Equinix Inc. Stock Buy Recommendation Reiterated (EQIX)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Equinix (Nasdaq:EQIX) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of B. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth, expanding profit margins, good cash flow from operations and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• EQIX's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 23.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 24.6%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• EQUINIX INC has improved earnings per share by 34.0% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past year. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, EQUINIX INC increased its bottom line by earning $1.72 versus $0.83 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.55 versus $1.72).
• The gross profit margin for EQUINIX INC is currently very high, coming in at 70.80%. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Despite the strong results of the gross profit margin, EQIX's net profit margin of 7.60% significantly trails the industry average.
• Net operating cash flow has slightly increased to $125.99 million or 6.98% when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite an increase in cash flow, EQUINIX INC's average is still marginally south of the industry average growth rate of 15.25%.
• Powered by its strong earnings growth of 33.96% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 72.17% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. We feel that the stock's sharp appreciation over the last year has driven it to a price level which is now somewhat expensive compared to the rest of its industry. The other strengths this company shows, however, justify the higher price levels.

Equinix, Inc. provides data center services to protect and connect the information assets for the enterprises, financial services companies, and content and network providers primarily in the Americas, Europe, the Middle-East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. The company has a P/E ratio of 89.4, equal to the average telecommunications industry P/E ratioand above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Equinix has a market cap of $8.17 billion and is part of the technology sector and telecommunications industry. Shares are up 67.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

You can view the full Equinix Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

For more information on Equinix Inc. click any of the following:

• Equinix Inc. Stock Price

• Equinix Inc. Analyst Ratings

• Equinix Inc. Key Stats & Profile

• Equinix Inc. Earnings

• Equinix Inc. Ratio Comparison

• Equinix Inc. Growth Rates

• Equinix Inc. Balance Sheet

• Equinix Inc. Cash Flow

• Equinix Inc. Income Statement