Digital Realty Enters Portugal, Boosts Southern Europe Data Hub

Digital Realty DLR has entered Portugal with the acquisition of a data center in Lisbon, marking another step in its strategy to expand across fast-growing digital infrastructure markets. The move strengthens the company’s footprint in Southern Europe and positions it to support rising demand for cloud, AI and connectivity services. By establishing a presence in Lisbon, the company gains access to an important connectivity gateway linking Europe with the Americas and Africa.

The new facility in Lisbon, expected to support up to 2.4 MW of IT load and likely to be ready for service in early 2027, is poised to play a key role in the region’s digital ecosystem. The site sits close to major subsea cable systems and offers interconnection, making it attractive for enterprises, network providers and cloud platforms seeking reliable access to international routes. For Digital Realty, this location helps strengthen its global data center platform while expanding opportunities for customers operating across multiple continents.

The Portugal entry follows the company’s recent expansion into Bulgaria through the acquisition of Telepoint, a highly connected interconnection hub in Sofia. The deal added two data centers and brought an established ecosystem of networks, cloud providers and enterprises onto Digital Realty’s global platform. With this acquisition, the company gained immediate scale in Southeast Europe and improved its ability to serve regional and international clients.

Beyond Europe, Digital Realty continues to broaden its global innovation footprint. The company recently expanded its innovation lab network to Singapore and Japan, enabling customers to test and deploy advanced technologies across its PlatformDIGITAL environment. These initiatives highlight Digital Realty’s focus on supporting digital transformation while strengthening its interconnected global infrastructure platform.

Wrapping Up on DLR

Digital Realty’s expansion into Portugal and Bulgaria reflects a broader strategy to deepen its presence in key connectivity markets worldwide. With growing demand for cloud computing, AI workloads and global interconnection, the company is positioning its platform close to major digital traffic routes. Combined with investments in innovation labs and steady performance highlighted in its fourth-quarter 2025 results, Digital Realty continues to strengthen its role as a global provider of data center and interconnection solutions.

DLR’s Zacks Rank and Price Performance

Over the past three months, shares of DLR have risen 10.8%, outperforming the industry’s growth of 6.6%. Currently, DLR carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Cousins Properties Incorporated CUZ and W. P. Carey Inc. WPC, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cousins Properties’ 2026 FFO per share is pinned at $2.93. This calls for year-over-year growth of 3.17%. Cousins Properties currently has a VGM Score of C.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for W. P. Carey’s 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $5.16. This implies year-over-year growth of 3.82%. W. P. Carey has a VGM Score of D.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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