GDS Holdings Ltd

GDS Holdings Limited raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to between CNY 12,700 million and CNY 13,000 million after reporting second-quarter 2026 results, citing AI-driven demand and record data center bookings and commitments. The company posted revenue of CNY 3,087.95 million and net income of CNY 835.21 million for the quarter, swinging from a prior-year loss and lifting earnings per share from continuing operations. Management also increased capital expenditure plans, which keeps balance sheet risk and funding conditions as key near-term swing factors for the investment narrative. The upgraded guidance and AI-fueled bookings may challenge more cautious analyst estimates that had assumed revenue of about CNY 15.7 billion and earnings near CNY 1.2 billion by 2029.

GDS Holdings reported record second-quarter 2026 bookings of 260 megawatts, bringing first-half bookings to 470 megawatts and prompting the company to raise its full-year sales target to 1 gigawatt. Chairman and CEO William Huang said all sales agreements include binding take-or-pay commitments, and the company has secured an additional 600 megawatts of customer reservations so far this year. CFO Dan Newman said the backlog grew from 450 megawatts at the start of the year to 757 megawatts by mid-year, with an estimated RMB 1.6 billion of booked but not billed adjusted EBITDA. The company also raised its full-year capital expenditure guidance from RMB 9 billion to RMB 10 billion and revised upward its full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance.

GDS Holdings Limited reported a return to profit in the second quarter, with net income attributable to shareholders of RMB 835.2 million compared with a net loss of RMB 72.3 million a year earlier. Total net revenue rose 6.5 percent to RMB 3.087 billion from RMB 2.9 billion, driven by the continued ramp-up of its data centers. The company raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook to between RMB 12.7 billion and RMB 13.0 billion, up from the previous range of RMB 12.4 billion to RMB 12.9 billion. Shares were up 2.32 percent at $33.50 in pre-market trading on the Nasdaq.

GDS Holdings Limited has released its 2025 Sustainability Report, highlighted by an upgrade in its MSCI ESG rating from A to AAA, the highest tier possible. The company raised its renewable energy usage rate to 60%, with direct green power purchases up over 60% year-over-year and accounting for 75% of total renewable sources. Average Power Usage Effectiveness improved to 1.23 from 1.24 in 2024, and 90% of self-developed data centers meet green building standards, with 45 data centers now certified green. GDS also launched China’s first pilot program converting recycled waste cooking oil into biodiesel for backup power systems, cutting lifecycle carbon emissions by over 90% versus conventional diesel, and its Shanghai Pujiang Data Center Campus earned China’s first Zero Waste to Landfill Management Performance Certification. The company maintained a B rating in its CDP assessment, secured inclusion in the S&P CSA Rating 2025 Yearbook, and retained its Moody’s NZA-2 Net Zero Assessment rating, remaining the only data center company in the world to successfully pass that assessment.

Zacks Investment Research identifies GDS Holdings, NetEase, Kingsoft Cloud, and Taiwan Semiconductor as compelling portfolio opportunities entering the second half of 2026, citing steady U.S.-China trade progress and company-specific catalysts. GDS secured a record 200 megawatts of net new bookings in the first quarter, with full-year revenue guidance of RMB 12,400 to 12,900 million. NetEase launched a dual primary listing in Hong Kong and expanded its game lineup with Where Winds Meet on Xbox and Once Human coming to consoles. Kingsoft Cloud saw AI gross billing surge 90% year over year, crossing 50% of public cloud revenues, and raised Xiaomi cloud service caps to RMB 4 billion for 2026. Taiwan Semiconductor posted May revenue of approximately NT$416.98 billion, up 30.1% year over year, and guided second-quarter revenue of $39 to $40.2 billion with gross margins of 65.5% to 67.5%.

Morgan Stanley analyst Tom Tang named VNET Group a top pick while maintaining an Overweight rating and a $16 price target on May 27. Tang noted that shareholder issues have been mostly resolved since a CATL affiliate was introduced, and that 500 megawatt MOUs have improved forward visibility, giving VNET a first-mover advantage based on premium resources. On June 9, Bloomberg reported that VNET's US depositary receipts rose about 9% amid news that China is preparing to invest $295 billion in data center development nationwide, with Chinese vendors expected to supply roughly 80% of the technology.