(Reuters) -Equinix lowered its forecast for annual revenue due to the data center operator facing delays in closing a deal and a negative impact from foreign exchange rates, its CEO said on Wednesday, while Wall Street counts on the company to benefit from booming spending on AI infrastructure.
Though Equinix has been expanding its business with artificial intelligence cloud providers, it is heavily reliant on enterprise clients, spending from whom can be lumpy in the face of macroeconomic uncertainty.
The company now expects fiscal 2025 revenue between $9.21 billion and $9.33 billion, down from its earlier expectations of annual sales between $9.23 billion to $9.33 billion.
Equinix is in discussions to lease the entirety of one of its campuses to a client but is running into delays closing the agreement, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin told Reuters.
It is a complex transaction "given its size, and therefore there may be an element of timing risk associated with that transaction," Fox-Martin said.
"That is why we have amended our guide, in case that transaction was to slip into the first month of next year."
Some enterprises have adopted a wait-and-see approach to sizeable expenses amid an uncertain macroeconomic environment characterized by trade tensions and U.S. President Donald Trump's many tariff deals.
The company also reported third-quarter revenue of $2.32 billion, missing analysts' average estimate of $2.33 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Adjusted funds from operations, a key cash flow metric, came in at $9.83 per share in the third quarter, beating estimates of $8.32 per share.
Equinix forecast fourth-quarter revenue between $2.41 billion and $2.53 billion, the midpoint of which is above analysts' average estimate of $2.45 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa; Editing by Alan Barona)
