GDS Q3 2025 Earnings Report

GDS EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.45
• Consensus EPS: -$0.06
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.51
• One Year Ago EPS: -$0.14

GDS Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $405.28 million
• Expected Revenue: $402.81 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$2.47 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: +10.20%

GDS Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q3 2025
• Date: 11/19/2025
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2025
• Conference Call Time: 8:00AM ET

GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Limited is a developer and operator of data centers serving cloud service providers, internet companies, financial institutions and other enterprises. The company provides data center infrastructure designed to support critical information technology systems, including space, power, cooling, connectivity and security.

Its services include colocation, managed infrastructure and related data center solutions. GDS also offers connectivity to telecommunications carriers, cloud platforms and internet exchanges, helping customers deploy and operate technology systems in secure, highly available facilities.

Founded in 2001, GDS has built a network of data centers primarily in China, with additional operations and expansion efforts in selected international markets, including Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. William Huang serves as the company's chairman and chief executive officer.

GDS Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: In 3Q25 revenue rose 10.2% YoY and adjusted EBITDA rose 11.4% YoY (pro‑forma 9M adj. EBITDA up 15.4%), signaling continued recovery and margin improvement.
• Positive Sentiment: New bookings remain strong — 75,000 sq m (240 MW) in the first nine months with an expected ~300 MW for 2025 and >70,000 sq m visible for next year, with ~65% of 2025 bookings AI‑related and a powered land bank of ~900 MW.
• Positive Sentiment: The company's CREET (data center REIT) IPO was highly successful (units up 45.8% from IPO) and management plans repeated asset injections to recycle capital, targeting post‑IPO asset injections of ~RMB 4–6 billion.
• Positive Sentiment: Financials and liquidity strengthened — net debt/annualized adj. EBITDA fell to 6.0x from 6.8x, effective interest rate is ~3.3%, and after asset monetization the China business is nearly self‑funding with operating cash flow and net CapEx roughly balanced.
• Negative Sentiment: Management expects average MSR pressure in 2026 (roughly a 3–4% decline) from contract price resets and higher move‑in dilution, and notes relatively subdued bookings since 2Q could temper growth next year.

Presentation

[Operator]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for GDS Holdings Limited, Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After management prepare remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Today's conference call is being recorded. I'll now turn the call over to your host, Ms. Laura Chen, Head of Investor Relations for the company. Please go ahead, Laura.

[Laura Chen, Head of Investor Relations at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Thank you. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call of GDS Holdings Limited. The company's results were issued via Newswire Services earlier today and are posted online. A summary presentation, which we will be viewing virtually during this conference call, can be viewed and downloaded from our IR website at investors.gdservices.com. Leading today's call is Mr. William Huang, GDS Founder, Chairman, and CEO, who will provide an overview of our business strategy and performance. Mr. Dan Newman, GDS CFO, will then review the financial and operating results. Before we continue, please note that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor Provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company's results may be materially different from the views expressed today.

[Laura Chen, Head of Investor Relations at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the company's prospectus as filed with the U.S. SEC. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. Please also note that GDS earnings press release and this conference call include discussions of unaudited GAAP financial information as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. GDS press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to the unaudited most directly comparable GAAP measures. I'll now turn over the call to GDS Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Mr. William Huang. Please go ahead, William.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Thank you. Hello, everyone. This is William. Thank you for joining us on today's call. During the third quarter, our revenue increased by 10.2%, and our adjusted EBITDA increased by 11.4% year-on-year, maintaining the healthy growth trend since our business began to recover last year. During 3Q 2025, our gross additional area utilized was around 23,000 sq m. We are on track to achieve our highest ever year of moving. We continue to deliver the long-term backlog. In addition, we are now delivering the 40,000 sq m or 152 MW order, which we won in the first quarter of this year. By being selective with new business, we have successfully shortened the book-to-build period and brought down our backlog. Nonetheless, we still have visibility for over 70,000 sq m of moving from the backlog next year.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Our total new bookings for the first nine months is 75,000 sq m, or 240 megawatts. We expect to achieve nearly 300 megawatts for the full year, which is a big step up from the level of the past few years. Around 65% of our bookings in 2025 are AI-related. Nonetheless, AI demand in China is still at a very early stage. If we look at the big picture, the domestic tech industry has reached a critical juncture, with major players making unprecedented financial commitments to AI infrastructure. This marks a definitive end to the previous downturn and signals the beginning of a robust recovery for the data center sector. All of our major customers are committed to the massive scale of this new investment cycle, with CapEx plans of hundreds of billions, underscoring the intensity of the new AI arms race.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Leading local chip companies are making continuous development progress in terms of performance, efficiency, and capacity. The growth of the domestic chip segment will secure the long-term growth of the AI infrastructure industry. We have unwavering confidence in the AI demand to come basis on the development and the ramp-up of domestic technologies. We believe that new bookings in the coming years could be better, and this is what we are preparing for in our strategic plan. There are two essential ingredients to win big in AI: powered land and access to capital. We have already secured around 900 megawatts of powered land in and around tier one markets, which is suitable for AI demand, particularly for AI inferencing.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

In addition, based on our communications with our customers, we are in the process of securing more powered land in complementary locations, and we believe that 900 megawatts will not be enough. On the financing side, we recently completed the first IPO of a data center REIT in China. The transaction was a huge success. We intend injecting more assets in the REIT next year and establishing a continuous pipeline of asset monetization. The REIT gives us a significant competitive advantage in terms of accessing capital from the domestic equity market. It enables us to monetize assets efficiently, repeatedly, and at the lowest possible cost. The China market is at an inflection point. The outlook for the data center industry is very exciting. Our market position is as strong as ever. Over the past few years, we have taken a conservative approach.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

We improved our asset utilization and significantly strengthened our balance sheet. Going forward, we will maintain our financial discipline while at the same time taking a more aggressive approach to new business. I will now pass on to Dan for the financial and operating review.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Thank you, William. Starting on slide 15, as William mentioned, in 3Q 2025, our reported adjusted EBITDA grew by 11.4% year-on-year. At the end of 1Q 2025, we deconsolidated the data center project companies, which we sold to the ABS. During 3Q 2025, we deconsolidated the data center project companies, which we sold to the CREET. In order to present a consistent trend, we have adjusted historic numbers to take out the EBITDA contribution of the deconsolidated companies for the first nine months of 2025 and for the comparative period. On this pro forma basis, our adjusted EBITDA for the first nine months grew by 15.4%. Turning to slide 16, our CREET started trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on the 8th of August. As of yesterday's close, the CREET units were priced at RMB 4.375, 45.8% up from the IPO price.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

At this level, the CREET is trading on 24.6 times EV to the projected 2026 EBITDA, as disclosed in the CREET offering memorandum. The implied dividend yield is 3.6% based on the projected cash available for distribution, also as stated in the offering memorandum. It is our strategic objective to grow and diversify our CREET so that it is a viable option for us to recycle capital on a repeated basis, thereby unlocking value for GDS shareholders and freeing up funds for new investment. Under current regulations, we are permitted to apply for approval for the first post-IPO asset injection six months after the IPO date, i.e., during 2Q 2026. Thereafter, it will take some time to complete the regulatory review process. For the first IPO post-IPO asset injection, we are preparing assets with a target enterprise value of around RMB 4 billion-RMB 6 billion.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

This compares with an enterprise value of RMB 2.4 billion for the assets which we injected into the CREET at IPO. With the creation of the CREET platform, we have the opportunity to invest in new data centers, ramp up, operate, and then, once the track record qualifies, to monetize over a five- to six-year investment cycle. Even if we take a very conservative view on potential future exit multiples into the CREET, the return on new investment is still very compelling. This could not have happened at a better time as we address the upcoming AI demand wave. We think it's a game changer. Turning to slide 17, for the first nine months of 2025, our organic CapEx was RMB 3.8 billion. We still expect our organic CapEx for the full year to be around RMB 4.8 billion.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

However, net of the cash proceeds of the asset monetization, our CapEx will be around RMB 2.7 billion. As shown on slide 18, our operating cash flow for the full year will be around RMB 2.5 billion. Therefore, after taking into account the asset monetization proceeds, our China business is almost self-funding. Turning to slides 19 and 20, our net debt to last quarter annualized adjusted EBITDA multiple decreased from 6.8 times at the end of 2024 to 6.0 times at the end of 3Q 2025. The decrease is mainly due to the cash proceeds of the asset monetization and the deconsolidation of debt of the project companies sold to the ABS and CREET, as well as the offshore equity capital raise which we did in 2Q 2025. We are benefiting from the favorable interest rate environment in China, with our effective interest rate dropping to 3.3%.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Turning to slide 22, after nine months, we are on track to achieve the midpoint of our revenue guidance and at or above the top end of our EBITDA guidance for the full year of 2025. Our growth rate during the current year has clearly benefited from the strong new bookings in 1Q25 and a short book-to-build period. This gives a clear illustration of how our growth rate can accelerate with a pickup in demand. The relatively subdued new bookings since 2Q25 will affect our growth rate next year. However, in our internal projections, we foresee higher bookings next year, leading to growth acceleration thereafter. We'd now like to open the call to questions, operator.

[Operator]

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone and wait for a name to be announced. For the benefit of all participants on today's call, please limit yourself to one or two questions. If you have more questions, please re-enter the queue. Our first question comes from the line of Yang Liu of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

[Yang Liu, Executive Director and Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

Thanks for the opportunity. I have two questions here. The first one is regarding the China market inflection. As William just mentioned, the China market is approaching the inflection point. What do we need to see to see that really happen in the near future? In terms of your strategy to go a little bit more aggressive in China, could you please elaborate more? For example, where is the location or what type of project, etc., are you planning? The second question is regarding the overall investment profile because now we have a CREET platform, and it is a very effective way to recycle capital. What is the new overall investment return with the CREET scheme? Thank you.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Okay. I think number one question is, yeah, I think how to explain the aggressive approach. I think what we see in the market demand is very strong in China. I think our customer announced their big investment in the next five years. I think now another signal is domestic chips catching up. Just as what I mentioned, I think in terms of the chips efficiency and the production capacity, I think they all improve a lot. That means the real data center opportunity is coming. We will well position. As I just mentioned, we still have the large, I think the largest land bank, powered land bank, in around tier one market. This is very good for the future inferencing. Another is, I think, the China tech player. They will continue to do massive training.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

I think in order to catch up, capture this opportunity, we will acquire more land in some very cheap power location and as much close to, let's say, tier one city. Yeah. I think this is our strategy, and a lot of the land acquisition is in process. Maybe something will happen. We can announce in next earnings call. This is number one. Number two, I think Dan maybe can explain about the REITs.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Sure. The unit economics of data center investment in China is very solid. Selling price is stable. The unit development cost has come down to a level which is very efficient. This allows us to generate typically 11%-12% cash-on-cash yield on new investment. What has changed is the way that we can look at and evaluate investment. If we take the approach of investing, which maybe takes one year to construct, and then one year for the customer to move in fully, we have to hold the asset and operate for three years to establish the track record which is required before assets can be injected into CREET. In the following year, which would be year five or six, we can consider an asset injection.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Even if we use an exit multiple, a cap rate, which has been very conservative compared with even where we IPOed our CREET, but we look at the IRR over a five to six-year period, then it is in the low to mid-teens. The levered IRR, the return on equity, is well into the 20s. I think fundamentally, this is very attractive.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Yeah. I added one more point. I think we believe now is the right timing to step in the market because, number one, I think the price is more stable. Number two, I think the development cost is almost at the bottom in terms of history, right? I think this is the right timing to maintain very good return. It's the right timing. Yeah.

[Yang Liu, Executive Director and Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you for the questions. One moment for the next question. Our next question comes from Sarah Wang of UBS. Please go ahead.

[Sarah Wang, Associate Director at UBS Investment Bank]

Thank you. Congratulations on the solid results. It's glad to hear that GDS is being more aggressive in acquiring new business opportunities. I have actually one question about two parts. I think Dan just mentioned we're expecting higher booking next year. Regarding this booking, does that include our potentially new powered land acquired in regions with relatively lower power tariffs? The second question is that if we are going into complementary markets on top of our 900 megawatt resources, then how shall we think about the is there any difficulties in acquiring new power quota? Because this year we have heard Faraday Way, like NDRC, they're actually relatively rationalizing or controlling the new power quota release in China in general. That's my question. Thank you.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Okay. The first question, I think that our new booking next year, right, we're not fully relying on the new acquisition of the land. Definitely, if we can successfully secure the land, power the land, we can do more, right? This is our focus base. Yeah. The second question, what's the second?

[Sarah Wang, Associate Director at UBS Investment Bank]

Power quota.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

I think the power quota always, I mean, in general, always not easy, right? Based on our track record and the reputation, I think a lot of governments are willing to work with us. For us, it is not that challenging for us. We have a lot of the experience in the last 10 years to build up the right relationship with the government and the power company. Yeah.

[Sarah Wang, Associate Director at UBS Investment Bank]

Got it. Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you for the questions. One moment for the next question. The next question comes from the line of Frank Louthan from Raymond James & Associates. Please go ahead.

[Frank Louthan, Analyst at Raymond James & Associates]

Great. Thank you. Can you give us an update on Day One on private round funding and potential updates for a possible IPO? What is the outlook on your customers getting GPUs and be able to ramp their installs going forward? When do we expect that to crack open? Thanks.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think I answered a couple. Maybe Dan can add more color. I have to say, I think after Series B, I think Day One is fully independent. We cannot represent Day One anymore since that time, right? We still can give some highlight information, right, about Day One because we are quite enjoying the equity value increase, right, for our shareholders. I think the whole business in Asia Pacific and Europe, which we already announced the market where we already stepped in, remains very, very good, very, very positive, and the demand still remains very, very strong. I think Day One's business is on the right track and could be better. That's all what I can tell you. Maybe if you are interested, maybe we can introduce you to Day One's right people to explain more detail. Yeah. Yeah.

[Frank Louthan, Analyst at Raymond James & Associates]

Okay. On potential for additional installs to ramp?

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Print costs without the new business in Day One, I think.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Yeah. What I can tell you is that there remains very, very strong positive view for the future. Yes. I cannot tell any detail more. I cannot represent. This is a GDS earnings call, right? Sorry about that.

[Frank Louthan, Analyst at Raymond James & Associates]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you for the questions. The next questions will come from Michael Elias from PD Cohen. Please go ahead.

[Michael Elias, Analyst at PD Cohen]

Great. Thanks for taking the question. In the U.S., when we think about the training workloads that we're seeing, we're seeing gigawatt scale projects getting deployed. I'm curious, when you think about what training will look like in China, are you seeing the opportunity deployed at that kind of a scale, i.e., in the gigawatt range? My second question is, can you give us an update as you think about these AI data centers that you expect to build? What the time to build those data centers is and how that varies from traditional cloud data centers? If I can squeeze it in, any notable constraints or long lead time items that we should be aware of? Thank you.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

I think scale-wise, I think our client talked about the gigawatt level, I mean, new demand, right? I think this is just like three years ago in what happened in the U.S. The number-wise, we are talking every big player talks about gigawatt size, new demand. I think it's catching up. That's what we have been seeing. We have seen. In terms of time to market, right, I think in China, we can build very fast. I think normally 9 months to 12 months is very normal. Yes. Start from the piling to deliver, right? The extremely, I mean, case, we can build, let's say, even build within 8 months. That's our record in China.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Any bottlenecks or problems?

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

No. I don't think in terms of development, yeah, supply chain in China is not ensured.

[Michael Elias, Analyst at PD Cohen]

Got it. Thanks for the call. Really appreciate it.

[Operator]

Thank you for the questions. The next questions will come from the line of Daily Lee of Bank of America Securities. Please go ahead.

[Edison Lee, Analyst at Bank of America Securities]

Hi, Management. Thanks for taking my question. I have two questions here. First one is about we got new orders for the China market, like near 30 megawatts. Could you share what's the—can you hear me? Sorry.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Go, go, go.

[Edison Lee, Analyst at Bank of America Securities]

Go ahead.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Go ahead. Sorry. Yeah.

[Edison Lee, Analyst at Bank of America Securities]

Yeah. Yeah. Could you give some color about the AI exposure? What's the percentage from AI, and is this about inferencing model training for the recent order? Number two, for the second one is about the—we heard the China government gave some window guidance in Q2 this year to tighten to the data center supplier in China. Do you see any impact to us and to the market? Thank you.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Yeah. I think the—yeah, new order from—yeah.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Okay. In our prepared remarks, we commented that we will probably reach nearly 300 megawatts in terms of new bookings for the whole of 2025. I think we had 240 megawatts up to the end of the first quarter. There is some good new business in the fourth quarter. We also stated that by our estimation, around 65% of the new bookings this year are AI-related. We only have a presence in tier one markets. That is AI in tier one markets. That is going to be mainly AI inferencing, or it can be a combination of AI inferencing and training, and it is being deployed within the established cloud regions and cloud availability zones. The second question was.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Window guidance about the carbon coat? Yeah. Yeah. I think this has always happened in the tier one market, right? We are lucky. We already prepared for that. That is why I mentioned we still have almost 900 megawatts powered land. This power is all gathered carbon coated or near tier one market. It is very difficult to apply new around the tier one market. In the remote area, I think I did not hear any—I did not hear any about the window guidance because the power in those places, the big problem is how to sell, right? The power is a capacity; it is very large in the remote area. Getting the power, I think it is not very, very difficult. Local government very encouraged the data center operator to build a data center in those places, yeah, location. Yeah.

[Edison Lee, Analyst at Bank of America Securities]

Thank you. Wait a minute there. Thank you.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you for the questions. Our next questions come from Timothy Chow of Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

[Timothy Chow, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Thank you, Management, for taking my question and congrats on the solid results. I have two questions. First is about the pricing trend. I'm just wondering if you can share some color on how you're seeing about the MSR trend into fourth quarter and next year. It's really given that probably the company is entering into a peak renewal period for the contract that was signed maybe five to seven years ago. How should we think about the MSR trend into next year? Second is about the overall market and the competitive landscape. I think right now you have been emphasizing time to market quite a lot. If you remember, I think maybe five years ago when there was a wave about the cloud data centers and 5G network, there was also a wave of increased data center supply in China.

[Timothy Chow, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Just wondering if you think from where we are right now, how do you think about the overall industry supply and demand dynamics? Thank you.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Yeah. The first part of your question about the downward price reset when our install-based contract comes up for renewal. This has been going on for a few years and will continue for a few years more. The impact of that gets reflected in our MSR. I always give some comment on future expectations. Now, I'd say that over 2026, we expect the MSR to decrease by 3-4%. That's on average, comparing 1Q versus 1Q, 2Q versus 2Q, and so on. That is not only a function of the downward price reset. We also have elevated higher levels of movement. That also has a dilutive effect on MSR. That 3-4% reflects the combination of those factors.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Yeah. I think I add a little bit of my points. I think all the new build data center, the price is quite stable since two years ago. Nothing changed. I think this is very good. In the meanwhile, I think the cost is more stable, right? If you look at all the new build asset return, it's very decent. I think this is a way to relook at the MSR, right? Because the new campus, new building, in general, I think compared with the edge data center, the enterprise data center, even cloud data center, the price definitely went down a lot. If you look at the asset return since two years ago, it's very, very similar. This price is very, very stable. Return is also very stable. It's 100% fit to inject to the risk.

[Dan Newman, CFO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Tim also asked about the competitive landscape.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

Competitive landscape, I think the new competition, I think if you try to gather the customer trust and the reliability, you should assure your financial capability. Now, our customers more care about the financial capability, not just the capability you can build. Everybody can build easily, right? I think if you try to commit a customer 500 megawatt or 1 gigawatt campus in the future, I think our customer definitely will consider about do you have the capability to access the capital market? What's the cash position you have right now? This is a new competitive advantage. In terms of this, I think we are much more way ahead than any competitor else, right? I think this is not just land power competition. It's also the capability of the access to capital market.

[William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO at GDS Holdings Ltd]

In terms of this, if I look around, I think not that much company both has the land capability, power the land capability, and position, and let's say financing capability. Yeah.

[Operator]

Thank you for the questions. Due to the time limits of today's call, I would like to now turn the call back over to the company for any closing remarks.

[Timothy Chow, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Thank you once again for joining us today, and see you next time. Bye.

[Operator]

This concludes this conference call. You may now disconnect your line. Thank you.

Participants

Executives

• Dan Newman, CFO
• Laura Chen, Head of Investor Relations
• William Huang, Founder, Chairman and CEO

Analysts

• Sarah Wang, Associate Director at UBS Investment Bank
• Timothy Chow, Analyst at Goldman Sachs
• Yang Liu, Executive Director and Analyst at Morgan Stanley
• Frank Louthan, Analyst at Raymond James & Associates
• Michael Elias, Analyst at PD Cohen
• Edison Lee, Analyst at Bank of America Securities