What is the yield of the data center REITs?

As of mid-December 2025, the forward yield for DLR was 3.2%, and the forward yield for EQIX was 2.5%

Who owns the most data centers in the U.S.?

Digital Realty Trust owns the most facilities in the U.S. at 115, with Equinix second with 64.

Which REIT owns data centers?

There are currently only two pure-play data center REITs listed on U.S. stock exchanges: Digital Realty Trust and Equinix.

Are data center REITs a good investment?

Data center REITs can be good investments over the long term. For example, Digital Realty Trust is up almost 162% since September 2015. Equinix is up almost 122% during the same time period. They both also pay dividends, though how good they are varies based on the stock price at the moment. Right now, their yield is fairly low.

Do data center REITs pay dividends?

REITs are required to distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends each year, so unless your REIT isn't making any money, some dividends will come from it.

Can data center REITs hedge against inflation?

With computers and internet access being ubiquitous in today's world, data center REITs are closer to utilities than they are anything else. Although not technically a service that people must have to survive, the world is a difficult place without adequate computing power and space for businesses to run their operations online. This can make data center REITs a good part of an inflation hedging strategy.

How do data center REITs fit in an investment portfolio?

Data center REITs fill a lot of different places in an investment portfolio. They can act as primary investments, especially for investors looking for exposure to the tech industry with a dividend like a REIT. They can also behave as inflation hedges, in that data center REITs are similar to utilities.

2 Data Center REITs to Consider in 2026

Choosing data center REITs can come with great rewards as you support the expansion of cutting-edge connected technologies.

By Kristi Waterworth – Updated Dec 17, 2025 at 12:10 AM EST | Fact-checked by Frank Bass

Key Points

Data center REITs rent space for servers and networking equipment, aiding in data processing and storage.
They offer specialized services, such as reliable power and secure physical interconnections.
Investors benefit from long-term contracts and the sector's growth, driven by increased data use.

Data center REITs own facilities that operate crucial data infrastructure. They own and manage facilities that customers use to house servers and networking equipment to store and access data. With data usage growing, demand for these facilities continues to expand.

Here's a closer look at data center REITs and why investors might want to consider the sector.

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An infographic outlining the advantages and risks of investing in data center REITs (real estate investment trusts). — Image source: The Motley Fool.

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Interest Rate

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Ticker Information Table
Name and ticker	Market cap	Dividend yield	Industry
Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR)	$61.7 billion	3.40%	Specialized REITs
Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX)	$95.3 billion	1.98%	Specialized REITs

Data as of Mar 14, 2026. Showing 2 of 2 tickers.

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NYSE: DLR

Digital Realty Trust

Today's Change

(0.24%) $0.43

Current Price

$179.61

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$62B

Day's Range

$179.24 - $181.88

52wk Range

$129.95 - $184.79

Volume

1.6M

Avg Vol

2.1M

Gross Margin

25.35%

Dividend Yield

3.40%

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Digital Realty Trust is one of the largest data center operators in the world. In addition to renting space in its facilities to companies to store their networking and storage equipment, Digital Realty also leases entire data center shells to other operators, including fellow data center REIT Equinix.

Digital Realty Trust has delivered excellent results for investors over the years. It has spent billions of dollars buying data centers to complement its organic growth. Those two growth drivers have allowed the data center REIT to expand its core funds from operations (FFO) at a rapid pace since 2005, with a 5.8% growth anticipated for 2025.

The REIT has a strong financial profile, including an investment-grade credit rating and conservative dividend payout ratio. Those features give it the flexibility to continue growing in the future.

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NASDAQ: EQIX

Equinix

Today's Change

(-0.16%) $-1.57

Current Price

$969.90

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$95B

Day's Range

$962.64 - $983.38

52wk Range

$701.41 - $992.90

Volume

512K

Avg Vol

633K

Gross Margin

31.50%

Dividend Yield

1.98%

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Equinix is one of the world's largest digital infrastructure companies. It has more than 10,000 customers and 482,000 total interconnections on its systems.

Equinix also has an excellent growth track record. As of the end of fiscal year 2024, the data center REIT had increased its quarterly revenue for more than 22 straight years, which the company claims is the longest track record of any company in the S&P 500. One factor driving its steady growth is its high-recurring revenue business model. On top of that, the REIT has a knack for steadily expanding its operations through ground-up developments and acquisitions, allowing it to create significant shareholder value.

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Revenue

Revenue is a business’s gross income or the amount of money it brings in from regular operations before costs are considered.

Like Digital Realty Trust, Equinix has an excellent financial profile. That gives it ample financial flexibility to continue expanding its data center portfolio.

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The future of data center REITs

The future of any particular data center REIT is based on its own business model and how well it manages things like debt and customer demand, but overall, the future of data center REITs is bright.

With the rise of AI and the hunger for computing power that doesn't exist yet, data center REITs have a lot of room to grow and future market share to capture. As the AI boom continues, the need for data centers will only continue to grow.

The flip side of that, of course, is that when or if the AI bubble pops, and some amount of demand disappears, data center REITs that haven't been managing their business well may suffer, or even fail. Even just the plateauing of demand for computing power will create situations where some data center REITs naturally fall behind.

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Data Center REITs FAQ

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About the Author

Kristi Waterworth has been a contributing real estate and financial expert at The Motley Fool, covering real estate, investing, and personal finance topics, since 2020. Kristi has been interviewed by various TV media outlets and podcasts for her real estate investing expertise – from residential real estate to digital real estate and everything in between. Kristi’s journalist career spans over 25 years, and she has written about real estate investing, homeownership, and home construction specifically for the last decade. She was also previously a licensed Realtor and general building contractor before the Great Recession and housing market collapse. She holds a bachelor’s degree in American history from Columbia College in Missouri.

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Kristi Waterworth 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 has a disclosure policy.