Equinix stock climbs as Cowen selects REIT as 2023 best idea, moves to Outperform

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) the stock jumped 3.6% Tuesday afternoon, Cowen analyst Michael Elias ranked the digital infrastructure company as the best idea for 2023 and upgraded the data center REIT to Outperform relative to market performance.

Elias described the company as a “top-notch DC operator with a defensible interconnect moat and a healthy BS [balance sheet]positioning it well relative to its peers to weather an economic storm,” he wrote in a note.

Its 2023 EBITDA and adjusted operating funds per share are not expected to be impacted by higher power prices “given Equinix’s hedging strategy and its contractual transmission capabilities,” according to the note. By the end of 2022, it will be 98% covered against rising electricity costs in Europe in 2023.

Additionally, Elias believes the company’s decision to increase pricing for its core data center represents an “underappreciated growth tailwind.”

Seeking Alpha contributor Hoya Capital viewed EQIX as a Hold’em, citing its “relatively dominant” platform. By comparison, the Amount the system projected EQIX with a Hold rating and the average Wall Street the analyst preferred it as a buy.

Earlier, Equinix will enter South Africa with a $160 million data center investment in johannesburg.