GDS Holdings Ltd. (HK:9698)
:9698
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GDS Holdings Ltd.
(9698)
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Rating:54Neutral
Price Target:
HK$47.00
▲(11.06% Upside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:03/19/26
The score is held back primarily by financial risk factors—sharp 2025 revenue contraction, consistently negative free cash flow, and elevated leverage—despite improved profitability. Technicals are constructive with the stock trading above major moving averages and moderate positive momentum, but valuation is a notable headwind given the high P/E and lack of dividend support.
Positive Factors
Improved profitability and margins
The 2025 shift to positive net income with ~13% EBIT and ~43% EBITDA margins indicates the core data center operations can generate strong operating profit when utilization and contract mix improve. Durable margins support reinvestment, debt servicing and operational resilience over months.
Negative Factors
Sharp revenue contraction
A ~58% revenue decline in 2025 materially erodes scale benefits and weakens pricing and utilization dynamics. Sustained top-line weakness limits margin upside, stresses customer retention economics and makes recovery dependent on winning large contracts or restoring utilization over multiple quarters.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Improved profitability and margins
The 2025 shift to positive net income with ~13% EBIT and ~43% EBITDA margins indicates the core data center operations can generate strong operating profit when utilization and contract mix improve. Durable margins support reinvestment, debt servicing and operational resilience over months.
Read all positive factors
GDS Holdings Ltd. (9698) vs. iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF (EWH)
Market Cap
HK$65.25B
Dividend YieldN/A
Average Volume (3M)10.96M
Price to Earnings (P/E)49.8
Beta (1Y)1.68
Revenue Growth1.73%
EPS GrowthN/A
CountryHK
Employees2,276
SectorTechnology
Sector Strength88
IndustryInformation Technology Services
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)-0.04
Shares Outstanding1,607,430,500
10 Day Avg. Volume9,067,041
30 Day Avg. Volume10,961,922
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-0.25
Price to Book (P/B)1.71
Price to Sales (P/S)4.13
P/FCF Ratio-37.94
Enterprise Value/Market CapN/A
Enterprise Value/RevenueN/A
Enterprise Value/Gross ProfitN/A
Enterprise Value/EbitdaN/A
Forecast
1Y Price Target
HK$52.37Price Target Upside23.74% Upside
Rating ConsensusStrong Buy
Number of Analyst Covering5
EPS Forecast (FY)0.38
Revenue Forecast (FY)HK$14.34B
GDS Holdings Ltd. Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
GDS Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, develops and operates data centers in the People's Republic of China. The company provides colocation services comprising critical facilities space, customer-available power, racks, and cooling...
How the Company Makes Money
GDS primarily makes money by providing data center services under customer contracts. Its core revenue stream is colocation and related services, where customers pay recurring fees for cabinet/space leases plus the underlying critical infrastructu...
GDS Holdings Ltd. Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
62
Positive
Balance Sheet
48
Neutral
Cash Flow
40
Negative
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 11.14B | 10.32B | 9.96B | 9.33B | 7.82B |
| Gross Profit | 2.28B | 2.22B | 1.92B | 1.94B | 1.78B |
| EBITDA | 4.84B | 4.39B | 1.36B | 4.19B | 3.23B |
| Net Income | 925.07M | 3.43B | -4.29B | -1.27B | -1.19B |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 80.03B | 73.65B | 74.45B | 74.81B | 71.63B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 14.31B | 7.87B | 7.71B | 8.61B | 9.97B |
| Total Debt | 47.54B | 44.46B | 47.99B | 44.68B | 37.79B |
| Total Liabilities | 52.28B | 49.98B | 54.32B | 50.63B | 47.10B |
| Stockholders Equity | 26.85B | 23.54B | 19.96B | 24.07B | 24.47B |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | -1.21B | -1.03B | -4.19B | -4.95B | -8.50B |
| Operating Cash Flow | 3.28B | 1.94B | 2.07B | 2.86B | 1.20B |
| Investing Cash Flow | -2.96B | -8.76B | -6.33B | -11.27B | -13.69B |
| Financing Cash Flow | 5.95B | 17.06B | 3.14B | 4.86B | 8.12B |
GDS Holdings Ltd. Technical Analysis
Neutral
42.32
Price Trends
42.05
Negative
38.17
Positive
36.04
Positive
Market Momentum
-0.29
Positive
45.62
Neutral
25.51
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For HK:9698, the sentiment is Neutral. The current price of 42.32 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 41.31, above the 50-day MA of 42.05, and above the 200-day MA of 36.04, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.29 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 45.62 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 25.51 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Neutral sentiment for HK:9698.
GDS Holdings Ltd. Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
74 Outperform | HK$728.00M | 9.99 | 38.98% | 12.99% | 2.82% | 10.06% | |
64 Neutral | HK$29.79B | 11.85 | 9.88% | 2.44% | 12.23% | 36.90% | |
61 Neutral | $37.18B | 12.37 | -10.20% | 1.83% | 8.50% | -7.62% | |
54 Neutral | HK$65.25B | 49.75 | 3.70% | ― | 1.73% | ― | |
48 Neutral | HK$3.15B | 141.36 | -4.20% | 2.65% | -6.07% | 86.55% | |
44 Neutral | HK$9.38B | 35.68 | 2.73% | 1.06% | 5.43% | -6.88% | |
39 Underperform | HK$1.77B | 4.07 | 7.18% | ― | -25.92% | ― |
* Technology Sector Average
HK:9698
GDS Holdings Ltd.
39.52
19.98
102.25%
HK:0354
Chinasoft International
3.47
-0.74
-17.67%
HK:0861
Digital China Holdings
2.08
-0.23
-10.11%
HK:0696
TravelSky Technology
10.18
0.07
0.70%
HK:2176
CCID Consulting Co. Ltd. Class H
1.04
-0.17
-13.69%
HK:3680
Suoxinda Holdings Limited
1.97
1.16
143.21%
GDS Holdings Ltd. Corporate Events
GDS Releases Unaudited Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2025 Results
Mar 17, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited, which operates under a weighted voting rights structure and is dual-listed in Hong Kong and on Nasdaq, has disclosed that its American depositary shares each represent eight Class A ordinary shares. The board is led by chairm...
GDS shareholders approve boost to founder’s voting power and new Articles
Mar 10, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited announced that shareholders at an adjourned extraordinary general meeting on 10 March 2026 approved amendments to the rights of its Class B ordinary shares, substantially increasing the voting power attached to Class B shares ...
GDS Updates Hong Kong Disclosure and Confirms Regulatory Waivers
Mar 10, 2026
GDS Holdings has updated its public company information sheet in Hong Kong as of 10 March 2026, detailing the latest versions of its foreign laws and regulations disclosures, constitutional documents, and deposit agreement. The filing reiterates t...
GDS Sets March 2026 Board Meeting and Earnings Release Schedule
Mar 3, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has scheduled a board meeting for March 16, 2026, in Hong Kong to approve its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025. The company plans to release these results after Hong Kong...
GDS Adjourns Class B Shareholders’ Meeting to Allow More Time on Governance Proposal
Feb 24, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has adjourned its general meeting of holders of Class B ordinary shares, originally convened on February 24, 2026 in Shanghai, to March 10, 2026 at the same location and time. The company said the delay is intended to provide ...
GDS Holdings Adjourns Series A Preferred Shareholders’ Meeting to Allow More Deliberation
Feb 24, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has adjourned the general meeting of holders of its Series A preferred shares, initially convened in Shanghai on 24 February 2026, to 10 March 2026 to allow more time for holders of ordinary and convertible preferred shares to...
GDS Holdings Adjourns Series B Preferred Shareholders’ Meeting to Allow More Deliberation
Feb 24, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has adjourned its general meeting of holders of Series B preferred shares, originally convened in Shanghai on February 24, 2026, to allow more time for holders of ordinary and convertible preferred shares to deliberate on a pr...
GDS Holdings Adjourns Shareholder Meeting on Governance Amendments to March 10
Feb 24, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has adjourned its extraordinary general meeting, originally convened in Shanghai on February 24, 2026, to March 10, 2026, to give shareholders more time to deliberate proposed amendments to its Articles of Association. The age...
GDS Holdings Adjourns Shareholder Meeting on Articles Amendment to March 10
Feb 24, 2026
GDS Holdings has adjourned its general meeting of holders of Class A ordinary shares, originally convened on February 24, 2026 in Shanghai, to March 10, 2026 at the same venue and time to allow shareholders and holders of convertible preferred sha...
GDS Raises US$300 Million via Convertible Preferred Share Private Placement
Feb 6, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has announced that it has filed a Form 6-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with transaction documents for a private placement of US$300 million in convertible preferred shares to a Chinese instit...
GDS Moves to Boost Founder’s Voting Power to Meet Chinese Control Requirements
Feb 6, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has called a general meeting of holders of its Series B convertible preferred shares to vote on proposed amendments to its articles of association, with a key change aimed at increasing the voting power of Class B ordinary sha...
GDS Seeks to Boost Founder’s Voting Power to Meet Customers’ China-Control Demands
Feb 6, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has issued an updated notice for an extraordinary general meeting to be held on 24 February 2026 in Shanghai, revising a prior meeting notice to reflect the recent issuance of Series B convertible preferred shares. The key pro...
GDS Raises US$300 Million via Premium-Priced Convertible Preferred Share Placement
Feb 6, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has closed a US$300 million private placement of Series B convertible preferred shares to Huatai Capital Investment Limited, a Chinese institutional investor, with the deal completing on 6 February 2026. The preferred shares a...
GDS Raises US$300 Million via Premium-Priced Convertible Preferred Share Placement
Jan 30, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has entered into a US$300 million private placement of Series B convertible preferred shares with Huatai Capital Investment Limited, a Chinese institutional investor, to fund data center capacity expansion and for general corp...
GDS to Realize 6.5x Return on Partial Exit From DayOne, Redirect Proceeds to China Core Business
Jan 13, 2026
GDS Holdings Limited has agreed to sell US$385 million worth of its ordinary shares in Singapore-headquartered hyperscale data center platform DayOne Data Centers back to DayOne at the same valuation as DayOne’s recently completed US$2.0 bil...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.