Digital Realty (DLR) Misses Q4 FFO, Provides Mixed '23 View
Digital Realty Trust DLR delivered fourth-quarter 2022 core funds from operations (FFO) per share of $1.65, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.68. It also fell short of the year-ago period’s $1.67.
While Digital Realty experienced growth in operating revenues in the quarter, rising rental property operating expenses acted as a dampener. DLR provided a mixed outlook for 2023.
Amid these, shares of Digital Realty were down more than 6.9% in after-hours trading at the NYSE.
The company registered operating revenues of $1.23 billion in the fourth quarter, marking a nearly 11% year-over-year increase. Operating revenues also outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.7%. However, rental property operating expenses flared up 8.4%, while total operating expenses increased 13.5% year over year.
Adjusted EBITDA of $639 million in the quarter marked a 9% increase year over year.
For the full-year 2022, the core FFO per share came in at $6.70, higher than the prior-year tally of $6.53 but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.73. This was backed by 6.0% growth in revenues to $4.69 billion.
Quarter in Detail
In the reported quarter, signed total bookings were estimated to generate $117 million of annualized GAAP rental revenues, including the $14-million contribution from interconnection. The weighted-average lag between the new leases signed in the fourth quarter and the contractual commencement date was 15 months.
Digital Realty signed renewal leases, marking $195 million of annualized GAAP rental revenues during the December-end quarter. Rental rates on renewal leases signed during the quarter rolled up 0.8% on a cash basis and rose 1.1% on a GAAP basis.
In the fourth quarter, Digital Realty acquired four sites totaling 65 acres for $55 million. The sites will support the future development of up to 84 megawatts of IT load. Moreover, DLR entered into a ground lease with an option to purchase a 4.6-acre land parcel, alongside its Dugny campus in Paris, France for a total expected investment of €34.3 million (roughly $36.6 million).
During the same period, Digital Realty closed the sale of a 25% stake in a data center facility in Frankfurt, Germany to Digital Core REIT in a transaction that valued the facility at €558 million or approximately $596 million (at 100% share), helping DLR reap net proceeds of €139.6 million or roughly $150 million.
Balance Sheet
Digital Realty exited 2022 with cash and cash equivalents of $141.8 million, down from the $176.97 million recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2022.
As of Dec 31, 2022, this data center REIT had $16.6 billion of total debt outstanding, of which $16.1 billion was unsecured debt and $0.5 billion was secured debt and others. As of the same date, its net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA was 6.9X, while the fixed charge coverage was 4.9X.
Guidance
Digital Realty expects the core FFO per share in the range of $6.65-$6.75. This is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.86.
However, DLR projects total revenues in the band of $5.7-$5.8 billion, which is ahead of the consensus mark of $5.13 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected in the range of $2.675-$2.725 billion.
This data center REIT projects rental rates on renewal leases to be greater than 3.0% on both cash and GAAP basis. The year-end portfolio occupancy is expected to be 85.0-86.0%, while same-capital cash NOI is estimated to grow 3.0-4.0%.
Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Digital Realty Trust, Inc. Quote
Performance of Notable REITs
Prologis, Inc. PLD reported a fourth-quarter 2022 core FFO per share of $1.24, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.21. The figure climbed 10.7% from the year-ago quarter. Prologis’ quarterly results reflected better-than-anticipated revenues, driven by healthy leasing activity and solid rent growth.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. ARE reported a fourth-quarter 2022 adjusted FFO per share of $2.14, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a cent. The reported figure also compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s $1.97. Alexandria Real Estate Equities' results reflected decent leasing activity and rental rate growth during the quarter.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represent funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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