Equinix earnings: third quarter 2026

Equinix, which rents out space, power and connections in data centres around the world, had sales of $2.571 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 11% on a year ago. Profit from running the business grew much faster, and the company raised its forecasts for the year. The cost of that growth is visible too: it is building faster than its own cash can pay for, and its debt has risen. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Nasdaq's earnings calendar shows an average analyst forecast of $9.28 a share for the quarter, against the $4.93 of earnings per share in Equinix's release. A gap that size suggests the forecast measures something else, most likely one of the company's cash-earnings figures per share, so the release does not allow the quarter to be called above or below what analysts expected. ¹²

The strong points

• Operating income, the profit from running the business before interest and tax, rose 27% on a year ago to $600 million, more than twice as fast as sales. ¹
• New orders hit a record, with the yearly value of new bookings up 35% to $533 million, and Equinix says prices are firming and it plans nearly 40% more new cabinets this year than it first expected. ¹
• Total sales slipped about 2% from the second quarter only because one-off sales nearly halved; the recurring rental base grew about 2.7% in three months. ¹

The weak points

• Spending on new buildings and equipment reached $4.392 billion in nine months, about 53% more than a year before and well above the cash the business brought in. ¹
• Total debt rose about 18% since the end of 2025, to $25.2 billion. ¹
• Interest costs rose about 27% on a year ago, to $163 million in the quarter. ¹

What the company expects

• Equinix raised its forecast for 2026 adjusted EBITDA, its own measure of operating profit before depreciation, to $5.29–5.33 billion, from $5.21–5.27 billion. ¹
• It also raised its forecast for adjusted funds from operations, a cash-earnings measure, to $43.71–44.11 per share for the year, from $42.69–43.29. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A strong report. Profit from running the business grew far faster than sales, orders hit a record and Equinix raised its forecasts for the year, but the growth is being paid for with rising debt and spending that outruns the cash it earns.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)

Notes

1. Equinix's results release, 28 October 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 29 October 2026. ↩