Highlights

  • GDS increased quarterly revenue and raised annual guidance as committed and pre-committed data centre area expanded from last year.
  • A gain linked to dilution of the DayOne stake materially influenced the swing from net loss to profit.
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased more slowly than revenue, while the reported margin declined compared with the prior-year quarter.
  • Management increased planned capital expenditure, leaving funding requirements relevant against the company’s substantial reported debt and cash balances.

A higher annual outlook at GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:GDS) comes with a larger construction budget and an earnings result heavily influenced by a non-operating gain. The China-based data-centre operator raised its 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA forecasts on 13 August. At the same time, it lifted planned capital expenditure to approximately RMB 10.0 billion, extending the financial scale of its capacity expansion.

Operating Growth Differs From the Profit Swing

Second-quarter net revenue was RMB 3,088.0 million, equivalent to USD 455.1 million in the supplied conversion, up 6.5% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 2.5% to RMB 1,406.0 million.

The adjusted EBITDA margin declined to 45.5% from 47.3%. That comparison shows operating profit on this measure growing more slowly than revenue, despite the company’s sharply improved net result.

Net income was RMB 837.6 million, compared with a net loss of RMB 70.6 million a year earlier. A RMB 959.9 million equity-method gain arising from dilution of GDS’s stake in international affiliate DayOne materially influenced the change. The headline profit therefore should not be treated as an equivalent improvement in recurring operations.

Capacity and Commitments Increase

Area in service reached 684,977 square metres, up 10.8%. A further 170,355 square metres were under construction. Utilised area totalled 542,236 square metres, giving a utilisation rate of 79.2%.

Gross additions of area during the quarter were 64,750 square metres, while net additions were 59,317 square metres. Committed or pre-committed area reached 784,802 square metres, up 18.2%.

Management said it was on track for a record year of sales commitments. Those commitments and construction figures are different from delivered, revenue-generating capacity. The supplied material does not establish when every committed area will enter service or become fully utilised.

Guidance Rises With the Investment Budget

The revised 2026 revenue range is RMB 12.7–13.0 billion, compared with the previous RMB 12.4–12.9 billion. Adjusted EBITDA guidance increased to RMB 5.9–6.1 billion from RMB 5.75–6.0 billion.

Capital expenditure is now expected to be approximately RMB 10.0 billion, up from RMB 9.0 billion. All three figures are forecasts rather than completed full-year outcomes.

Cash was RMB 14,927.3 million at 30 June 2026, against total debt of approximately RMB 46.1 billion. Those balances provide context for the increased spending plan, although the supplied summary does not allocate funding to each construction project.

Potential Asset Transfer Remains Conditional

Income tax rose to RMB 213.5 million. The company linked that increase to an intra-group transfer ahead of a potential second asset injection into a Chinese real estate investment trust, or C-REIT.

The word “potential” is material: the source does not establish that a second injection has been completed. Any related capital recycling remains separate from the quarter’s already reported revenue, profit and balance-sheet figures.

No confirmed date for third-quarter results appears in the supplied material. The next operating disclosure would be needed to assess utilisation, conversion of commitments into delivered capacity and the relationship between the higher spending budget and adjusted EBITDA growth. Results are reported in RMB, while the Nasdaq securities are American depositary shares.