Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (Digital Realty or the company) owns, acquires, develops, and operates data centers through its operating partnership subsidiary, Digital Realty Trust, L.P. (the operating partnership). The company is focused on providing data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions for domestic and international customers across a variety of industry verticals ranging from cloud and information technology services, communications and …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Conservative LeverageLeverage is conservative (score 0.63), providing refinancing flexibility.
Dividend Well-Covered by AFFODividend coverage is healthy (score 0.78).
Key risks
Weak NOI MarginsNOI margins lag peers (score 0.22), indicating weak pricing power.
High Operating CostsOperating efficiency lags peers (score 0.22).
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Digital Realty Trust, Inc. ranks #2 of 21
scored companies in REIT - Specialty by moat score — the top 10%.
The widest moat in the group is Gaming and Leisure Properties, (GLPI)
at 85/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near DLR in REIT - Specialty
For a REIT, pricing power is the ability to raise rents at renewal and still keep the space occupied.
AFFO Strength
Score 70
· 18% of the moat score
AFFO — adjusted funds from operations — is the cash a REIT can actually distribute after the recurring capital spending buildings need in order to stay leasable.
Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital
Score 77
· 20% of the moat score
Real estate is bought with borrowed money, so a REIT's cost of capital is its competitive advantage.
Capital Recycling & Growth
Score 84
· 16% of the moat score
REITs grow by issuing shares and debt to buy more property, which creates value only when the yield on the asset exceeds the cost of the capital raised.
Operational Efficiency
Score 44
· 14% of the moat score
Running property — leasing, maintenance, taxes, management — is the part of the business a REIT genuinely controls.
Portfolio Quality & Diversification
Score 85
· 12% of the moat score
Portfolio quality is really a question about what happens when a tenant fails.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) scores 68 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #2 of 21 scored companies in REIT - Specialty, the top 10%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 23 companies in REIT - Specialty. Its strongest defense is Portfolio Quality & Diversification (85/100) and its weakest is Operational Efficiency (44/100).
How does Digital Realty Trust, Inc. compare with other REIT - Specialty companies?
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. ranks #2 of 21 scored companies in REIT - Specialty by moat score. The widest moat in REIT - Specialty is Gaming and Leisure Properties, (GLPI) at 84/100. The companies ranked closest are Gaming and Leisure Properties, (GLPI) at 84 just above it and Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR) at 67 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — REIT Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 23 companies in REIT - Specialty. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Digital Realty Trust, Inc. scored with the REIT Specialized template?
A REIT is a portfolio of buildings financed with debt and required to distribute most of its taxable income. Reported earnings are dominated by depreciation on assets that often appreciate, so net income says very little; the real question is how much cash the properties distribute, and how securely. The REIT template scores what determines that: rent pricing, distributable cash, cost of capital, and the discipline behind growth.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Digital Realty Trust, Inc.?
The REIT Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and DLR scores: Rent Pricing Power (50), AFFO Strength (70), Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital (77), Capital Recycling & Growth (84), Operational Efficiency (44), Portfolio Quality & Diversification (85). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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