DLR vs ARE Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Digital Realty and Alexandria Real Estate Equities are both specialty REITs serving technology-adjacent tenant demand, but Digital Realty focuses on data center infrastructure supporting cloud computing and AI, while Alexandria Real Estate Equities focuses on laboratory and life science properties serving biotechnology and pharmaceutical tenants.
DLR offers exposure to data center demand driven by cloud computing and AI infrastructure buildout, while ARE offers exposure to life science real estate tied to biotechnology innovation. The decision depends on whether you find digital infrastructure or life science real estate demand more compelling.
DLR holds the edge across 5 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. DLR leads on both 1-year return (+7.66%) and forward P/E quality (64.15x vs -63.14x for ARE), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. DLR leads on both revenue growth (29.90%) and operating margin (25.88%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for DLR (+20.41%) than for ARE (+3.64%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to global data center infrastructure supporting cloud computing and AI demand
- Believe long-term digital infrastructure buildout will continue driving data center leasing demand
- Value long-term leases with large technology and enterprise tenants
- See global development capacity as a durable long-term growth avenue
- Want exposure to specialized life science and laboratory real estate
- Believe major innovation clusters provide durable demand from biotechnology and pharmaceutical tenants
- Value the high switching costs created by specialized laboratory buildouts
- Are comfortable with demand sensitivity to venture capital funding and life science industry cycles
| Metric | DLR | ARE |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 51.8 | 25.2 |
| AI ranki | #435 | #2896 |
| Latest closei | $184.26 | $56.34 |
| 1M returni | -5.63% | +22.91% |
| 6M returni | +2.45% | +13.77% |
| 1Y returni | +7.66% | -33.83% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | DLR | ARE |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.75K (+7.5%) started 2025-09-18 | $6.44K (-35.6%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $15.25K (+52.5%) started 2021-09-20 | $3.88K (-61.2%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $37.45K (+274.5%) started 2016-09-19 | $9.63K (-3.7%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | DLR | ARE |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $70.05B | $8.8B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 93.67 | 102.99 |
| Forward P/Ei | 64.15 | -63.14 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 13.27 | 8.88 |
| Analyst targeti | $223.32 | $53.00 |
| Target upsidei | +20.41% | +3.64% |
| Metric | DLR | ARE |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 29.90% | -11.90% |
| Earnings growthi | -58.70% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | -58.70% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +55.77% | +47.35% |
| Operating margini | 25.88% | 17.28% |
| Profit margini | 11.82% | -36.08% |
| ROIC proxyi | 2.91% | -4.08% |
| Return on equityi | 2.91% | -4.08% |
| Dividend yieldi | 2.54% | 5.81% |
| Payout ratioi | 238.05% | 689.47% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.04 | 1.17 |
| Debt/equityi | 67.94 | 68.67 |
| Current ratioi | 0.89 | 2.35 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.89 | 1.98 |
Over the past year, DLR and ARE have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.18), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | DLR | ARE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +7.53% | -35.57% |
| CAGRi | +7.53% | -35.60% | |
| Volatilityi | 26.99% | 47.24% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.24 | -0.79 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.35 | -0.99 | |
| Max drawdowni | 17.49% | 53.79% | |
| Current drawdowni | 9.64% | 35.57% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.48% | 38.44% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.96% | 40.12% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.77% | 19.17% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.00% | 28.48% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +33.10% | -66.70% |
| CAGRi | +5.89% | -19.76% | |
| Volatilityi | 29.38% | 34.37% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.19 | -0.60 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.27 | -0.80 | |
| Max drawdowni | 48.52% | 79.30% | |
| Current drawdowni | 9.64% | 71.13% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 17.55% | 44.67% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 21.47% | 49.05% | |
| Max daily dropi | 8.73% | 19.17% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 12.32% | 28.48% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +164.90% | -30.58% |
| CAGRi | +10.24% | -3.59% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.52% | 29.86% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.33 | -0.12 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.47 | -0.17 | |
| Max drawdowni | 48.52% | 79.30% | |
| Current drawdowni | 9.64% | 71.13% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.19% | 24.48% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 16.33% | 34.92% | |
| Max daily dropi | 10.97% | 19.17% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 15.91% | 28.48% |
| Category | DLR | ARE |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Digital Realty Trust, Inc. | Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. |
| Sector | Real Estate | Real Estate |
| Industry | REIT - Specialty | REIT - Office |
| Core business | A global real estate investment trust that owns, operates, and develops data center facilities that house critical IT infrastructure and connectivity for cloud computing, enterprise, and technology company tenants worldwide. | A real estate investment trust that owns, develops, and operates life science and laboratory office properties concentrated in major innovation clusters, serving biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life science tenants. |
| Investor focus | Data center leasing activity and pricing trends, power capacity availability for new development, and demand growth tied to cloud computing and AI infrastructure buildout. | Life science and laboratory space leasing demand, tenant credit quality among biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and development pipeline delivery into key innovation cluster markets. |
- Global data center footprint positions the company to benefit from long-term growth in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure demand
- Long-term leases with large technology and enterprise tenants provide meaningful revenue visibility once facilities are leased
- Global development platform allows the company to expand capacity across major digital infrastructure hub markets worldwide
- Concentration in major life science innovation clusters provides access to a dense ecosystem of biotechnology and pharmaceutical tenants
- Specialized laboratory and life science property expertise creates high switching costs for tenants once facilities are built out
- Long-term relationships with research institutions and life science companies support a differentiated position relative to generic office landlords
- Power availability and grid capacity constraints in key markets can limit the pace of new data center development
- Data center development requires substantial upfront capital investment with a multi-year timeline before generating stabilized returns
- Increasing competition for data center capacity, including from hyperscale cloud providers building their own facilities, could affect long-term pricing dynamics
- Biotechnology and life science tenant demand can be sensitive to broader venture capital funding conditions and industry-specific business cycles
- Specialized laboratory buildouts require significant capital investment that is less flexible for alternative office uses if life science demand weakens
- New life science space supply in key innovation clusters could create periods of softer occupancy or rent growth
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