Iron Mountain Exceeded Expectations in the Third Quarter

Iron Mountain caught attention by surpassing Wall Street expectations in a key earnings metric for the third quarter on Wednesday. The company recorded growth as businesses increasingly turned to data centers due to the rising demand for data center solutions for artificial intelligence applications.

The demand for computing power needed to train AI models and run applications like ChatGPT has caused a boom in the data center sector. This trend has expanded the market for companies like Iron Mountain that lease space.

Iron Mountain operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT). The company reported $1.32 per share in adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) for the July-September period, surpassing analysts' estimates of $1.25.

The AFFO estimate for the fourth quarter of $1.39 also exceeded the analysts' forecast of $1.38. The company benefits from stable cash flows generated by its core storage and record management business, which has a large and diverse customer base including Boeing, Akamai Technologies, and Coca-Cola.

Total revenue for the quarter ending September 30 rose approximately 13% year-over-year to $1.75 billion. This increase was supported by a 16% rise in services and a 10% growth in storage rentals.