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Iron Mountain (IRM) Q4 FFO Beats, Initiates 2017 Guidance

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Iron Mountain Inc. (IRM - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2016 normalized funds from operations (FFO) of 50 cents per share that beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 45 cents but fell 12.3% year over year.

Revenues of $934.2 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $938.3 million and improved 24.2% year over year. Storage revenues were up 23.8% to $566.5 million while Service revenues grew 24.8% to $367.6 million. The company achieved internal storage rental growth of 2.9%.

The company reported adjusted EBITDA of $296.5 million compared with $237.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

Operating expenses increased 26.3% year over year to $794.7 million. Operating income in the quarter increased 13.1% from the year-ago quarter to $139.5 million. However, operating margin was down 150 basis points (bps) to 14.9%.

Iron Mountain Incorporated Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Iron Mountain Incorporated Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Iron Mountain Incorporated Quote

Balance Sheet 

Iron Mountain exited the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $236.5 million compared with $128.4 million as of Dec 31, 2015. Long-term debt was $6.1 billion compared with $4.8 billion as of Dec 31, 2015.

Outlook

For 2017, the company expects adjusted EBITDA to be in a range of $1,250 - $1,280 million, representing growth of 16% to 19%. Revenues are expected to be in a range of $3,750 million - $3,840 million, implying a growth rate of 8% to 10% year over year. Adjusted FFO is expected to be in a range of $715 million to $760 million.

Internal storage rental growth rate is expected to be 2% to 2.5% in 2017. CapEx along with non-real estate investments are projected to be in a bracket of $150 million - $170 million

Management expects to achieve $80 million of the synergies from Recall acquisition in 2017.

Our Take

Iron Mountain’s diversified revenue base is a positive. It is noteworthy that 95% of the Fortune 1000 companies are on Iron Mountain’s client list. In addition, its strong product portfolio, increasing market share, and promising international business are the primary growth catalysts. Moreover, the company’s entry into the data center market is likely to be a growth driver.

Furthermore, the company has an aggressive acquisition strategy to supplement organic growth in storage revenues. The company completed the acquisition of Recall Holdings in May 2016, which is likely to generate synergies worth $105 million. It also expanded the company’s footprint to 45 countries from the existing 41 countries.

But the costs of such initiatives are expected to weigh on financials, especially as it already has a highly leveraged balance sheet. Also, volatile currency environment and competition remain overhangs.

Currently, Iron Mountain has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). In past one year, shares of Iron Mountain have increased 26.86% compared with 15.48% growth witnessed in Zacks categorized REIT- Equity Trusts – Other Industry.

Stocks to Consider

Stocks in the tech sector worth considering include Corrections Corp of America , Texas instruments Inc. (TXN - Free Report) and Netflix Inc. (NFLX - Free Report) . Corrections Corp and Texas Instruments sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while Netflix carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here

In the trailing four quarters, Corrections Corp, Texas Instruments and Netflix recorded a positive average earnings surprise of 6.43%, 7.09% and 141.35%, respectively.

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