IRM
Iron Mountain
Summary
What they do:
Own and operate data centers, records storage facilities, and information management infrastructure across 300+ facilities globally — a REIT that evolved from storing paper in underground vaults to building AI-era data centers, sitting in Layer 25 alongside Equinix and Digital Realty as one of the companies that own the real estate where compute happens.
Why they matter:
Iron Mountain has relationships with millions of enterprise customers built over decades of records management — now cross-selling data center capacity at lower customer acquisition costs than pure-play DC operators. Their asset recycling model (converting underutilized records storage facilities into data centers) is capital-efficient and accelerating, with 400 MW of capacity being energized over the next 24 months.
Recent performance:
FY2025 revenue $6.9B (+12.2% YoY). Q4 revenue $1.8B (+16.6%). Data center revenue up 39% in Q4. Growth businesses (DC + digital + ALM) up 40%+ in Q4. AFFO $5.17/share. Stock at ~$114, market cap ~$33B. 2026 guidance: revenue $7.6–7.8B (+12%), adj EBITDA $2.88–2.93B (+13%).
Our Verdict
Established data center REIT with a unique enterprise customer base and asset recycling model — records storage cash cow funds DC buildout, but leverage is high and the stock prices in flawless execution.
Structural trends
Structural
70
/ 100
Moat
6/10
Enterprise customer relationships + records storage stickiness + asset recycling
AI Exp.AI Exposure
Embedded~15% AI
Play Type
EstablishedAI Growth
~30%+
Rel. Value
69
ATTRACTIVEPriceLIVE
$114.03
+1.92%
Live via Yahoo Finance · refreshes every 5 min
Market Cap
$33.9B
P/E Ratio
232.7
P/S Ratio
4.9x
52W High
$115.24
52W Low
$77.77
52W Chg
46.6%
Beta
1.15
Iron Mountain started as a company that stores boxes of paper records in temperature-controlled vaults for banks, insurance companies, and hospitals. That business — which still generates roughly 60% of revenue — is one of the stickiest, most boring cash flows in corporate America. Enterprise customers have stored confidential records with IRM for decades; switching costs are measured in the logistics of physically moving millions of boxes, not in software migration. It throws off reliable cash that funds IRM's transformation into a data center REIT.
The data center business is where the growth is. IRM operates a growing portfolio of data center facilities, with revenue growing 39% in Q4 2025 and 30% for the full year. The company has 400 MW of data center capacity being energized over the next 24 months. Unlike Equinix (which targets interconnection-dense colocation) or Digital Realty (which targets hyperscale wholesale leasing), IRM targets enterprise customers who already trust them with physical records and are now moving digital workloads to IRM data centers. This cross-sell advantage means lower customer acquisition costs — IRM's sales team is selling into existing relationships.
The asset recycling model is the secret weapon. IRM owns 300+ facilities on valuable real estate, many underutilized for their original paper storage purpose. Converting a records storage facility to a data center costs $20–50M and generates 3–5x the per-square-foot revenue of paper storage. It's faster and cheaper than greenfield builds, though the locations may not always be optimal for hyperscale workloads.
FY2025 revenue hit $6.9B with adjusted EBITDA of $2.6B. Growth businesses (data center, digital transformation, and asset lifecycle management) collectively grew 40%+ in Q4. 2026 guidance projects revenue of $7.6–7.8B (+12%) and EBITDA of $2.88–2.93B (+13%).
Supply Chain Dependencies
The Catch
Iron Mountain is a tale of two businesses. The records storage cash cow is stable but not growing — and it's 60% of revenue. The data center business is growing 30%+ but is still a minority of the total. The risk is that investors are buying a premium data center growth story bolted onto a low-growth records company, and the blended growth rate (12%) doesn't justify a data center REIT multiple. If enterprise data center demand softens — and enterprises are the most macro-sensitive data center customers — the growth engine stalls while the records engine just hums along at 2%. The REIT's heavy capex investment in data center buildout means AFFO is temporarily depressed; if the capacity takes longer to lease than planned, the dividend could face pressure. IRM is not Equinix, and the market should price it accordingly — but "accordingly" might still be higher than today.
If They Win
If the enterprise cross-sell fires at scale — millions of existing records customers converting to data center tenants — if the 400 MW pipeline energizes on schedule and leases at premium rates — if AI workloads migrate to enterprise data centers in meaningful volume — then Iron Mountain becomes the enterprise infrastructure REIT that Equinix can't replicate. Data center reaches 40%+ of revenue, AFFO compounds at 12–15% annually, the dividend grows 8%+ per year, and the stock re-rates from a discounted records REIT to a premium data center REIT. Revenue reaches $10B+ by 2028, and the records business — far from being a drag — becomes the strategic advantage that funded the entire transformation with stable, predictable cash flow. Iron Mountain would be the quiet winner of the AI infrastructure buildout: not the flashiest, but the most capital-efficient.
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Not financial advice. All scores generated via AI algorithms using public data.