The Point for North America

Research evidence excerpt

The Point for North America

Point |

Friday, 24 July 2026

Morning Call Highlights | Company | Industry | Economics & Strategy | Fixed Income & FX | Key Rating

and Target Price Changes

Morning Call Highlights Must Read

Digital Realty Trust Inc (DLR.N) - DLR Now Poised for Double-Digit Annual North America - Road Ahead 2H26

Normalized Core FFOPS Growth

DLR reported favorable 2Q results that delivered ongoing improvement in retail-

centric bookings, favorable hyperscale bookings (including 2 large leases signed in

early 3Q), and favorable financial performance before considering the unexpected

promote fees associated with the acquisition of 3 data centers under development

from its JV with Blackstone. Management was bullish on the growth trajectory and

indicated the prospect for double-digit core FFOPS growth to continue for at least

the next 2 years in 2027 and 2028 (excluding outsized promote fees in 2026). We

are upwardly revising our forecasts for double-digit core FFOPS growth and remain

a Buyer of DLR shares that we expect will trade higher near term.

Michael Rollins, CFA | Nick Joseph

US REITs and Lodging - Slowly But Surely? Thoughts on Private Storage

Company Meetings

We met with management from some of the largest private owners, operators and

brokers in self-storage and our takeaways were: 1) fundamentals are slightly better

than last year and expected to modestly improve from here, but the recovery will

be gradual (not strong), 2) regulatory fears, particularly in NYC, were greater than

Citi expected, 3) the discounted move-in rate strategy (with aggressive ECRIs) is

unpopular among private-owners, even when these portfolios are managed by

public REITs, as it’s viewed as being an inhibitor of revenue-growth and attracting