The balance sheet shows liquidity and leverage metrics that matter for large builds: cash & equivalents $3.87B, total assets $45.28B, total debt $18.01B, and net debt $14.14B; trailing net-debt-to-EBITDA sits at 5.89x (TTM) — a moderate but material leverage level for a capital-intensive REIT that is also recycling capital into higher-return projects Monexa fundamentals.

Free cash flow generation is central to the capital plan: FY2024 free cash flow $2.26B, dividends paid -$1.63B (FY2024) and a TTM dividend per share of $4.88 produce an accounting payout ratio that reads 123.72% on GAAP net-income metrics — which is why management cites FFO and stabilized asset cash yields when discussing payout sustainability. Management has raised FY2025 FFO guidance to $7.05–$7.15 per share, and has earmarked disposition proceeds (~$1.5B) to fund higher-return AI builds rather than incremental leverage Monexa Q2 2025 analysis, PR Newswire (dividend).

Metric	FY2024 / TTM	Source
Revenue	$5.55B	Monexa
EBITDA	$2.53B	Monexa
Free Cash Flow	$2.26B	Monexa
Net Debt / EBITDA (TTM)	5.89x	Monexa
Dividend (TTM)	$4.88	Monexa

Competitive position & market reaction#

Scale and power positioning are DLR’s competitive levers. S&P Global estimates DLR controls roughly 15.00% of U.S. leased data-center power versus 4.90% for EQIX, giving DLR structural advantage where raw megawatts and campus-scale matter for AI customers S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Strategically, DLR’s focus on large-format, high-density campuses contrasts with Equinix’s interconnection-centric model: the former wins on bulk power and scale; the latter wins on ecosystem connectivity. That divergence explains why DLR is reporting outsized pre-lease rates and pricing on AI-ready capacity while Equinix emphasizes cross-connect value for multi-tenant ecosystems Monexa AI-driven growth analysis, S&P Global.

Market pricing has reacted modestly: the intraday quote shows $169.21 (last) with a small move of +0.48 (+0.28%) while reported P/E metrics vary across feeds (44.41x in one stock quote vs 41.26x TTM in fundamentals). When feeds diverge, the TTM fundamentals and cash-flow metrics provide a more consistent baseline for capital-allocation analysis Monexa stock data.

Metric	DLR	EQIX	Source
U.S. leased power share	15.00%	4.90%	S&P Global
Core commercial focus	Hyperscale, high-density campuses	Interconnection & colocation	Monexa / S&P
Notable AI pricing	Up to $244/kW/mo	N/A	Monexa

What is driving Digital Realty's dividend sustainability?#

Free cash flow expansion from AI-driven leasing, paired with asset dispositions and partner-funded hyperscale vehicles, underpins the dividend while GAAP net-income coverage appears thin; management leans on FFO and stabilized cash yields rather than net income for payout decisions.

That mechanics-based answer is backed by numbers: the recorded TTM dividend per share is $4.88 with a payout ratio of 123.72% on GAAP metrics, but FFO guidance of $7.05–$7.15 per share and FY2024 free cash flow $2.26B create the cash-flow cover that management cites for distributions Monexa fundamentals, PR Newswire (dividend).

Capital recycling is the operational backstop: expected disposition proceeds (~$1.5B) and partnered fund commitments (anchor $1.7B) funnel capital into high-yield AI projects rather than incremental leverage, which is central to how management argues for sustaining and potentially growing distributions Monexa Q2 2025 analysis.

Key takeaways & strategic implications#

Digital Realty is executing a defined pivot: convert scarce AI-ready capacity into contracted cash flows, use proceeds and partner capital to fund builds, and prioritize dividend continuity through FFO/FCF coverage rather than GAAP net income.

Free cash flow: $2.26B (FY2024) — provides near-term funding capacity (Monexa.
Pre-leased pipeline: 499 MW in Americas at 79.00% pre-leased — speeds time-to-stabilization (Monexa.
Leverage: Net debt/EBITDA 5.89x (TTM) — meaningful but manageable with asset recycling (Monexa fundamentals.

For investors the actionable lens is execution: the thesis depends on timely project delivery, hyperscaler capacity schedules, and stable power/energy cost assumptions. Monitor realized stabilized yields on newly delivered assets, disposition cadence versus stated targets, and quarterly FFO/FFO-per-share progression as the primary indicators that cash-flow mechanics are aligning with payout claims.

Sources: company filings and Monexa analysis (see: Monexa Q2 2025 analysis, supplemented by S&P Global and PR Newswire for market-context and corporate announcements.