GDS (NASDAQ:GDS) Trading 5.5% Higher Following Earnings Beat

Shares of GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GDS - Get Free Report) were up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $30.25 and last traded at $29.11. Approximately 812,361 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 3,157,913 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.58.

The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $375.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. GDS had a negative return on equity of 8.22% and a negative net margin of 35.97%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.96) earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded GDS from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citizens Jmp upgraded GDS to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of GDS in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of GDS from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of GDS from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $26.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GDS has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GDS. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in GDS by 2,390.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 996 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of GDS during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of GDS during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GDS in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GDS by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.71% of the company's stock.

GDS Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.75. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.90 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

About GDS

GDS Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, develops and operates data centers in the People's Republic of China. The company provides colocation services comprising critical facilities space, customer-available power, racks, and cooling; managed hosting services, including business continuity and disaster recovery, network management, data storage, system security, operating system, database, and server middleware services; managed cloud services; and consulting services.

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