 21 cents downward to $10.51 over the past three months. However, it suggests a 6.9% increase from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.
What Our Quantitative Model Predicts for EQIX
Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict a surprise in terms of AFFO per share for Equinix this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an AFFO beat, which is not the case here.
Equinix currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank of 3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks That Warrant a Look
Here are two other stocks from the broader REIT sector — Ventas VTR and Host Hotels & Resorts HST — you may want to consider, as our model shows that these also have the right combination of elements to report an FFO beat this quarter.
Ventas is slated to report quarterly numbers on Oct. 27, 2026. VTR has an Earnings ESP of +0.70% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Host Hotels is slated to report quarterly numbers on Nov. 4, 2026. HST has an Earnings ESP of +3.20% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).