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.
Understanding data center REITs
A data center is a specially designed facility consisting of the building shell, electrical systems, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) mechanical systems, and other commercial space. Data centers feature highly secure and redundant equipment. They aim to provide customers with uninterrupted access to their data at any time.
Like most other real estate investment trusts (REITs), data center REITs rent space in their facilities to tenants. They typically rent space to multiple customers, as in co-location, but can rent the entire facility to one tenant. The tenants use the space to house their networking equipment and servers, allowing them to process and store data.
In addition to renting space, data center REITs provide several other specialized services to their customers, including highly reliable power, a regulated temperature, and physical building security. Data center REITs also provide interconnection services to their clients, meaning a physical network connection between two parties.
Advantages of investing in data center REITs
Data center REITs allow investors to benefit from the growth in data usage. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the immense computing power required for it, the need for server farms and large facilities capable of significant data processing will continue to grow. That should drive the need for additional infrastructure to transmit and store data, including more data center capacity.
Another benefit of data center REITs is that they tend to be relatively recession-proof because most tenants sign long-term contracts for space in a data center, allowing data center REITs to generate recurring revenue.
Risks of investing in data center REITs
Data center REITs are less risky than many other real estate investments and technology stocks. However, they aren't without risk. Here's a look at some of the factors that can affect these REITs:
- Interest rate risk: Rising interest rates affect all REITs because REITs tend to borrow a lot of money to expand. As rates rise, borrowing costs can increase. In addition, rising rates make lower-risk, yield-focused investments, such as bonds, more attractive. That often weighs on REITs to push up their dividend yields and compensate investors for their greater risk.
Interest Rate
- Oversupply risk: Data center operators often build new capacity on speculation. If they build too many data centers, the surplus can affect occupancy levels and rental rates.
- Environmental risks: Data centers use a significant amount of energy and water to keep servers and networking equipment running and cool. They face environmental risks from climate change, storms, and droughts that can affect a data center's ability to deliver 100% uptime.
Two data center REITs to consider in 2026
According to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), as of September 2025, only two data center REITs exist that are larger than micro caps, and they primarily focus on owning and operating data centers. Here's a closer look at these players:
| Name and ticker | Market cap | Dividend yield | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) | $54.2 billion | 3.09% | Specialized REITs |
| Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) | $77.0 billion | 2.39% | Specialized REITs |
1. Digital Realty Trust
NYSE: DLR
Key Data Points
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.
2. Equinix
NASDAQ: EQIX
Key Data Points
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.
Revenue
Like Digital Realty Trust, Equinix has an excellent financial profile. That gives it ample financial flexibility to continue expanding its data center portfolio.
How to invest in data center REITs
- Open your brokerage app: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
2. Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
3. Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
4. Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
5. Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
6. Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
Data center REITs vs. data center ETFs
There are pretty large differences between REITs and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in general, but those differences also apply to those based around data centers. Data center REITs are companies that own and lease space on large servers within a data center, along with the bandwidth that's required for users to access those sites.
Data center ETFs, on the other hand, may include data center REITs, but can also include other companies that are related, including companies that may service, build, or are otherwise less directly involved in the day-to-day running of a data center. ETFs are generally managed and adjusted as necessary by the financial institution that takes care of the fund, so stocks can move into and out of the ETF over time.
Data-powered growth
Data center REITs have benefited from the explosive growth in data usage over the years. This secular trend has allowed these REITs to expand their portfolios, driving fast-paced revenue, earnings, and dividend growth. Those upward trends aren't showing any signs of stopping, given the current projections for data growth in the coming years. Consequently, investors should take a closer look at data center REITs.
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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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