GDS Holdings Limited GDS shares are trading lower after its third-quarter results.

Net revenue increased 17.7% year over year to $422.6 million, beating the consensus of $415.42 million. The increase was mainly due to the ongoing ramp-up of the data centers and business growth.

Adjusted gross profit was $214.1 million, an increase of 20.4% Y/Y, and the margin was 50.7%, compared with 49.5% a year ago. 

As of September-end, the total area committed and pre-committed increased by 20.2% Y/Y to 785,692 sqm, while the area in service grew by 16.8% Y/Y to 647,468 sqm.

The commitment rate for the area in service was 92.7%, up from 91.9% in the previous year.

The area under construction expanded to 234,741 sqm (from 189,585 sqm), with a pre-commitment rate rising to 79.2% from 76.1% in the prior year quarter.

Additionally, the area utilized grew by 20.9% Y/Y to 481,819 sqm, with a utilization rate of 74.4%, up from 71.9% a year earlier.

Adjusted EBITDA rose 15.0% Y/Y to $184.6 million, with margin declining to 43.7% from 44.7% a year ago.

As of September 30, the cash balance was $1.34 billion. Loss per ADS of 16 cents topped the consensus loss of 21 cents.

William Huang, Chairman and CEO, said, “In China, the accelerated move-in trend continued, as we executed our strategy of delivering the backlog while being selective on new orders. Internationally, our recent equity raise is a major step forward, and positions us well to capture the tremendous opportunities for growth in the international markets.”

Dan Newman, Chief Financial Officer, added, “The US$1 billion equity raise for GDSI will support our ambitious international expansion plans, further affirming the underlying value GDSI brings to our shareholders.”

2024 Outlook: GDS reaffirmed its guidance of total revenues of RMB 11.34 billion – RMB 11.76 billion in 2024 and Adjusted EBITDA of RMB 4.95 billion – RMB 5.15 billion.

The company revised the capital expenditure outlook to RMB 11.00 billion from RMB 6.50 billion earlier.

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Pacer Data & Infrastructure Real Estate ETF SRVR and Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF DTCR.

Price Action: GDS shares are down 10.33% at $21.08 at the last check Tuesday.

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