In addition, in light of regulation fair disclosure, it is our policy to not comment on our financial guidance during the quarter unless it is done through an explicit public disclosure. Our global scale, differentiated portfolio, and unmatched ecosystems are converting that demand into durable, profitable growth. Monthly recurring revenue growth accelerated to 11% year-over-year on a normalized and constant currency basis. This marks our third straight quarter of double-digit MRR growth with strong profit performance.

Total sales activity, inclusive of annualized gross bookings and pre-sales, grew over 30%, and we continue to see a record backlog. AFFO per share grew 18% on a normalized and constant currency basis, a direct result of the disciplined execution by our teams around the world. Given the strength of our performance as well as our bookings and pre-sales momentum, we are raising our full year guidance and long-term outlook. For 2026, we now expect revenue growth of 11%-12% and AFFO per share growth of 10%-12%.

This is the largest single guidance raise in the history of our company, reflecting broad-based durable demand and strong execution across our business. We continue to accelerate our capacity expansion to meet this growing demand. Looking further out, we expect to deliver top- and bottom-line growth well ahead of the outlook we provided last year. Through 2029, we expect total revenue growth in the 10%-13% range annually, with AFFO per share growing 9%-12% during the same period.

What went well
  • Equinix delivered its strongest quarter in years and issued the largest single guidance raise in company history, as the AI-driven infrastructure cycle accelerated across its business.
  • Monthly recurring revenue growth accelerated to 11% year over year (normalized, constant currency), a third straight quarter of double-digit MRR growth, while total revenue grew 16% to $2,625 million and AFFO per share grew 18%.
  • Annualized gross bookings grew 23% to $424 million (second-highest on record) and total sales activity including pre-sales grew over 30%, with a record backlog and over 45% of the Q3 bookings target already closed.
  • The company added a record 9,700 net interconnections and reported an adjusted EBITDA margin of 52% (up 300 basis points, or ~150 bps excluding xScale leasing fees), with 194 stabilized assets 82% utilized generating a 27% cash-on-cash yield.
  • Equinix raised full-year 2026 guidance for the second consecutive quarter (revenue growth to 11-12%, AFFO per share growth to 10-12%) and its long-term outlook, and is doubling the cabinets it delivers in the second half while pulling 7,000+ cabinets from 2027 into Q4 2026.
  • New products gained traction - Fabric Geo Zones for sovereignty (in preview with ~80 enterprises), Secure Cabinet Express (cabinet orders up 30%+), and Cloud Router bookings up 170% - and eight of the top 10 model providers and eight of the top 10 neoclouds already run key networking workloads on Equinix.
What went wrong
  • The quarter's 300-basis-point adjusted EBITDA margin expansion was flattered by ~$120 million of non-recurring xScale leasing fees (from 134 MW of leases including Hampton); excluding fees, margin was up ~150 basis points.
  • The aggressive capacity ramp raises the capital and risk profile: 2026 CapEx of $5-6 billion and $5-7 billion annually through 2029 is expected to lift leverage by about one turn and blended cost of capital by ~150 basis points, with near-term earnings drag from bringing capacity online.
  • Churn was 1.8% in the quarter, driven by renewal-process execution and some delayed churn (management expects to trend near the lower end of its 2-2.5% range in the back half).
  • Key European metros Frankfurt and Amsterdam remain highly power-constrained, and much of the incremental capacity targets the most power-constrained top-25 markets, keeping supply/power availability a watch item.

Guidance Changes

MetricPeriodCurrent guidance
Total revenue growthFY2026Raised to 11%-12% (guidance up $100M)
AFFO per share growthFY2026Raised to 10%-12% (AFFO up ~$50M)
Adjusted EBITDA marginFY2026~51% (~200 bps improvement; adjusted EBITDA raised $62M)
MRR growthQ3 20269%-11% YoY; total revenue +10-12%; adjusted EBITDA margin 51%
Capital expendituresFY2026$5B-$6B (ex real-estate acquisitions and xScale), accelerating capacity
Total revenue growthFY2027-202910%-13% per year (accelerating), adjusted EBITDA margin 53%+ by 2029, AFFO/share +9-12%/yr, CapEx $5-7B/yr

Performance Breakdown

MetricYoYNote
Total revenue +16% to $2.63B 11% recurring revenue growth plus ~$120M of non-recurring xScale leasing fees (134 MW closed, including Hampton).
Monthly recurring revenue +11% Third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, converting record bookings into revenue on broad-based AI-driven demand.
Adjusted EBITDA margin +300 bps to 52% Cost discipline, operating leverage and xScale leasing fees; ~150 bps ex-fees.
AFFO per share +18% Disciplined execution and margin expansion; GAAP diluted EPS of $4.83.
Annualized gross bookings +23% to $424M Second-highest volume on record; total sales activity including pre-sales up over 30%.
Net interconnections +9,700 (record) Ecosystem density and Fabric momentum (Cloud Router bookings +170%); interconnection revenue up ~9%.
Stabilized-asset yield 27% cash-on-cash 194 stabilized assets 82% utilized, reflecting differentiated infrastructure and firm pricing.

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

TopicPrevious mentionCurrent periodTrend
AI as demand accelerantAI emerging in the pipelineThe vast majority of the largest deals are AI-driven, spanning four use cases - stack (open models on private infrastructure to cut token cost), sovereign, batch (AI factories/training and batch inference with liquid cooling), and latency-sensitive metro inference.
Capacity acceleration and CapExMeasured expansionDoubling H2 cabinet deliveries and pulling 7,000+ cabinets into Q4 2026; $5-6B 2026 CapEx and $5-7B/yr through 2029, with 80%+ deployed in the top 25 metros where returns and ecosystems are strongest and typical builds are ~60 MW.
Interconnection and Fabric moatLargest neutral ecosystemEcosystem ~2x the next-largest provider; record interconnection adds plus new Fabric Geo Zones (sovereignty, ~80 enterprises in preview) and 170% Cloud Router bookings growth, creating a growth flywheel and mark-to-market pricing opportunity.
Pricing power in constrained supplyFirm pricingA demand-over-supply continuum supports firm per-kilowatt pricing and meaningful mark-to-market opportunity in constrained metros (Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Ashburn) over the long-range plan.
Margin expansion levers to 53%+~51% targetLong-term 53%+ EBITDA margin driven by pricing, cost-of-revenue improvement, and SG&A scaling via a functionalized, standardized and increasingly AI-automated organization.
Balance sheet and capital disciplineInvestment-grade, prudent leverageFunding growth via ~50% retained cash flow plus lowest-cost debt, targeting only a ~1-turn leverage increase and ~150 bps higher blended cost of capital while preserving investment-grade ratings; 3 GW of land under control with power largely contracted or high-confidence.

Q&A Summary

Eric Luebchow (Wells Fargo) asked what gives confidence in the large long-term guidance/CapEx raise and whether the revenue growth mechanism has shifted from MRR-per-cabinet toward billable cabinets.
Fox-Martin cited an accelerating AI infrastructure cycle (especially inference), materially better execution across sales, margins and financing, and a materially improved market versus a year ago; Leonetti stressed that 80% of capital targets the top 25 metros where demand exceeds supply and Equinix has ecosystem advantages.
Ari Klein (BMO) asked whether AI is changing deal metrics, composition, markets or interconnection attach rates.
Fox-Martin said deal density is rising as customers secure energy and compute capacity, interconnection remains very strong (9,700 net adds, ~9% revenue growth), and pricing has stayed firm even as footprints grow, preserving Equinix's yields.
Matt Niknam (Truist) asked where interconnect demand is coming from and the opportunity for incremental interconnect pricing.
Fox-Martin pointed to the differentiated Fabric suite (Geo Zones now with ~80 preview customers, up from 20) and Cloud Router bookings up 170%, framing an opportunity to elevate and monetize the value proposition, a day-one focus for the new CPO.
Michael Rollins (Citi) asked how the three regions are progressing and whether revenue growth is level or accelerating with higher investment.
Fox-Martin described balanced, diversified growth (strong Americas even ex-Hampton, an 'amazing' APAC quarter, resilient EMEA despite constrained Frankfurt/Amsterdam), and Leonetti said growth accelerates toward 2029 as CapEx deploys, with AFFO following revenue and 25% stabilized cash-on-cash returns 3-4 years post-RFS.
Jonathan Atkin (RBC) asked about renewal-spread contribution and the financing tools and leverage for the CapEx plan.
Fox-Martin cited firm pricing and meaningful mark-to-market opportunity in constrained markets; Leonetti said funding comes from ~50% retained cash flow plus lowest-cost debt, with leverage rising ~1 turn and blended cost of capital ~150 bps while keeping investment-grade ratings.
Michael Funk (Bank of America) asked what gives confidence that supply/demand durability will hold given large development spending across the industry.
Fox-Martin cited strong four-quarter execution, firm pricing, falling churn, and external durability signals (early enterprise AI, durable colo, rising networking demand, healthy IT budgets, accelerating server/silicon demand) plus a proprietary demand model; Leonetti added the bottom-up/top-down plan concentrated in 25 well-understood metros.
Michael Elias (TD Cowen) asked about power/ESA visibility, MEP equipment and skilled-labor availability for the incremental capacity.
Fox-Martin said Equinix has 3 GW of land under control (building ~700 MW) with power contracted or high-confidence, announces projects only after internal power/permitting gating, and manages supply-chain risk via strong procurement, pre-purchased M&E, fungible design and deep GC relationships; Leonetti noted ~60 MW typical builds are more manageable than 1 GW peers.
Cameron McVeigh (Morgan Stanley) asked whether open-weight models are driving private AI/enterprise inference and about capital-allocation priorities and margin puts and takes.
Leonetti reaffirmed prudent, mostly internal capital deployment and a 53%+ EBITDA margin target driven by pricing, cost-of-revenue improvement and SG&A scaling through functionalization/automation; Fox-Martin detailed the four AI use cases (stack, sovereign, batch, latency-sensitive) seen across the enterprise base.

More on Equinix Inc

Reported 2026-07-29 · figures from the Equinix Inc Q2 2026 earnings call.

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