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Equinix just told the market it plans to spend roughly twice what it previously expected on building out data centers. The global REIT raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $5B-$6B, up from a prior range of $3B-$4B, and projected annual spending of $5B-$7B for 2027 through 2029.
The numbers behind the buildout
Equinix disclosed the revised spending plans during its Q2 2026 earnings report and reiterated the figures at a Bank of America REIT conference in mid-September 2026. CEO Adaire Fox-Martin and SVP of Global Real Estate Stu Thompson pointed to surging demand for higher-density, interconnected capacity designed to support AI inference workloads as the primary catalyst.
The company currently controls roughly 3 GW of developable powered land. Between 600 and 770 MW of that is actively under development, with an aim to push total capacity toward 1 GW by early 2027.
About 80% of the planned investment will flow into the top 25 global metropolitan areas, which face the tightest supply constraints and offer the highest interconnection density.
Approximately 30% of Equinix’s remaining 2026 retail capacity has already been pre-sold. The company’s churn rate sits at 1.8%, and management plans to double the number of cabinets delivered in the second half of 2026.
Revenue growth guidance got a bump too. Equinix now expects 11%-12% revenue growth for 2026, with a longer-term annual growth outlook of 10%-13% for 2027 through 2029.
Why AI inference is the new gold rush
Equinix has forged partnerships with Nvidia to develop AI-optimized infrastructure. AI infrastructure still represents a minority of Equinix’s total business revenue today, but the growth rate in that segment is outpacing everything else in the portfolio.
What this means for the data center landscape
The near-doubling of CapEx guidance raises questions about capital allocation and financing. Equinix operates as a REIT, meaning it’s required to distribute at least 90% of taxable income to shareholders. Funding $5B-$7B in annual capital expenditures while maintaining dividend obligations will likely require a mix of debt issuance, asset recycling, and potentially joint ventures.
The 1.8% churn rate deserves attention as well. Customers embedded in Equinix’s ecosystem, connected to hundreds of networks and cloud on-ramps, face real friction if they try to move.
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