New York, Feb 14, 2026, 12:52 EST — The session wrapped up; market closed.
Iron Mountain stock added 3.6% Friday, settling at $109.83. That’s six straight sessions higher, and the close landed just shy of Thursday’s $110.91 52-week peak. Investors continued to favor the company’s data-center angle.
This is a big deal for data center stocks, which sit in a weird spot: on one hand, they’re seen as infrastructure plays riding the AI wave. On the other, plenty of them trade more like rate-driven real estate, shifting with financing costs. That kind of split means a seemingly bland macro report can jolt the group fast.
Friday’s numbers worked in their favor. January’s U.S. consumer inflation landed just under forecasts, sending the 10-year Treasury yield down by 5.6 basis points to 4.048% as traders stuck to bets on rate cuts this year. “Either way, it is a bit of good news as we head into the long holiday weekend,” said Tim Holland, chief investment officer at Orion. Reuters
Iron Mountain, long recognized for its records storage business and now making a serious push into data centers, projected 2026 revenue between $7.625 billion and $7.775 billion, with AFFO per share seen landing in the $5.69 to $5.79 range. “Strong data center leasing” will set the pace going into 2026, chief executive Meaney said, highlighting 400 megawatts of new capacity the company aims to bring online in the next two years. Iron Mountain Investor Relations
AFFO, a cash-flow figure favored by REITs, adjusts for non-cash charges and other line items that might obscure a property’s actual operating results. Data center players get sized up by investors using AFFO, especially as they try to balance fresh leasing momentum with heavy construction outlays.
Equinix, the biggest publicly traded data center operator, projected 2026 revenue between $10.123 billion and $10.223 billion earlier this week. “Demand for our solutions has never been higher,” CEO Adaire Fox-Martin said. Shares finished Friday at $956.19, slipping 0.2%. Digital Realty Trust, a competitor, gained 0.4% to close at $180.97. Equinix, Inc.
But there’s a snag: soaring AI-fueled data center demand doesn’t erase real-world limitations. Power’s still finite, grid bottlenecks persist, and operators run up against slow delivery for things like generators and switchgear—any of which can derail build timelines or returns if projects get pushed back.
It’s a shortened stretch ahead. U.S. stock markets stay dark Monday for Washington’s Birthday, picking up again Tuesday.
Investors are zeroing in on the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 27-28 meeting minutes, set for release at 2 p.m. ET on Feb. 18. They’ll be scanning for any signs the Fed is rethinking its balance between inflation gains and growth concerns.
There’s another key date on the data center traders’ radar: Nvidia’s quarterly results land Feb. 25, serving as a litmus test for AI chip appetite and usually influencing spending decisions throughout the data center supply chain.
