Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.

Key Points
Applied Digital’s AI data center business is booming.
It’s secured $16 billion in leases for the next 15 years.
Its stock isn’t cheap, and its upcoming cloud spin-off will reduce its reported revenue.
Applied Digital's (NASDAQ: APLD) stock surged more than 270% over the past 12 months. The builder of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers impressed the market with its rapid growth, its new lease agreements with CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV), the spin-off of its cloud business, and its planned transformation into a real estate investment trust (REIT).
Can Applied Digital maintain that momentum and soar even higher over the next year? Let's review its business model, near-term catalysts, and challenges to make an informed decision.
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How is Applied Digital's business model evolving?
Applied Digital builds and buys big data centers, makes sure they're adequately powered, and leases those buildings to companies that install their own servers. It initially rented its data centers to Bitcoin miners and other blockchain companies, but it pivoted toward the cloud, high-performance computing (HPC), and AI markets in 2022.
That business model makes it more of a real estate company than a tech company. However, it launched a new subsidiary, Sai Computing, in 2023 to provide its own cloud-based AI services, powered by Nvidia's (NASDAQ: NVDA) latest GPUs.
Sai grew much faster than its core data center hosting business. Still, it was unprofitable and awkwardly positioned as a competitor to some of its top clients -- including Amazon, Microsoft, and other cloud and AI leaders. That cash-burning business also contradicted its own plan to evolve into a stable REIT, which would simply rent out its data centers and split the rental income with its investors. REITs also need to pay out at least 90% of their taxable income as dividends to maintain a favorable tax rate.
That's why Applied Digital recently agreed to spin out Sai's cloud business and merge it with EKSO Bionics Holdings to create a new company called ChronoScale. Applied Digital will still own about 97% of Chronoscale, it will operate independently from its core data center business.
What are Applied Digital's near-term catalysts?
From fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2025 (which ended in May 2025), Applied Digital's revenue surged from $8.5 million to $144.2 million (excluding its cloud business). At the end of fiscal 2025, it operated two data center sites in North Dakota with a combined capacity of 286 MW.
However, its net loss also widened from $23.5 million in fiscal 2022 to $233.7 million in fiscal 2025 as it opened its second data center, purchased more GPUs, and served more customers.
Applied Digital is currently expanding its Polaris Forge 1 campus in Ellendale. It completed a new 100 MW AI/HPC data center last November and plans to complete another 150 MW building this year. It's also in the planning stages for a third 150 MW building. In other words, its capacity could more than double over the next few years.
There's plenty of pent-up demand for those new data centers, and it's already contracted about $16 billion in lease payments over the next 15 years. Most of those payments will come from CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV). This cloud-based AI server company will initially utilize 250 MW of Applied Digital's capacity and potentially up to 400 MW of its expanded capacity in the future.
Wall Street's near-term estimates for Applied Digital aren't reliable because they still include its cloud business. Those analysts will likely revise their estimates after ChronoScale closes the deal in the first half of 2026. For fiscal 2026, which could end before that deal closes, analysts expect its revenue (including its cloud business) to rise 38% to $297.3 million as it narrows its net loss to $91.1 million. With an enterprise value of $7.0 billion, it looks pricey at 24 times this year's sales.
If we split $16 billion in lease payments over the next 15 years, Applied Digital could potentially generate over $1 billion in annual revenues after it expands its campuses. However, that probably won't happen for at least two or three more years. Its lack of profits will also postpone its long-term plans to become a data center REIT like Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) and Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) -- which are both firmly profitable and paying stable dividends.
Where will Applied Digital's stock be in a year?
Applied Digital is growing rapidly, but its upcoming spin-off of ChronoScale and the soaring costs of expanding its data centers could compress its near-term valuations. Unlike Digital Realty and Equinix, it is not yet a stable income-generating REIT.
Therefore, Applied Digital's stock might rise moderately over the next 12 months as the AI boom continues, but I don't think it will replicate its massive gains from the past year. Analysts will also likely reduce their near-term estimates for the company once it spins off ChronoScale, so it might be prudent to wait for the smoke to clear before chasing its high-flying stock.
Should you buy stock in Applied Digital right now?
Before you buy stock in Applied Digital, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Applied Digital wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $505,641!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,143,283!*
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Leo Sun has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Bitcoin, Digital Realty Trust, Equinix, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Where Will Applied Digital (APLD) Stock Be in 1 Year?

As digital transformation reshapes industries worldwide, Equinix EQIX stands out as a cornerstone of the global digital infrastructure ecosystem.
Analysts seem bullish on this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock. The estimate revision trend for 2026 funds from operations (FFO) per share indicates a favorable outlook for the company, with estimates moving north over the past two months.
Over the past month, shares of Equinix have increased 4.6%, outperforming the real estate market. Given its solid fundamentals and positive estimate revisions, the stock is likely to keep performing well in the quarters ahead.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
What Makes Equinix a Solid Choice?
Solid Market Fundamentals and Recurring Revenues: Enterprises and service providers are steadily integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations and expanding their digital transformation initiatives, a trend that is expected to sustain strong demand in the near term. In this environment, Equinix’s geographically diverse portfolio of IBX data centers stands to gain from enterprises’ growing reliance on technology and the accelerated pace of digital transformation efforts.
Its business generates a substantial portion of monthly recurring revenue bookings (greater than 90% of total revenues over the last three years) from existing customers. The company generated 36% of its recurring revenues from its 50 largest customers in the second quarter of 2025. Given the growing demand for data exchanges worldwide, Equinix is well-positioned to grow its revenue base. Higher revenues, along with lower costs, will expand margins and increase profitability in the long run.
Portfolio Strength: Equinix has been achieving continued business momentum with its critical mass of customers and the resultant “network effect” within its IBX centers. Direct interconnection with its networks enables customers to increase the efficiency of their IT infrastructure, remove complexities associated with infrastructure administration and management and reduce costs.
Further, the benefits provided by the Platform Equinix have led to a loyal and blue-chip customer base. Platform Equinix's global reach, low-latency interconnection to the world's networks, robust ecosystems and cloud adjacency are increasingly being recognized by both enterprises and service providers as essential elements in private AI infrastructure. As a result, Equinix is gaining importance as a preferred location for private AI infrastructure deployment, which is likely to benefit the company over the long term. Currently, through its 273 IBX data centers, in 77 metros across 36 countries, customers can connect and satisfy their critical traffic exchange requirements.
Expansion Efforts: Equinix continues focusing on acquisitions and developments to expand data-center capacity in key markets and strengthen its competitive positioning and global reach. In September 2025, Equinix announced the opening of its first IBX data center, CN1, in Chennai, India. This facility is located in Siruseri, Tamil Nadu, covering nearly six acres. In June 2025, Equinix completed its acquisition of three data centers in Manila, Philippines, for $183 million from Total Information Management ("TIM").
The company’s expansion efforts have increased its total number of IBX data center facilities to 273 as of Sept. 30, 2025. Moreover, Equinix has an encouraging development pipeline. As of Sept. 30, 2025, it had 58 major projects underway across 34 markets in 24 countries, including 12 xScale builds.
Balance Sheet Strength: Equinix’s robust balance sheet position enables it to capitalize on long-term growth opportunities. As of Sept. 30, 2025, the company’s liquidity totaled $6.9 billion. Moreover, it enjoyed investment-grade credit ratings of Baa2 from Moody’s, BBB+ rating from S&P Global Ratings and BBB+ from Fitch Ratings as of the end of the third quarter of 2025, rendering it favorable access to the debt market.
Favourable Dividend: Solid dividend payouts remain the biggest attraction for REIT investors, and Equinix has remained committed to that. Moreover, Equinix has increased its dividend five times in the past five years, and its payout has grown 13.78% over the same period. EQIX's payout ratio currently sits at 50% of earnings. Given a robust operating platform and healthy financial position, its dividend distribution is expected to be sustainable over the long run.
Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks from the REIT sector are Digital Realty Trust DLR and Prologis PLD, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DLR’s 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $7.91, suggesting a 7.6% increase year over year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLD’s 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $6.09, calling for a rise of 4.9% year over year.
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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Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Key Reasons That Make Equinix Stock a Solid Portfolio Pick Now

Prologis PLD shares have risen 9.1% over the past three months, outpacing the industry, which fell 2.9%, signaling a notable turnaround from earlier volatility this year.
Investor confidence has been boosted by stabilizing industrial fundamentals, stronger leasing activity and positive commentary from the company’s third-quarter results. The stock’s rebound reflects both solid execution and a healthier demand backdrop across logistics real estate.
Prologis’ scale provides operational efficiency, while a strong balance sheet underpins continued expansion. Additionally, its strategic entry into data centers positions the firm to capture growth in this rapidly expanding segment, enhancing its long-term growth prospects.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Factors Behind PLD’s Stock Price Rise
The stock’s recent momentum is largely supported by Prologis’ strong third-quarter results. The company delivered record leasing activity of nearly 62 million square feet, highlighting improved customer decision-making and accelerating leasing velocity. Portfolio occupancy rose to 95.3%, while net effective rent change stayed exceptionally strong at 49%, signaling the durability of its long lease mark-to-market embedded in the portfolio. Lease mark-to-market stood at 19% at the end of September, setting the stage for solid rent growth as contracts reset in the coming years.
Demand conditions are improving, with management citing more optimistic customer sentiment and early signs of a broad-based recovery across regions. U.S. industrial net absorption reached about 47 million square feet, and vacancy has stabilized near 7.5%, suggesting a cyclical turning point for rents and occupancy.
Prologis’ expanding data center platform is fueling investor interest. With 5.2 gigawatts of power either secured or in advanced stages, Prologis now represents one of the largest owners of utility-fed power suitable for data centers. Strong demand is evident, as every megawatt over the next three years is already in customer discussions. Management is also evaluating new capitalization strategies to accelerate value creation.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, Prologis held $7.5 billion in liquidity with debt costing just 3.2% and more than eight years’ average remaining maturity, giving it the flexibility to invest through cycles and pursue build-to-suit projects and strategic growth initiatives.
Will This Trend Continue for PLD?
Supported by stabilizing supply, stronger demand and multiyear rent growth, Prologis’ stock has solid fundamental backing. The industrial REIT appears to be entering a constructive earnings phase. While broader macro conditions may influence near-term momentum, the underlying business fundamentals point to a positive medium-term outlook.
Moreover, the recent estimate revision trend indicates that analysts are bullish on this stock. Over the past two months, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 FFO per share has moved upward to $5.80. The same for 2026 has also been trending northward. The projections also suggest a 4.32% and 4.94% rise, respectively.
Despite the rally in the past three months, PLD shares have room for further appreciation, and including Prologis in a portfolio appears attractive, supported by strong operating fundamentals and a favorable long-term outlook. Also, solid dividend payouts are arguably the biggest enticements for REIT shareholders, and Prologis remains committed to that. In the last five years, Prologis has increased its dividend five times, and its five-year annualized dividend growth rate is 12.66%. Check Prologis’ dividend history here.
Currently, PLD has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Digital Realty Trust DLR and Terreno Realty TRNO. Both Digital Realty and Terreno Realty carry a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Digital Realty’s 2025 FFO per share is pegged at $7.35, which indicates year-over-year growth of 9.5%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Terreno Realty’s full-year FFO per share stands at $2.80, which calls for an increase of 15.70% from the year-ago period.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Is Prologis' 9.1% Three-Month Stock Rally Built to Last?

Key Points
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) can be powerful wealth builders in your portfolio.
REITs often outperform stocks, partly due to their dividends.
REITs tend to offer dividend yields that are well above average.
Most of us should at least be considering holding some real estate investment trusts (REITs) in our long-term portfolios. Why? Well, because they tend to be good dividend payers, and they also offer a way to invest in real estate easily, without the mess of being a landlord.
Better still, REITs trade just like stocks, so you can buy or sell them easily via any good brokerage. There's no need to hire a real estate agent and wait for a willing buyer. And you can sell any portion of your holding at any time, too. With an actual real estate property, you'll have to sell it all or not sell it.
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Here, then, are some solid and promising REITs to know about and consider.
Understanding REITs
Here are some things about REITs to know -- from our REITS vs. Stocks research report:
REITs are strong performers: Although stocks have outperformed REITs during the past few years, REITs have outperformed the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) over the past 20-, 25-, 30-, 40-, and 52-year periods.
REITs are strong performers due largely to their dividends: By law, REITs must pay at least 90% of their taxable net income in dividends. Thus, they often offer above-average dividend yields.
REITs tend to be less volatile than the overall stock market: This is because dividend payers, in general, are less volatile -- likely because most companies need to get to the point of having relatively reliable income before they will commit to paying a regular dividend.
REITs come in many flavors: Many REITs are focused on one or a few kinds of real estate, such as medical facilities, warehouses, data centers, self-storage units, offices, hotels, apartments, retail outlets, offices, industrial spaces, and so on. Thus, investors can focus on the niches they're most bullish on.
Know, too, that there's another kind of REIT -- mortgage REITs, or mREITs -- which provide real estate financing by buying or issuing mortgage securities and collecting interest on them. They are a more complex investment and may not suit those seeking dividend income, despite the tendency of mREITs to offer very high yields.
Some promising REITs to know about and consider
Here, then, are some REITs to know about:
This REIT owns many retail locations, along with casinos and more. Its annual dividend yield is about 5.6% -- and unlike most dividend payers, which make quarterly payments, this REIT pays its dividend monthly. (Note that, for context, the S&P 500's yield is only about 1.1%.)
This REIT is focused on strip malls and mixed-use buildings, among others, and it yields 4.4%. It's one of the oldest REITs, and has been paying and increasing its dividend for 58 years.
This REIT yields 6%, and it has upped its payout for 36 years in a row. Focused on retail properties, it specializes in triple net leases (NNN) -- which require tenants to cover all property operating costs, including routine maintenance, real estate taxes, and building insurance. (This is not uncommon in the REIT world.)
There are many more terrific REITs out there. Below are a few more to consider and read up on if you're intrigued.
American Tower (NYSE: AMT): This REIT has long specialized in communications towers and now encompasses many data centers, too. It yields almost 3.9%.
Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR): If you're bullish on data centers, this REIT specializes in them, and it yields 3.1%.
One more possibility -- REIT ETFs
Finally, know that you can spread your money across many REITs easily, via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are focused on REITs. (ETFs are mutual-fund-like securities that trade like stocks.) Some solid REIT ETFs to consider include:
Any way you go about it, consider adding some REITs to your long-term portfolio, for both income and growth.
Should you buy stock in Realty Income right now?
Before you buy stock in Realty Income, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Realty Income wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $505,641!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,143,283!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 974% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 193% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of January 2, 2026.
Selena Maranjian has positions in American Tower, Digital Realty Trust, Realty Income, and Vici Properties. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends American Tower, Digital Realty Trust, Prologis, Realty Income, and Vanguard Real Estate ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Vici Properties and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $180 calls on American Tower and short January 2026 $185 calls on American Tower. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

7 REITs That Should Be on Every Investor's Radar -- Plus 5 Promising REIT ETFs

Investors in Digital Realty Trust Inc (Symbol: DLR) saw new options become available today, for the February 2026 expiration. At Stock Options Channel, our YieldBoost formula has looked up and down the DLR options chain for the new February 2026 contracts and identified one put and one call contract of particular interest.
The put contract at the $150.00 strike price has a current bid of $2.45. If an investor was to sell-to-open that put contract, they are committing to purchase the stock at $150.00, but will also collect the premium, putting the cost basis of the shares at $147.55 (before broker commissions). To an investor already interested in purchasing shares of DLR, that could represent an attractive alternative to paying $154.72/share today.
Because the $150.00 strike represents an approximate 3% discount to the current trading price of the stock (in other words it is out-of-the-money by that percentage), there is also the possibility that the put contract would expire worthless. The current analytical data (including greeks and implied greeks) suggest the current odds of that happening are 63%. Stock Options Channel will track those odds over time to see how they change, publishing a chart of those numbers on our website under the contract detail page for this contract. Should the contract expire worthless, the premium would represent a 1.63% return on the cash commitment, or 13.55% annualized — at Stock Options Channel we call this the YieldBoost.
Below is a chart showing the trailing twelve month trading history for Digital Realty Trust Inc, and highlighting in green where the $150.00 strike is located relative to that history:
Turning to the calls side of the option chain, the call contract at the $160.00 strike price has a current bid of $2.80. If an investor was to purchase shares of DLR stock at the current price level of $154.72/share, and then sell-to-open that call contract as a "covered call," they are committing to sell the stock at $160.00. Considering the call seller will also collect the premium, that would drive a total return (excluding dividends, if any) of 5.22% if the stock gets called away at the February 2026 expiration (before broker commissions). Of course, a lot of upside could potentially be left on the table if DLR shares really soar, which is why looking at the trailing twelve month trading history for Digital Realty Trust Inc, as well as studying the business fundamentals becomes important. Below is a chart showing DLR's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $160.00 strike highlighted in red:
Considering the fact that the $160.00 strike represents an approximate 3% premium to the current trading price of the stock (in other words it is out-of-the-money by that percentage), there is also the possibility that the covered call contract would expire worthless, in which case the investor would keep both their shares of stock and the premium collected. The current analytical data (including greeks and implied greeks) suggest the current odds of that happening are 60%. On our website under the contract detail page for this contract, Stock Options Channel will track those odds over time to see how they change and publish a chart of those numbers (the trading history of the option contract will also be charted). Should the covered call contract expire worthless, the premium would represent a 1.81% boost of extra return to the investor, or 15.01% annualized, which we refer to as the YieldBoost.
The implied volatility in the put contract example is 31%, while the implied volatility in the call contract example is 32%.
Meanwhile, we calculate the actual trailing twelve month volatility (considering the last 250 trading day closing values as well as today's price of $154.72) to be 27%. For more put and call options contract ideas worth looking at, visit StockOptionsChannel.com.
Also see:
ETFs With Stocks That Insiders Are Buying
Funds Holding PFRL
ELVN Average Annual Return
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

February 2026 Options Now Available For Digital Realty Trust (DLR)

Key Points
Companies need to invest $5.2 trillion in AI infrastructure by 2030.
Data centers are the physical homes of AI hardware.
Power is vital to AI.
The AI revolution is driving nearly insatiable demand for hardware like high-performance GPUs, CPUs, networking equipment, and storage. Demand for this hardware is so strong that AI companies are buying Nvidia's GPUs and memory chips from Micron hand over fist. As a result, the share prices of AI hardware companies have skyrocketed in recent years.
However, hardware is only part of the estimated $5.2 trillion in capital spending McKinsey sees on AI infrastructure through 2030. Companies will also need to invest heavily in developing the physical data center shells, power grids, and electricity-generating capacity to support the AI boom. Here's a look at some of the overlooked pick-and-shovel plays that are crucial to the AI gold rush.
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The cloud is a physical space
AI technology requires specialized computing infrastructure. The centerpiece is an AI factory, a purpose-built data center that houses critical hardware. In addition to the hardware, this physical building shell requires advanced cooling systems and access to a substantial amount of reliable power.
Several companies specialize in developing data centers (shells and operating facilities). For example, data center REITs such as Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) and Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) play a crucial role in helping develop physical real estate to support AI. Equinix is building out several xScale data centers (large-scale, AI-ready facilities). In 2024, it formed a $15 billion joint venture to purchase land and build several new state-of-the-art xScale facilities. Meanwhile, Digital Realty launched its first U.S. Hyperscale Data Center Fund in 2025 to support up to $10 billion of data center investments. It also partnered with Blackstone in late 2023 on a $7 billion joint venture to build large-scale data centers.
Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE: BIPC)(NYSE: BIP) is another notable data center developer. The company has acquired several global data center platforms over the years to build up its capabilities. It currently operates over 140 data centers worldwide, with a total capacity of 1.6 gigawatts (GW). It sees potential to develop an additional 3.4 GW of capacity across its platform in the future. Additionally, Brookfield is investing in other data infrastructure to support AI, including plans to deploy advanced fuel cell technology from Bloom Energy to power data centers.
Powering the AI revolution
The advanced GPUs, cooling systems, and other hardware required to support AI demand a massive amount of electricity. Many AI data center campuses need over 1 GW of electricity, enough to power about 750,000 homes. According to an estimate by leading AI company Anthropic, the U.S. will need at least 50 GW of power for AI by 2028 alone.
Several energy companies are investing in expanding the energy infrastructure necessary to support AI. They're constructing new energy transmission lines, natural gas pipelines, and clean power generation assets.
One of the leaders in energy infrastructure development is NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE). The company is exploring the potential to invest over $25 billion in the coming years in developing additional electricity transmission projects to support the grid. Additionally, it has an extensive gas pipeline network that it expects to expand in the future to support growing demand for gas power. On top of that, NextEra is a leader in developing renewable energy. The company also formed strategic partnerships with Google to advance the deployment of nuclear energy and co-develop multiple large-scale data center campuses.
Williams (NYSE: WMB) is another leader in helping support the AI power boom. The natural gas pipeline company has several projects underway to increase the supply of gas across the country that should enter commercial service through 2030. The company is evaluating another 30 projects totaling over $14 billion of investment that it could build in the 2027 to 2033 time frame. Additionally, Williams has $5.1 billion of projects under construction to develop and operate gas-power generating capacity for data center customers. It has several additional power innovation projects in the backlog.
Building the physical infrastructure to support AI
AI has the potential to be one of the most impactful technologies in history. It can't achieve its immense potential without the physical infrastructure needed to turn chips into AI supercomputers. As a result, companies from Brookfield Infrastructure to NextEra Energy will play a vital role in supporting the AI era, enabling their investors to cash in on the gold rush.
Should you buy stock in NextEra Energy right now?
Before you buy stock in NextEra Energy, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and NextEra Energy wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $509,470!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,167,988!*
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*Stock Advisor returns as of December 27, 2025.
Matt DiLallo has positions in Alphabet, Brookfield Infrastructure, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Digital Realty Trust, Equinix, and NextEra Energy. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Digital Realty Trust, Equinix, NextEra Energy, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

From Power Grids to Data Centers: The Overlooked Winners in the AI Gold Rush

Key Points
The rise of AI and quantum computing has fueled demand for data center capacity.
Revenue and income from operations are growing steadily.
Growth has slowed in recent years, but rising demand and falling interest rates could help turn the stock around.
Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) is a different kind of real estate investment trust (REIT). Instead of holding properties such as shopping centers or apartments, the company specializes in data centers, owning more than 300 in more than 25 different countries.
Fortunately for the data center REIT, demand is booming thanks to industry tailwinds. Despite Digital Realty's size, such growth is on track to double the stock price within five years or less, and here's how.
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Growth and income in Digital Realty Trust
Digital Realty Trust was ahead of its time. The company's stock has traded since 2004, becoming the first data center REIT. This approach positions it to attract a unique set of investors. Because of its ties to the technology industry, growth-focused tech investors tend to follow it. Conversely, the requirement to pay a dividend ensures an income stream and likely makes the management more conservative than many of the tech enterprises it serves.
Thus, Digital Realty offers a balance of growth and income. Grand View Research forecasts an 11% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the data center industry. With that, the rule of 72 alone would point to a doubling of the stock price in a little more than six years.
Moreover, the state of the industry and Digital Realty itself could accelerate a rise in the stock price. The rapid growth of technologies that data centers support, namely artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, almost ensures that demand for these centers will rise over the long term.
To this end, the company acquired land in key data center markets, particularly in the U.S., where it plans to build more facilities.
Furthermore, investors should not forget the aforementioned dividend. The company once increased its payout yearly, but it has not approved a dividend hike since 2022.
Still, at an annual payout of $4.88 per share, Digital Realty offers a dividend yield of almost 3.3%. Since the S&P 500 average yield is about 1.2%, it offers a generous dividend even without the yearly increases.
How it fares financially
Digital Realty is on track to outperform the aforementioned CAGR from financial growth alone. In the first nine months of 2025, revenue of almost $4.5 billion grew by 9% compared to year-ago levels. Also, since the trust kept costs under control, its operating income rose by 66% over the same period.
Furthermore, its funds from operations (FFO) income, a measure of a REIT's free cash flow, is also bullish for Digital Realty's growth. In the first three quarters of 2025, FFO income surpassed $1.9 billion, up 17% from the same period in 2024.
Despite that improvement, competition and the need to invest in more space have weighed on the stock. Also, Digital Realty shares grew slowly over the last five years, even with a huge spike in interest rates earlier in the decade, a factor that tends to reduce profits for REITs.
Nonetheless, the Federal Reserve has cut rates three times since September. Those lower rates should make expansion less costly, which could bolster Digital Realty's top and bottom lines.
Amid the pressure on the stock price, the REIT's stock sells at about 22 times its trailing FFO income. Considering the rising income, dividend, and growth potential of the data center industry, this could lead to multiple expansion that ultimately accelerates the growth in the stock price.
A doubling of the stock
Given the state of Digital Realty, the stock could double in five years or less.
The industry CAGR implies a slower growth rate. Moreover, the recent drop in the stock price is concerning, and investors might feel more comfortable if Digital Realty resumed its periodic payout hikes and did not need to invest so heavily in expansion.
However, demand for AI and, likely, quantum computing in the future is only going to make data centers more essential. That likely means spending on expansion now will benefit the company in the long term, particularly with lower interest rates.
Ultimately, if it can keep FFO income rising by double-digit percentages, the company's growth and the low valuation should position Digital Realty stock to resume its increases.
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Will Healy has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Digital Realty Trust. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Prediction: This Data Center REIT Could Double as AI Demand Soars

Key Points
Resolution Capital Ltd acquired 6,402,102 shares in Healthcare Realty Trust, adding approximately $115.43 million in position value
New post-trade holding stands at 6,402,102 shares valued at $115.43 million
Healthcare Realty Trust now accounts for 2.2462% of fund AUM, which places it outside the fund's top five holdings
What happened
Resolution Capital Ltd reported a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR), adding 6,402,102 shares valued at $115.43 million as of September 30, 2025, according to its November 14, 2025, SEC filing. The real estate investment trust did not appear in the fund’s previous quarter portfolio. The firm reported $5.14 billion in total U.S. equity positions across 38 holdings at quarter-end.
What else to know
This was a new position, now comprising 2.2462% of Resolution Capital Ltd’s 13F reportable assets under management.
Top five holdings after the filing:
NYSE: WELL: $748,737,384 (14.5701% of AUM)
NYSE: DLR: $508,115,238 (9.8877% of AUM)
NASDAQ: EQIX: $470,611,320 (9.1579% of AUM)
NYSE: VTR: $460,085,634 (8.9531% of AUM)
NYSE: EXR: $397,939,721 (7.7437% of AUM)
As of November 13, 2025, shares were priced at $18.08, up 9.91% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 by 2.48 percentage points
Healthcare Realty Trust reported trailing twelve months revenue of $1,174,487,000 and a dividend yield of 6.07% as of November 14, 2025
Company Overview
Price (as of market close 2025-11-13)
$18.08
Market capitalization
$6.38 billion
Revenue (TTM)
$1.17 billion
Dividend yield
6.07%
Company Snapshot
Healthcare Realty Trust is a leading healthcare-focused REIT specializing in the acquisition, development, and management of outpatient medical properties nationwide. The company's strategy centers on building a high-quality portfolio of income-producing assets that support the delivery of outpatient healthcare services.
The company operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT), earning income from long-term lease agreements with healthcare providers and reinvesting in property development and management services.
Healthcare Realty Trust generates revenue primarily through the ownership, leasing, and management of outpatient healthcare real estate properties across the United States.
Its primary customers are healthcare systems, physician groups, and outpatient service providers seeking modern, purpose-built medical office facilities.
Foolish take
Resolution Capital is a specialist buyer of healthcare real estate, which makes its decision to open a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust notable. The firm added the REIT after a year when the stock lagged the broader market, pointing to a judgment that the underlying income stream remains intact despite investor caution toward the sector.
Healthcare Realty Trust owns outpatient medical buildings leased to health systems and physician groups. This is not a growth vehicle built for rapid expansion. It is a portfolio designed around long leases and steady usage. That dynamic has helped keep cash flow steady while higher interest rates pressured REIT valuations more broadly. Its shares have trailed the market, but the operating picture has been more stable than the price suggests. Rent checks are still coming in, and occupancy has not shown the cracks investors often expect in a slower environment.
For investors, the question remains to be whether the portfolio can continue to fund its dividend without strain as financing conditions settle. If cash flow keeps clearing that bar, Healthcare Realty may start to trade less like a rate trade and more like what it actually is: a steady owner of buildings tied to everyday healthcare delivery.
Glossary
Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT): A company that owns, operates, or finances income-producing real estate and distributes most income as dividends.
13F reportable assets under management (AUM): The total value of securities a fund manager must disclose quarterly to the SEC in a 13F filing.
New position: When an investor or fund acquires shares of a company not previously held in their portfolio.
Dividend yield: Annual dividend income expressed as a percentage of the stock's current price.
Trailing twelve months (TTM): The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.
Outpatient healthcare real estate: Properties designed for medical services that do not require overnight hospital stays, such as clinics or medical offices.
Assets under management (AUM): The total market value of investments managed by a financial institution or fund.
Quarter-end: The last day of a financial quarter, used as a reference point for reporting financial data.
Portfolio: A collection of investments held by an individual or institution.
Long-term lease agreements: Contracts to rent property for several years, providing stable income to property owners.
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Eric Trie has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Digital Realty Trust and Equinix. The Motley Fool recommends Extra Space Storage. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Resolution Capital Initiates Position in Healthcare Realty Trust After a Year of REIT Pressure

Key Points
An analyst at a prominent investment bank launched coverage of several data center companies.
He recommended two as buys, and Iren wasn't among that duo.
Iren (NASDAQ: IREN), a crypto miner that's been leaning harder into its data center operations, hasn't been an investor favorite over the past few trading sessions. It's struggling with several headwinds, notably the recent decline in the popularity of cryptocurrency, and a broad investor pull-back from artificial intelligence (AI)-linked companies (such as next-generation data center operators).
Compounding this, a prominent investment bank flagged several data center companies as promising investments, but Iren wasn't one of them. As of early morning Friday, the company's shares were down by nearly 11% week-to-date, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
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Getting real about REITs
That researcher was white-shoe investment bank Goldman Sachs, which on Thursday initiated coverage of several data center stocks. The company's prognosticator Michael Ng was bullish on data center real estate investment trusts (REITs) Equinix and Digital Realty Trust, flagging them both as buys.
His take on Iren wasn't as optimistic, however. In Ng's estimation, the stock only rates a neutral, at a price target of $39 per share.
According to reports, the analyst finds much to like about Iren's business, including its numerous successes with data center build-outs. While its growth has been impressive, it is a well-known stock in the crypto miner-turning-data center operator space, so its valuations are high-- a major concern Ng expressed in his note.
Richly priced
I would share that concern, even though it's clear that there's a bright future ahead for the companies that can most effectively play in the next-generation data center sandbox. Iren does indeed have much going for it as a business, but it's not the only player in this game, and it's not yet clear it can pull ahead. Given all that, I'd agree with Ng that it seems expensive at current levels.
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Eric Volkman has positions in Digital Realty Trust. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Digital Realty Trust, Equinix, and Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Why Iren Stock Was Getting Clobbered This Week

SBA Communications' SBAC portfolio is well-positioned to gain from wireless carriers’ high capital spending for network expansion amid growth in mobile data usage. The long-term leases with its tenants assure stable revenues. Also, portfolio expansion moves, domestically and internationally, are encouraging.
In the past three months, shares of this communications real estate investment trust (REIT) company have declined 4.3% compared with the industry's fall of 0.7%. However, analysts seem positive about this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SBAC’s 2025 and 2026 funds from operations (FFO) per share has moved 2.2% and 3.3% northward over the past two months to $12.89 and $12.86, respectively. Given its solid fundamentals and positive estimate revisions, the stock is likely to keep performing well in the quarters ahead.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Factors That Make SBA Communications Stock a Solid Pick
Robust Market Demand: Rapid advances in mobile technology and the surge in data-heavy applications are driving global growth in mobile data usage. Rising smartphone penetration, expanding broadband needs and worldwide 5G rollouts are pushing wireless carriers to add equipment and upgrade networks to improve coverage and capacity. This environment is boosting demand for SBA Communications’ wireless infrastructure. As consumer data usage continues to rise, the company’s extensive infrastructure portfolio is well-positioned to benefit from this positive, long-term trend.
Resilient Business Model: SBA Communications has a resilient and stable site-leasing business model. The company generates most of its revenues from long-term (typically 5-15 year) tower leases. With high operating margins, its tower-leasing business remains attractive. Wireless service providers continue to lease additional antenna space on the company’s towers amid the increase in network use, data transfer, network expansion and network coverage requirements.
During the remainder of 2025, management expects core leasing revenues in both its domestic and international segments to increase over the 2024 levels on a currency-neutral basis. This is due in part to wireless carriers deploying unused spectrum, and revenues from towers acquired and built during 2024 and 2025 and expected to be acquired and built during 2025.
Expansion Efforts: As the company continues to expand its tower portfolio and seek new growth opportunities, it focuses on business expansion into domestic and select international markets with high growth characteristics. In the third quarter, SBA Communications acquired 447 communication sites, including Milicom’s 446 sites, for a total cash consideration of $142.8 million. The company also built 151 towers during this period. SBA Communications spent $8.9 million to purchase land and easements and extend lease terms.
As of Nov. 3, 2025, SBA Communications is under contract to buy 78 communication sites for a total consideration of $66.9 million in cash, which is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2026. Such portfolio expansion efforts will position SBA Communications to leverage secular trends in mobile data usage and wireless spending growth across the globe.
Dividend Payment: Solid dividend payouts are arguably the biggest enticements for REIT shareholders, and SBA Communications remains committed to that. The company has increased its dividend five times in the last five years, and its five-year annualized dividend growth rate is 18.52%. Given SBAC’s solid operating platform, decent financial position and lower-than-industry dividend payout rate, the dividend distribution is expected to be sustainable over the long run.
Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Digital Realty Trust DLR and Cousins Properties CUZ, each carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Digital Realty’s 2025 FFO per share is pegged at $7.35, which indicates year-over-year growth of 9.5%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cousins Properties’ full-year FFO per share stands at $2.84, which calls for an increase of 5.6% from the year-ago period.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.