Iron Mountain delivered its fourth straight beat-and-raise. AFFO of $1.53 per share topped the $1.47 consensus and edged past the $1.52 Earnings Whisper number, a 0.7% beat. Revenue of $1.991 billion rose 13.5% year over year and came in 0.5% above the $1.98 billion consensus. The company lifted full-year guidance, raised the dividend 15%, and posted a record 102 megawatts of data center leasing. Beneath that is a business whose top-line growth is clearly slowing. Revenue growth has stepped down from 22% in the first quarter to 19% in the second and 13% now, and the fourth-quarter outlook of roughly $2.03 billion implies only about 10%. That is the central tension: the forward pipeline has rarely looked stronger, but near-term growth is losing altitude.

The quality of the quarter holds up better than the headline growth rate suggests. Adjusted EBITDA reached a record $748 million, and the 37.6% margin was up nearly 200 basis points sequentially, though flat with a year ago. Data center EBITDA margin jumped to 56.3% from 52.2% in the second quarter. GAAP net income rose to $129 million from $86 million, helped by the absence of last year's $47 million restructuring charge and a 33% increase in operating income. On a sequential basis, total revenue actually dipped 1.9% because service revenue fell 6%. That decline largely reflects roughly $30 million of asset lifecycle management (ALM) decommissioning work that was pulled into the second quarter. Investors should also note a gap in how earnings growth is measured. Earnings Whispers' normalized comparison shows 4.1% year-over-year growth, while the company's own AFFO per share comparison shows a 15.9% gain from $1.32.

The call reinforced that the growth businesses are doing the heavy lifting. Data center, digital and ALM together grew more than 30%. Within records management, storage grew more than 7% excluding a one-time item, its best pace in over two years. The growth businesses are decelerating from extraordinary levels, however:

• **ALM:** Reported growth fell to 43% from 88% in the second quarter. Management put the underlying rate above 50% after adjusting for the pull-forward.
• **Data center:** Revenue growth eased to 34% from 39% in the second quarter and 47% in the first.

The full-year raise was also thin. The revenue midpoint moved up only about $10 million and adjusted EBITDA about $3 million, although the revenue increase absorbed foreign-exchange pressure. AFFO per share guidance rose to $5.94–$6.00 from $5.87–$5.93, and full-year ALM revenue is now expected to come in modestly above $1 billion.

The forward-looking evidence is where the bull case lives. Year-to-date leasing of 137 megawatts already exceeds the original 100-megawatt target. The quarter's leasing included 74 megawatts in India, a fully leased London 3 facility at pricing roughly 25–30% higher, and a second new hyperscale customer this year. Data center backlog rose to $575 million, and management said the signed book implies about $1.7–$1.8 billion in annual revenue once energized. Management also gave early 2027 color of 20%+ data center growth and roughly 25% organic ALM growth, and an investor day is planned for March 2027.

Bears have legitimate ammunition, though:

• **Data center permitting:** Political and local pushback is rising after the midterms, with restrictions emerging in Texas, Ohio and Georgia. Management said its 325 megawatts energizing over the next 24 months are fully permitted and that it has no sites in those states.
• **Pricing and currency:** India leasing rates sit below the portfolio average, and a stronger dollar is a $5–$10 million fourth-quarter revenue headwind.
• **Leverage:** The current portion of debt jumped to $1.23 billion from $216 million at year-end. Long-term debt stands at $16.7 billion against a stockholders' deficit of $1.06 billion.

The market has not rewarded the string of raises. Shares closed at $118.66 ahead of the report, 7.9% below the $128.90 open after the August release. They had fallen as low as $107.20 on October 22 before rebounding about 11%. The stock now sits 2.8% above its 200-day moving average and roughly in the middle of its inter-earnings range, 8.8% below the August 17 high of $130.05. Investor sentiment improved meaningfully into the report, moving from essentially neutral (0.03) to modestly positive (0.22). Expectations were therefore firmer but not euphoric, which fits a beat that cleared the whisper only narrowly. The Earnings Whispers trend readings lean positive on sequential growth, momentum and AVWAP, even as the broader price trend remains negative.

The bottom line is that Iron Mountain once again exceeded expectations and raised its outlook, with improving margins, a record leasing quarter and a 15% dividend increase signaling management confidence. The debate has shifted from whether the growth businesses work to how quickly backlog converts to revenue as consolidated growth slows toward 10%. Until energized capacity begins re-accelerating the top line, modest guidance raises and permitting headlines are likely to keep the stock trading on the 2027 story rather than the current quarter.