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Aslan Research · Data centers

EQUINIX INC (EQIX)

Data as of 2026-08-21 · 28 quarters · filed in USD

The sharpest contrast is the pace mismatch: expenses grew 21% per year while revenue grew 9% per year. Backlog provides scale at 1.5x one year of revenue, giving the company a sizable pool of contracted work against that cost growth.

Revenue, last 12 mo $9.8B to 2026-06-30
Spend, last 12 mo $7.7B cost + R&D + admin + tax
Debt they report $20B balance-sheet borrowings
Money promised $29B debt + leases + purchases
Unrealized revenue $374M + $15B signed backlog
Due in next 5 years $14B the obligation wall

Earned, collected early, and merely signed

signed backlogrevenue (qtr)deferredQ3 '19Q2 '21Q1 '23Q3 '24Q2 '26$7.9B$16B

Reports $20B of debt; has promised $29B

Total committed money is 1.5x reported debt. The difference comes from $1.4 billion of lease commitments and $8.2 billion of purchase commitments beyond the $19.9 billion of reported debt.

promisedreported debtQ3 '19Q2 '21Q1 '23Q3 '24Q2 '26$15B$31B

What the promised total is made of, latest quarter

debtleasespurchase deals
today
67%
28%

Spending, by reported line

Cost of revenueR&DSelling & adminTax
2020
61%
36%
2021
62%
36%
2022
61%
37%
2023
61%
36%
2024
61%
36%
2025
61%
37%

When the promises come due

Debt and other commitments due in the next five years are 1.4x future revenue promised for that period. The filing also shows $1.0 billion of commitments due after year five, without a matching future-revenue figure in the FACTS.

$14Bnext 5 years$0years 5–10$0beyond 10$1.0Bafter yr 5, undated$9.8Brevenue promised to them

The rates that matter

Revenue growth /yr 9% 2020-Q2 → 2026-Q2
Expense growth /yr 21%
Promised money /yr 16%
Reported debt /yr 12%
Deferred revenue /yr 18%
Quarters re-stated 7 of 28 by cited reconciliation

Expenses as filed vs after cited reconciliation

$1.2Bfiled2019$1.2Breality2019$3.7Bfiled2020$565Mreality2020$5.6Bfiled2021$3.3Breality2021$6.2Bfiled2022$3.6Breality2022$6.9Bfiled2023$6.9Breality2023$7.3Bfiled2024$7.3Breality2024$7.4Bfiled2025$7.4Breality2025$3.9Bfiled2026$3.9Breality2026

6 patterns worth a second look

The filings show several areas that merit attention. These include financing and guarantees tied to unconsolidated joint ventures, related-party revenue and financing exposures, a changed definition of remaining performance obligations, and a post-period related-party sale of the Hampton data center campus with a $146 million cash contribution. The filings also show a quarterly income-tax expense value changing from $37.385 million to $37.000 million.

circular financing · 1

The company lends to the AMER 2 Joint Venture, which also generates interest income and related fees for the company.

off balance sheet · 1

The filings report substantial obligations involving unconsolidated joint ventures, including loans, guarantees, equity commitments and lease-related exposures.

redefinition · 1

The reporting scope for remaining performance obligations changed from total revenues including deferred installation revenues to revenues that explicitly include deferred installation revenues in the FY2025 filing.

related party exposure · 1

Related-party revenue and financing exposures increased across filings through joint-venture transactions, receivables, loan commitments and guarantees.

subsequent event · 1

The filing reports a post-period sale of the Hampton data center campus to a related joint venture together with a $146 million cash contribution.

value revision · 1

The quarterly income-tax expense value changed from $37.385 million to $37.000 million between the referenced filings.

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