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Equinix Books $54 Million Of Other Income From A One-Time Joint Venture Fee, Flattering Quarterly Profit

The atNorth fee swung other income to $54 million while interest expense climbed to $163 million, Equinix's quarterly report shows.

Matteo Parrino Jonathan Ponciano

Matteo Parrino, Jonathan Ponciano

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Equinix Books $54 Million Of Other Income From A One-Time Joint Venture Fee, Flattering Quarterly Profit

Equinix, which runs data centers where companies rent space and power and connect directly to one another, booked $54 million of net other income in the third quarter, mostly compensation earned for its part in forming the atNorth joint venture. That helped lift net income to $489 million from $374 million a year earlier, while interest expense rose to $163 million.

A fee that flattered the quarter

The other-income line was insignificant a year earlier, and the prior quarter showed net other expense of $28 million, an $82 million swing. Equinix's earnings release described the fee as non-recurring and tied the 31% rise in net income partly to it, alongside higher operating income of $600 million.

Diluted earnings per share were $4.93 against $3.81 a year earlier. Revenue was $2.571 billion, up 11%.

For the nine months, net other income was $27 million, partly offset by Equinix's share of losses at equity-method investments.

Interest bill follows the bond sales

Interest expense rose to $163 million from $128 million a year earlier, and to $462 million from $385 million over nine months. The company ties the increase to senior notes issued in 2026 and 2025, including $5.4 billion sold in the first three quarters of this year.

Senior notes, net of the current portion, stood at $20.963 billion at quarter end against $16.91 billion at the end of 2025. In July Equinix replaced its $4.0 billion revolving credit facility with a $5.5 billion one maturing July 25, 2031; roughly $5.5 billion remained available to borrow.

What atNorth cost Equinix

In September Equinix put $869 million into the venture, which bought atNorth, a Nordic colocation and built-to-suit data center provider. It owns about 34% of each share class. Of the $847 million carried on its books, $831 million sits in non-voting preference shares paying a cumulative 12% annual dividend, and $16 million in voting common shares. Equinix books its share of the venture's income on a three-month lag.

Equinix also committed to lease a minimum amount of capacity from atNorth by December 31, 2030. On October 1 it paid $133 million for 10% stakes in the Asia-Pacific 4 joint venture.

Spending commitments and guidance

Equinix had about $6.4 billion of unaccrued capital spending commitments at September 30, mostly for equipment and construction, with the majority payable within 12 months. Cash and short-term investments totaled $3.6 billion.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects revenue of $2.684 billion to $2.724 billion. It raised its full-year revenue outlook to $10.325 billion to $10.365 billion.

Equinix declared a quarterly dividend of $5.16 per share, payable December 16 to holders of record on November 18.

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