Equinix (EQIX) Stock: SEC Probe Ends, AI Supercomputer Deal and 2026 Price Targets – December 1, 2025 Outlook

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) enters December 2025 as one of the most closely watched AI‑data‑center REITs on Wall Street. The stock has lagged both its real estate peers and the broader market this year, yet analysts still see meaningful upside driven by robust AI infrastructure demand, record bookings and a clearer regulatory backdrop.

As of Monday, December 1, 2025, Equinix shares closed at $733.28, down 2.66% on the day and roughly 26% below their 52‑week high of $989.84 reached last December. ^[1] Despite that drawdown, most major research aggregators still rate EQIX a “Strong Buy” with average 12‑month price targets about 25–30% above current levels. ^[2]

Below is a detailed look at the latest news, numbers, forecasts and risks around Equinix stock as of December 1, 2025.

1. Equinix Stock Performance: Underperforming, but Not Under the Radar

Over the past year, Equinix has materially underperformed both data‑center peers and the S&P 500:

• Over the last 52 weeks, EQIX is down about low‑20s percent, compared with a gain in the S&P 500 and a strong double‑digit rise in data‑center ETFs such as the Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF. ^[3]
• A new Barchart analysis published December 1 notes that EQIX has been trading below both its 50‑day and 200‑day moving averages since mid‑November, reflecting a weak technical trend. ^[4]
• The stock hit a 52‑week low of $701.41 in April and is only modestly above that level today, despite fundamentally solid Q3 results. ^[5]

In other words, while Equinix continues to deliver record bookings and rising cash flows, the share price still reflects substantial skepticism about its capital‑intensive AI expansion and valuation.

2. Q3 2025 Earnings: Record Bookings and Strong Cash Flows

Equinix’s third‑quarter 2025 results (reported October 29) were robust across most key metrics:

• Revenue: $2.316 billion, up 5% year‑over‑year on both a reported and constant‑currency basis. ^[6]
• Operating income: $474 million, up 12%; operating margin 20%. ^[7]
• Net income attributable to common shareholders: $374 million, up 26%, or $3.81 per share, +23% vs. Q3 2024. ^[8]
• Adjusted EBITDA: $1.148 billion, a 10% year‑over‑year increase and a 50% margin, beating the midpoint of guidance. ^[9]
• AFFO (Adjusted Funds From Operations): $965 million, up 11%, with AFFO per share of $9.83, about 9% higher than a year ago and ahead of consensus estimates. ^[10]

Management also highlighted several operating milestones:

• Record annualized gross bookings of $394 million, up 25% year‑over‑year and 14% sequentially. ^[11]
• Monthly recurring revenue grew around 8% year‑over‑year. ^[12]
• Interconnection revenue rose to $422 million, up 10% year‑over‑year, supported by a 57% jump in Equinix Fabric bookings. ^[13]

CEO Adaire Fox‑Martin described Q3 as a “clear signal of accelerating momentum” heading into Q4 and 2026, citing sustained demand for both AI and non‑AI workloads on Equinix’s platform. ^[14]

2025 Guidance

Equinix raised its full‑year 2025 guidance for profitability and AFFO per share:

• Revenue: $9.208–9.328 billion. ^[15]
• Adjusted EBITDA: $4.531–4.611 billion, with margins around 49–50%. ^[16]
• AFFO: $3.731–3.811 billion.
• AFFO per share:$37.95–38.77, up from a prior range of $37.67–38.48 and implying high‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit growth versus 2024. ^[17]

Zacks and other earnings services note that Equinix beat AFFO expectations by roughly 6%, even as reported revenue was just slightly below some analyst estimates. ^[18]

One important nuance: Reuters reported that Equinix trimmed the top line of its 2025 revenue outlook slightly, primarily due to delays in closing a large campus leasing deal and foreign‑exchange headwinds, even while raising profit guidance. ^[19]

3. Big‑Picture Strategy: Doubling Capacity for the AI Era

Equinix remains the world’s largest colocation and interconnection platform, with:

• Roughly 260+ data centers across 70+ markets and more than 10,000 customers, including major cloud providers, enterprises and networks. ^[20]
• Over 499,000 interconnections globally, a key source of sticky, high‑margin revenue. ^[21]

The company is in the middle of an aggressive capacity build‑out aimed at AI and high‑density workloads:

• Recent land deals in Amsterdam, Chicago, Johannesburg, London and Toronto will support over 900 megawatts of additional retail and xScale® capacity at full build‑out. ^[22]
• Equinix now has about 58 major projects underway globally, including 12 xScale hyperscale developments, and says total developable capacity is roughly 3 gigawatts, in line with its target to double data‑center capacity by 2029. ^[23]
• Under the xScale brand, the company has around 21 live xScale facilities with roughly 415 MW leased to hyperscale customers. ^[24]

This is precisely the capex ramp that rattled investors earlier in 2025. A widely cited Barron’s piece in mid‑year highlighted that Equinix plans to lift annual capital spending to $4–5 billion from 2026–2029, up from about $3.3 billion in 2025, while guiding to only 5–9% long‑term AFFO growth, triggering a one‑day share price drop of nearly 10%. ^[25]

So far, Q3 results suggest Equinix is executing on that strategy: high bookings, solid pricing, rising margins and strong recurring revenue growth, but at the cost of elevated capital intensity that still makes some shareholders nervous.

4. AI and High‑Performance Computing: The Merck Supercomputer Deal

AI remains a central pillar of the bullish thesis on Equinix stock, and the company has been busy in the last month reinforcing that narrative.

Merck KGaA AI Supercomputer

On November 20, 2025, Equinix announced that Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has launched a state‑of‑the‑art high‑performance computer (HPC) hosted in an Equinix AI‑ready data center in Germany, built on Lenovo ThinkSystem servers with advanced liquid cooling. ^[26]

Key points from that deal:

• The HPC platform is designed to accelerate innovation across Merck’s life science, healthcare and electronics businesses, including drug discovery and materials for next‑generation semiconductors. ^[27]
• The system combines private and public cloud infrastructure in a hybrid design, highlighting Equinix’s role as a neutral interconnection hub rather than a traditional single‑cloud data center. ^[28]
• Equinix emphasized its liquid‑cooling‑ready footprint at more than 100 International Business Exchange® (IBX®) data centers, positioning the company for power‑dense AI and HPC workloads while managing energy consumption. ^[29]

Distributed AI Infrastructure

In addition, Equinix has launched a Distributed AI™ infrastructure solution, including:

• A new AI‑ready backbone for distributed AI deployments.
• A global AI Solutions Lab for testing AI architectures.
• Equinix Fabric Intelligence™ to help optimize inferencing workloads across cloud and edge locations. ^[30]

These investments, combined with high‑profile AI deployments and partnerships (e.g., with NVIDIA, Dell, HPE and other ecosystem players highlighted in earlier quarters), explain why many commentators still group Equinix among “top AI data‑center stocks to buy,” even after a difficult year for the share price. ^[31]

5. Legal and Regulatory Update: From SEC Probe to Class‑Action Settlement

SEC Investigation Ends With No Recommended Action

On November 20, 2025, Dow Jones and other outlets reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation into Equinix related to allegations raised in a short‑seller report. The SEC indicated it does not intend to recommend an enforcement action. ^[32]

Equinix disclosed that it had cooperated with an SEC subpoena issued last year and also responded to a related subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, which the company likewise does not expect to lead to further action. ^[33]

For shareholders, this is a significant de‑risking event: a major regulatory overhang tied to accounting and power‑capacity disclosures has effectively been lifted at the federal level.

$41.5 Million Securities Class‑Action Settlement

However, the legal story is not entirely over. Separate from the SEC inquiry, Equinix has agreed to a $41.5 million securities class‑action settlement related to alleged misstatements about financial accounting and overselling power capacity at its data centers. ^[34]

According to settlement materials summarised by Claim Depot:

• The class covers investors who bought Equinix stock between May 3, 2019, and March 24, 2024.
• Plaintiffs allege Equinix overstated adjusted metrics and power capacity, artificially inflating its stock price; the company denies wrongdoing but chose to settle to avoid the costs and uncertainty of litigation. ^[35]
• The average payout is estimated around $0.61 per share after fees, though actual payments will vary based on trading history and the number of claims.
• Key upcoming dates include a claim deadline of December 24, 2025 and a fairness hearing on December 18, 2025. ^[36]

While the settlement amount is relatively small versus Equinix’s ~$70+ billion market cap, the allegations underscore the importance of data‑center capacity and power accounting—both central issues in the AI build‑out—and will likely keep investors attentive to disclosure quality.

6. Capital Allocation: Dividend, Debt and Green Financing

Dividend

On October 29, 2025, Equinix’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $4.69 per share, payable December 17, 2025 to shareholders of record on November 19, 2025. ^[37]

At a share price around the mid‑$730s, that implies an annualized dividend of $18.76 per share, or roughly a 2.5% forward yield—modest by REIT standards, but backed by strong AFFO growth and a payout ratio of roughly half of projected 2025 AFFO. ^[38]

Equinix expects to pay about $1.836 billion in cash dividends in 2025 against AFFO guidance of $3.731–3.811 billion, leaving substantial capacity to fund expansion while still rewarding income‑oriented investors. ^[39]

Canadian Bond Offering

On November 19, 2025, Equinix announced its inaugural Canadian bond issue:

• C$700 million of 4.000% senior notes due 2032, issued by Equinix Canada Financing Ltd and guaranteed by Equinix, Inc. ^[40]
• The company expects net proceeds of around C$688 million after fees.
• Proceeds will fund acquisitions and development, refinance upcoming maturities and support general corporate purposes. ^[41]

Reuters and other outlets have noted that this funding, along with other recent note offerings, helps Equinix extend its debt maturities and diversify funding sources as it embarks on years of elevated capex. ^[42]

Green Bonds and Sustainability

Equinix continues to lean on green financing to support its growth:

• As of June 30, 2025, the company had allocated $2.3 billion in green bond proceeds to 151 projects across 31 countries, supporting 1.9 million MWh of renewable energy generation and expected to avoid roughly 441,000 metric tons of CO₂e per year. ^[43]
• Equinix recently earned an EcoVadis Gold Medal, placing it among the top 5% of companies assessed worldwide for sustainability practices—an important differentiator for ESG‑focused investors and hyperscale customers. ^[44]

7. Valuation: Still a Premium REIT, but Cheaper Than It Was

Even after its pullback, Equinix does not trade like a bargain‑bin REIT.

Recent valuation snapshots show:

• P/E ratio: about 69x trailing earnings, reflecting heavy non‑cash depreciation and the limitations of P/E for REITs. ^[45]
• EV/EBITDA: around 23–24x based on trailing twelve‑month EBITDA, below the company’s historical average EV/EBITDA of roughly 33x but still above many traditional REITs. ^[46]
• A recent analysis based on annualized Q2 2025 results estimates Equinix trading at a P/FFO of ~29.8x and P/AFFO of ~21.2x, versus a data‑center REIT average P/FFO near 24.6x, implying a meaningful premium. ^[47]

In short, the market still prices Equinix as a high‑quality, strategic infrastructure asset, not as a distressed REIT. But the multiple has compressed from prior years, partly reflecting:

• Concerns over multi‑billion‑dollar annual capex to chase AI demand. ^[48]
• Slower‑than‑hoped AFFO growth guidance (5–9% long term) versus the lofty valuations. ^[49]
• Heightened scrutiny around power availability and accounting after the short‑seller report and subsequent legal actions. ^[50]

For investors, the key question is whether Equinix’s combination of global scale, AI positioning and interconnection moat justifies paying a premium multiple for mid‑single‑digit to high‑single‑digit AFFO growth.

8. Wall Street Forecasts: Strong Buy, Mid‑$900s Targets

Despite the share‑price weakness, analyst sentiment toward Equinix remains broadly positive.

Different aggregators show similar patterns:

• Barchart reports that among 30 analysts, EQIX holds a “Strong Buy” consensus, with 21 Strong Buy, 3 Moderate Buy and 6 Hold ratings. The mean price target of about $969 implies mid‑20s percentage upside from recent prices, with a Street‑high target around $1,218. ^[51]
• MarketBeat shows an average 12‑month price target of $961.33 from 29 analysts, with targets ranging from $804 to $1,200, implying ~31% upside vs. ~$733. ^[52]
• TipRanks lists an average target of $965.86 based on 15 analysts over the last three months, again implying roughly 29% upside, with a consensus rating of Strong Buy (12 Buys, 3 Holds). ^[53]
• A Fintel summary of Truist Securities’ November 18 note indicates an average Street target near $986.55, with a range from about $812 to $1,260 and about 27% upside from the then‑current price of $776.88. ^[54]

Meanwhile, recent rating actions have been mostly supportive:

• Truist reaffirmed its Buy rating in November. ^[55]
• Other brokers like Citic Securities and BNP Paribas Exane have tweaked price targets (around $1,000–1,023) while maintaining positive stances. ^[56]

The Street clearly sees Equinix as a core long‑term winner in AI and cloud infrastructure, even if near‑term returns have disappointed.

9. Key Risks for Equinix Stock

Despite the bullish analyst targets, investors face several non‑trivial risks:

1. Capex and Power‑Infrastructure Risk
   • Equinix plans to spend $4–5 billion annually from 2026–2029 to build out data‑center capacity, up from ~$3.3 billion in 2025. ^[57]
   • If demand or pricing softens, that level of investment could pressure free cash flow and delay returns to shareholders.
2. Deal‑Closure and Macro Risk
   • Management has already trimmed 2025 revenue guidance slightly due to delays in closing a large campus deal and FX headwinds. ^[58]
   • Enterprise IT and AI budgets remain sensitive to global economic conditions.
3. Legal and Reputational Risk
   • While the SEC is not pursuing enforcement action, the class‑action settlement highlights past concerns over power‑capacity and accounting disclosures. ^[59]
   • Any future missteps in reporting or capacity management could trigger renewed scrutiny.
4. Competition & Disintermediation
   • Rivals like Digital Realty, Iron Mountain and American Tower are also reporting strong growth and AI wins, investing billions in new capacity. ^[60]
   • Hyperscale cloud providers can and do build their own data centers in some regions, potentially bypassing colocation in certain workloads.
5. Valuation & Rate Sensitivity
   • Even after multiple compression, Equinix trades at rich EV/EBITDA and P/FFO multiples relative to many REITs. ^[61]
   • Higher‑for‑longer interest rates or a shift in investor preferences away from growth‑oriented REITs could pressure the multiple further.

10. Equinix Stock Outlook: What to Watch Heading Into 2026

Putting it all together, Equinix stock today sits at an interesting crossroads:

• Bull case:
  • AI and cloud demand drive sustained double‑digit bookings growth.
  • The company successfully doubles capacity by 2029 while maintaining ~50% EBITDA margins and high‑single‑digit AFFO growth. ^[62]
  • Regulatory overhang fades, legal matters are resolved, and the market re‑rates EQIX closer to historical EV/EBITDA and P/FFO multiples.
• Bear case:
  • Massive capex leads to lower‑than‑expected returns, with AFFO growth stuck at the low end of guidance. ^[63]
  • Data‑center supply or power‑availability issues emerge in key metros, hurting pricing and utilization.
  • Investor appetite for premium‑valued REITs continues to fall, pushing the stock toward or below its 52‑week low.
• Base case (arguably reflected in consensus):
  • Equinix executes reasonably well on its expansion plan, with AFFO and dividends climbing steadily, though not explosively.
  • The stock grinds higher over time toward the mid‑$900s analyst target range, driven by moderate multiple expansion plus earnings growth.

For now, the majority of professional analysts still see EQIX as an attractive long‑term holding, especially for investors seeking exposure to AI infrastructure and global interconnection rather than pure‑play cloud or chip names. But the path to realizing those targets is unlikely to be smooth, and the stock’s recent performance shows how quickly sentiment can flip when capex or legal headlines surprise.

11. Practical Takeaways for Investors

• Equinix is fundamentally strong but not cheap. The business is growing, margins are robust, and the dividend is well covered, yet the stock still trades at a premium to most REITs. ^[64]
• AI is a genuine growth driver, not just a buzzword. Concrete deals like the Merck HPC deployment and rising Fabric and interconnection revenues show real AI‑related demand. ^[65]
• Legal and regulatory clouds have partly cleared, but not disappeared. The end of the SEC probe is a major positive, yet the securities settlement is a reminder that transparency and power‑capacity management will remain under the microscope. ^[66]
• Analysts broadly agree on upside, but not on timing. Consensus price targets imply meaningful potential gains, but that upside depends heavily on Equinix delivering on its multiyear build‑out without eroding returns. ^[67]

As always, this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Investors should consider their own risk tolerance, time horizon and portfolio diversification before making any decisions regarding Equinix, Inc. stock.

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