Key points
- Who owns the buildings and who rents them
- How each side gets paid
- Where leases can outlast customer contracts
Digital Realty (DLR) and Equinix (EQIX) own and run data centers and rent out the space, power, and cooling inside them. CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS) sell AI computing power to other companies, and much of the hardware behind it sits in space they rent from someone else.
That makes the first two landlords and the second two, for the most part, tenants. The business of renting data center space is called colocation. This comparison covers how each side makes money, their latest quarterly results, and the risks each one carries. Figures come from each company's latest quarterly results and annual report, and stock prices are September 28 closes.
The filings reviewed for this article do not establish that CoreWeave or Nebius rents from Digital Realty or Equinix.
What is colocation?
In a colocation deal, a customer rents space and power inside someone else's data center and brings its own servers. Equinix describes its colocation product as "the licensing of cabinet space and power." Digital Realty rents everything from a single cabinet to empty building shells for customers that want to fit them out themselves.
Both landlords also sell interconnection, the cables that link customers inside the same building. Equinix counts "more than 500,000 interconnections," and Digital Realty counts more than 232,000 cross connects.
How the four businesses work
| Company | Data center footprint | What it sells | How customers pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Realty (DLR) | 310 data centers in more than 55 metros | Space and power, from single cabinets to whole buildings | Leases with annual rent increases; most power costs are passed through to customers |
| Equinix (EQIX) | 280 data centers in 77 markets, including joint ventures | Colocation and interconnection | Fixed monthly fees; contracts generally run one to five years |
| CoreWeave (CRWV) | 43 data centers at the end of 2025, all leased; also developing sites through a joint venture | AI computing capacity | Mostly multiyear take-or-pay contracts, plus some hourly use |
| Nebius (NBIS) | Owns sites in Finland and Missouri, has a build-to-suit site in New Jersey, and leases colocation space elsewhere | AI computing capacity, plus software | Multiyear contracts, often with large prepayments |
Data center counts are as of December 31, 2025. Digital Realty and Equinix are real estate investment trusts, which must pay out at least 90% of their taxable income as dividends.
How the latest quarters compare
| Company | Revenue | Change from a year earlier | GAAP operating income (loss) | GAAP net income (loss) | Sept. 28 close | Change in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Realty (DLR) | $1.92B | +29% | $467M | $443M | $177.18 | +15% |
| Equinix (EQIX) | $2.63B | +16% | $665M | $479M | $1,011.07 | +32% |
| CoreWeave (CRWV) | $2.58B | +112% | ($49M) | ($626M) | $85.07 | +19% |
| Nebius (NBIS) | $582.3M | +454% | ($175.9M) | ($190.4M) | $231.88 | +177% |
All four quarters ended June 30, 2026. Net income is attributable to common stockholders for Digital Realty and Equinix, and from continuing operations for Nebius. The CoreWeave growth rate is our calculation from revenue of $1.21 billion a year earlier. The 2026 change runs from the December 31, 2025 close.
One-time items lifted both landlords' growth rates. Digital Realty's revenue included $188 million of net promote income, which the company tied to the successful development and leasing of three data centers in its development joint venture. Its rental revenue grew about 14%. Equinix's included one-time fees from its xScale joint ventures, which build data centers for large cloud companies.
The landlords: recurring rent
Digital Realty had signed leases representing a record $1.9 billion in annual rent that had not yet started as of June 30, according to its second-quarter results. That figure includes its joint-venture partners' shares and measures one year of rent, rather than payments over the leases' full terms. Rents on renewed leases rose 25.4% on a cash basis.
Its 20 largest customers account for 53.1% of annualized recurring revenue. An unnamed software company leads at 10.8%, followed by Oracle (ORCL) at 10.0%. An unnamed "Specialized Cloud Provider" accounts for another 1.3%.
Equinix depends less on any single customer. Its largest accounted for about 3% of recurring revenue in 2025, according to its annual report. More than 90% of its revenue is recurring.
The company also expects to keep expanding. In its second-quarter results, Equinix raised its outlook to annual revenue growth of 10% to 13% from 2027 through 2029. Equinix also raised planned capital spending to $5 billion to $7 billion a year, excluding acquisitions and joint-venture investments.
The tenants: fast growth and heavy spending
CoreWeave had a revenue backlog of about $104 billion as of June 30, a company-defined figure that includes remaining performance obligations, according to its second-quarter results. CoreWeave spent $6.42 billion on property and equipment in the quarter, and net interest expense was $640 million. Microsoft accounted for about 67% of its 2025 revenue.
CoreWeave's data center leases can run longer than its customer contracts. Its annual report gives lease terms of five to 15 years and customer contract terms of one to six years, with a weighted average of about five years. CoreWeave has also started developing its own data centers, beginning with a joint venture in Kenilworth, New Jersey.
Nebius spent about $5.7 billion on property, equipment, and intangibles in the quarter, according to its second-quarter results. Three customers accounted for 24%, 21%, and 14% of its second-quarter revenue. Nebius owns sites in Finland and Missouri, has a build-to-suit facility in Vineland, New Jersey, and leases colocation space in Paris, Kansas City, Iceland, and London, according to its annual report. As of June 30, Nebius had $12.1 billion of signed data center and equipment leases that had not yet started.
The landlords depend on occupancy, renewals, and customers paying rent. The computing providers also have to keep their hardware earning enough to cover equipment costs and leases that can outlast customer contracts.
For how backlog and remaining performance obligations are counted, see our backlog explainer.
