Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM) raised its full-year outlook after third-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings rose by double digits, helped by growth in data centers and asset lifecycle management. The company also increased its quarterly dividend by 15%.
Revenue rose 13% from a year earlier to $1.99 billion, while adjusted EBITDA increased 13% to $748 million. Adjusted funds from operations, or AFFO, grew 17% to $458 million, or $1.53 per share, Chief Financial Officer Barry Hytinen said. Revenue growth was also 13% on an organic basis.
President and CEO Bill Meaney said results exceeded the company’s expectations across key metrics. Iron Mountain’s adjusted EBITDA margin was 37.6%, up nearly 200 basis points from the second quarter and consistent with a year earlier, Hytinen said.
Higher outlook and dividend
Iron Mountain now expects 2026 revenue of $7.95 billion to $8.02 billion, representing 16% growth at the midpoint. The company projected adjusted EBITDA of $2.948 billion to $2.978 billion and AFFO of $1.78 billion to $1.80 billion, or $5.94 to $6.00 per share.
Hytinen said the revenue outlook was nearly $300 million above the company’s initial guidance, with roughly half of the increase coming from asset lifecycle management and the rest from data centers and Global Records and Information Management, or Global RIM. The updated guidance absorbs the negative effect of a stronger U.S. dollar since the previous earnings call, he said.
For the fourth quarter, Iron Mountain expects approximately $2.03 billion in revenue, $780 million in adjusted EBITDA and $473 million in AFFO, or $1.57 per share.
The board increased the quarterly dividend to $0.993 per share, effective with the January payout. Hytinen said the increase aligns with the company’s goal of growing the dividend in line with AFFO per share while maintaining a payout ratio in the low 60% range.
Data center leasing reaches a record
Global Data Center revenue rose 34% to $274 million, driven by lease commencements and pricing. The segment’s adjusted EBITDA increased to $154 million, with its margin expanding 370 basis points to 56.3%.
Iron Mountain leased a record 102 megawatts during the quarter, bringing year-to-date leasing to 137 megawatts. The quarterly total included 74 megawatts in India, and the company fully leased its 25-megawatt London 3 asset. Meaney said data center revenue backlog increased to $575 million.
The company expects approximately 325 megawatts of leasable capacity to energize within the next 24 months. Meaney said the capacity is fully permitted and has committed power, with about two-thirds at the Richmond campus in Virginia. He said the company sees no slowdown in its ability to grow the data center business based on its land bank and global footprint.
Hytinen said Iron Mountain updated its 2027 data center revenue estimate to more than $1.3 billion. He also said its existing signed backlog, once fully developed and energized, would deliver nearly $1.8 billion of annual revenue in a future period, before additional leasing or pricing changes.
Asset management and records businesses grow
Asset lifecycle management revenue rose 43% to $241 million, or 38% organically. Hytinen said enterprise ALM grew more than 50% organically, while data center decommissioning posted low-double-digit growth despite a $30 million shift of work from the third quarter into the second.
Meaney said Iron Mountain expects organic ALM growth of at least 25% in 2027 on a volume basis, assuming pricing remains flat. Hytinen said the company now expects full-year 2026 ALM revenue to be modestly above $1 billion.
Global RIM revenue rose 7% to $1.4 billion, with storage revenue up 5% and service revenue up 10%. The segment generated $630 million in adjusted EBITDA, a 44% margin.
Among recent customer wins, Meaney cited a three-year, $25 million service contract to help a U.S. federal government customer relocate records and consolidate facilities. He also highlighted a multi-year digital platform contract with a Middle Eastern government, with a planned rollout across 30 agencies.
Iron Mountain is evaluating how it aligns segment reporting and expects to provide an update on its next earnings call. The company also plans an investor meeting and site tour in early March to discuss its longer-term growth outlook.
About Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM)
Iron Mountain Incorporated is an information management and storage company that helps organizations protect, manage and access physical and digital assets. Its services include records storage and management, secure document shredding, digitization and other information-management solutions.
The company also operates data centers and provides services for businesses moving, storing and managing data. Its offerings extend to specialized storage and care for items such as artwork and other valuable collections.
Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain began as a records-storage business in a former iron ore mine in New York.
