Timing note: Iron Mountain is scheduled to report 2Q 2026 results before the market opens on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, with its conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET. That is today, not tomorrow. This preview uses information available through the August 4 close.
Iron Mountain enters earnings after a very strong first quarter and a substantial rerating in its stock. IRM closed at $125.54 on August 4, up roughly 51% year to date, though about 5.7% below its June 23 closing high of $133.06.
The core question is no longer whether the company can grow: Q1 showed that it can. The key issue is whether Iron Mountain can sustain growth and cash-flow conversion at a level that validates elevated expectations, particularly across:
The setup looks constructive operationally, but the bar is high. A simple in-line quarter may not be enough if it comes with softer data-center leasing, a less favorable ALM outlook, or more cautious comments around capital needs and financing.
The most useful benchmark is management’s own Q2 outlook, issued with Q1 results:
| Metric | 2Q26 company outlook | Year-over-year growth |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ~$1.965 billion | ~15% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | ~$715 million | ~14% |
| AFFO | ~$418 million | ~13% |
| AFFO per share | ~$1.40 | ~13% |
A result above these levels—particularly on EBITDA and AFFO rather than revenue alone—would support the case that the company’s operating leverage remains intact despite rapid growth in lower-margin service-oriented businesses.
Management’s full-year 2026 outlook following Q1 was:
| Metric | FY26 guidance range | Midpoint growth |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $7.825–$7.925 billion | ~14% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $2.925–$2.965 billion | ~14% |
| AFFO | $1.735–$1.755 billion | ~13% |
| AFFO per share | $5.79–$5.86 | ~13% |
At the midpoints, the guide implies roughly $3.97 billion of second-half revenue, $1.52 billion of second-half adjusted EBITDA, and $901 million of second-half AFFO after accounting for Q1 actuals and Q2 guidance. This means management retains room to lift the full-year forecast if Q2 again exceeds plan, but investors will scrutinize whether the incremental upside is recurring or simply timing-related.
Data centers are the centerpiece of the long-term thesis. In Q1, Global Data Center revenue increased 47% year over year to $255 million, supported by lease commencements, favorable pricing, and faster-than-expected customer power ramps. Data-center EBITDA grew to $133 million, with a reported margin of 52.1%.
The more important forward indicators were very strong:
Read-through: Strong leasing or additional large commitments would likely matter more to investors than a modest revenue or AFFO beat. Conversely, a leasing slowdown could overshadow solid headline results because the market is increasingly valuing IRM as a data-center growth platform rather than solely as a records-storage REIT.
ALM was the standout Q1 growth driver. Revenue grew 92% year over year to $232 million, including 77% organic growth. Management attributed the result to strong enterprise demand, data-center decommissioning activity, acquisitions, and favorable pricing in memory-related markets.
Importantly, the company raised its full-year ALM revenue expectation by $100 million to $950 million. Of the $100 million increase, $40 million was realized in Q1, while management said the majority of the remaining $60 million was embedded in the Q2 outlook.
That makes ALM the most important near-term earnings variable.
Read-through: An ALM beat that is driven by enterprise share gains, global account expansion, and data-center decommissioning would be higher quality than one primarily tied to elevated resale values. The bear case is that unusually favorable component prices or project timing created an unsustainably high Q1 base.
Global Records and Information Management remains the company’s cash-generative foundation. Q1 Global RIM revenue reached $1.4 billion, up 12% reported and 8% organically. Storage revenue rose 6% organically, while service revenue grew more than 12% organically.
The business is benefiting from revenue management, stable or improving volume trends, digital-services demand, and government opportunities. But management also cautioned that last year’s revenue-management cadence makes the Q2 comparison harder.
The Treasury contract generated roughly $9 million of revenue in Q1; management continues to expect about $45 million in 2026 and more than $100 million annually from 2027 onward. More broadly, the company highlighted unusually strong public-sector bookings and believes its FedRAMP High authorization broadens its ability to pursue mission-critical federal digital workloads.
Q1 adjusted EBITDA rose 22% to $708 million, and margin improved 20 bps to 36.6% despite rapid growth in service revenue, which normally creates a mix headwind. That performance demonstrated meaningful operating leverage.
For Q2, investors should focus on whether IRM can continue to expand EBITDA dollars while defending margins amid:
AFFO remains the most relevant REIT cash-flow measure. Q1 AFFO was $426 million, or $1.43 per share, up 22% year over year. However, it was slightly below Q4 on a sequential basis, reflecting the capital-intensive growth plan and normal quarterly variability. The Q2 guide calls for $1.40 per share, so cash-flow conversion versus EBITDA is a central watch item.
Iron Mountain is pursuing an investment-heavy strategy, principally around data centers. In Q1 it invested:
Management expected full-year capex to be modestly lower than 2025, while also emphasizing that its data-center development is largely pre-leased rather than speculative.
Leverage improved to 4.8x net lease-adjusted leverage at the end of Q1, which management described as its best result on that metric since before its 2014 REIT conversion. Still, funding and interest expense deserve attention. In late June, Iron Mountain issued $1.5 billion of 6.25% senior notes due 2035, with net proceeds intended principally to repay revolver borrowings and for general corporate purposes. The transaction improves liquidity and extends maturities, but also underscores the cost of financing an aggressive development pipeline.
The quarterly dividend is $0.864 per share. At the midpoint of FY26 AFFO-per-share guidance, that annualized dividend represents an approximate 59% payout ratio, consistent with management’s low-60% target range.
A favorable report would likely include:
The downside scenario is less about a headline miss and more about the quality of the outlook:
IRM enters 2Q earnings with substantial operational momentum, but also a demanding valuation and elevated expectations. The report should be judged primarily on forward indicators: data-center leasing and delivery, the durability of ALM growth, cash-flow conversion, and the likelihood of another full-year guide increase.
The cleanest bullish outcome is a broad beat with strong data-center leasing, ALM execution that validates the raised outlook, and upward guidance. The key risk is that Q1 proved unusually strong due to timing, project activity, and component pricing—leaving Q2 results merely in line while the market expects another step-up.