GDS Holdings Ltd. (9698) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: €54.71B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 10.96M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 2436.8
• Beta (1Y): 1.90
• Revenue Growth: 6.89%
• EPS Growth: N/A
• Country: HK
• Employees: 2,276
• Sector: Technology
• Sector Strength: 88
• Industry: Information Technology Services
• EPS (TTM): >-0.01
• Shares Outstanding: 1,607,430,500
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 9,067,041
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 10,961,922
• PEG Ratio: -0.11
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.34
• Price to Sales (P/S): 3.05
• P/FCF Ratio: -30.61
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: N/A
• 1Y Price Target: €47.26
• Price Target Upside: 59.03% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 9
• EPS Forecast (FY): N/A
• Revenue Forecast (FY): N/A

• Rating: 53 Neutral
• Price Target: HK$30.00 ▲(0.94% Upside)

The overall stock score is primarily influenced by strong financial performance, despite high leverage and cash flow challenges. Technical analysis indicates bearish momentum, and the stock appears overvalued with an extremely high P/E ratio. The absence of earnings call and corporate events data limits further insights.

Positive Factors

Revenue Growth

The robust revenue growth rate of 66% indicates strong market demand and effective business expansion, supporting long-term growth potential.

Profit Margins

Strong profit margins reflect efficient cost management and operational efficiency, which are crucial for sustaining profitability over time.

Market Position

Being a leading provider in a growing market like China positions GDS Holdings for continued demand and competitive advantage in the data center sector.

Negative Factors

High Leverage

High leverage can increase financial risk and limit flexibility, potentially impacting the company's ability to invest in growth opportunities.

Negative Free Cash Flow

Negative free cash flow indicates cash constraints, which can hinder the company's ability to fund operations and growth initiatives without additional financing.

Cash Flow Management

Inefficient cash flow management can strain liquidity and operational stability, necessitating improvements to ensure long-term financial health.

GDS Holdings Ltd. Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

GDS Holdings Ltd. (9698) is a leading data center service provider in China, specializing in offering high-performance data center solutions. The company operates in the technology and telecommunications sector, providing services such as colocation, cloud computing, and managed services. GDS focuses on delivering scalable and reliable infrastructure to meet the growing demands of digital transformation and data storage in various industries, including finance, technology, and e-commerce.

How the Company Makes Money

GDS Holdings generates revenue primarily through its colocation services, where customers rent space, power, and cooling for their servers and IT equipment within GDS's data centers. This is complemented by cloud computing services, which provide scalable resources on-demand. The company also earns income from managed services, offering clients operational support and IT management. Key partnerships with major cloud service providers and enterprises enhance its market presence, while long-term contracts with customers contribute to stable revenue streams. Additionally, GDS benefits from the growing demand for data services in China, driven by increased internet usage and digitalization across sectors.

GDS Holdings Ltd. Financial Statement Overview

Summary

GDS Holdings Ltd. exhibits strong revenue growth and profitability with impressive margins. However, high leverage and negative free cash flow present potential risks. The company needs to manage debt levels and improve cash flow for sustainable growth.

Income Statement

GDS Holdings Ltd. demonstrates strong revenue growth with a TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) growth rate of 66%, indicating robust expansion. The company maintains healthy margins, with a gross profit margin of 22.77% and a net profit margin of 41.56% in the TTM period. The EBIT and EBITDA margins are also strong at 21.58% and 52.52%, respectively. These metrics reflect efficient cost management and profitability. However, the historical volatility in net income, including past losses, suggests potential risks in sustaining profitability.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet shows a high debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88 in the TTM period, indicating significant leverage, which could pose financial risk if not managed carefully. However, the return on equity has improved to 20.16%, reflecting better utilization of equity to generate profits. The equity ratio stands at 32.17%, suggesting a moderate level of equity financing relative to total assets. Overall, while the company is leveraging debt for growth, the high debt levels warrant caution.

Cash Flow

The cash flow statement reveals challenges with free cash flow, which is negative and has declined by 32.13% in the TTM period. The operating cash flow to net income ratio is 0.36, indicating that operating cash flow is not fully covering net income. The free cash flow to net income ratio is negative, reflecting cash flow constraints. While operating cash flow has improved, the negative free cash flow highlights a need for better cash management.

Breakdown	TTM	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	11.28B	10.32B	9.96B	9.33B	7.82B	5.74B
Gross Profit	2.57B	2.22B	1.92B	1.94B	1.78B	1.55B
EBITDA	5.92B	4.39B	1.36B	4.19B	3.23B	2.34B
Net Income	4.69B	3.43B	-4.29B	-1.27B	-1.19B	-669.21M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	79.20B	73.65B	74.45B	74.81B	71.63B	57.26B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	13.12B	7.87B	7.71B	8.61B	9.97B	16.26B
Total Debt	47.80B	44.46B	47.99B	44.68B	37.79B	24.63B
Total Liabilities	53.61B	49.98B	54.32B	50.63B	47.10B	31.69B
Stockholders Equity	25.48B	23.54B	19.96B	24.07B	24.47B	25.57B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	-2.34B	-1.03B	-4.19B	-4.95B	-8.50B	-7.70B
Operating Cash Flow	3.22B	1.94B	2.07B	2.86B	1.20B	320.89M
Investing Cash Flow	-8.00B	-8.76B	-6.33B	-11.27B	-13.69B	-9.38B
Financing Cash Flow	18.19B	17.06B	3.14B	4.86B	8.12B	20.14B

GDS Holdings Ltd. Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 29.72
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Positive

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For HK:9698, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 29.72 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 33.06, below the 50-day MA of 35.11, and below the 200-day MA of 31.21, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -1.07 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 33.12 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 14.37 is Positive, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for HK:9698.

GDS Holdings Ltd. Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
0696	74 Outperform	$30.02B	12.93	9.65%	2.42%	12.23%	36.90%
2176	74 Outperform	HK$1.20B	13.79	47.22%	12.46%	2.82%	10.06%
Sector *	61 Neutral	$37.18B	12.37	-10.20%	1.83%	8.50%	-7.62%
0354	56 Neutral	$15.57B	24.59	4.70%	0.98%	5.43%	-6.88%
9698	53 Neutral	€54.71B	2,436.76	1.58%	―	6.89%	―
0861	44 Neutral	$4.55B	-16.56	-4.20%	2.39%	-6.07%	86.55%
3680	40 Underperform	HK$1.68B	608.57	4.78%	―	-25.92%	―

GDS Holdings Ltd. Corporate Events

GDS Holdings to Announce Q3 2025 Financial Results

GDS Holdings Limited has announced a board meeting scheduled for November 17, 2025, to approve its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025. The results will be announced on November 19, 2025, after the Hong Kong market closes and before the U.S. market opens. The company will also hold an earnings teleconference call on the same day to discuss these results, providing stakeholders with insights into its financial performance and operational strategies.

The most recent analyst rating on (HK:9698) stock is a Hold with a HK$34.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on GDS Holdings Ltd. stock, see the HK:9698 Stock Forecast page.