Iron Mountain (IRM)
Real Estate · $33.3B market cap · SEC CIK 0001020569
ahead of 6% of the S&P 500 · #28 of 30 in Real Estate
Next reports on Feb 10, 2027, after the close, with analysts expecting $0.68 in earnings per share.
52-week range $77.77 to $134.68. 18% below its 52-week high and 42% above its low.
The case for IRM
- Revenue growing 17.5% year over year.
- Earnings per share up 186.8%.
- Pays a 4.1% dividend while you wait.
- Has compounded revenue at 10.7% a year over five years.
- Gross margin of 61% absorbs cost shocks.
The case against
- Expensive for its growth: 72.5× earnings, where 4% a year of growth would justify about 14×.
- Burned $932M of free cash in FY2025.
- Long-term debt of $16.2B would take 12 years of operating cash flow to repay.
- Operating profit covers its interest bill only 1.2 times.
- Owes more than it owns: shareholder equity is −$981M, usually the result of buybacks funded with debt. ROE and price-to-book mean little here.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.55).
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Real Estate companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. The score is where that blend places it in the S&P 500. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings and cash, against the growth you get | 19 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 59 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 24 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 48 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 22 |
- Shareholder equity is negative, so return on equity, price-to-book and debt-to-equity are left out.
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 30 Real Estate companies.
The financials
Revenue growth
Is the business growing? Yes
| Last 12 months | +17.5% |
|---|---|
| Over 5 years | +10.7% a year |
| FY2025 revenue | $6.9B (+12%) |
Free cash flow
Is it generating real cash? No, it is burning cash
| FY2025 free cash flow | −$932M |
|---|---|
| Of revenue | −13% |
| Of profit | −612% |
Profit margins
Is profitability improving? Yes, improving
| Gross margin | 61% |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 19% |
| Net margin, FY24 → FY25 → now | 3.0% → 2.2% → 5.9% |
Debt vs. cash
Is the balance sheet healthy? Stretched
| Cash | $159M |
|---|---|
| Long-term debt | $16.2B |
| Net debt | $16.1B |
| Years to repay | 12.1 yrs |
Valuation
Is the stock price reasonable? No, expensive
| P/E | 72.5× |
|---|---|
| Fair P/E for its growth | 14× |
| Price / operating cash flow | 24.8× |
| Forward P/E | 43.4× |
| EV / EBITDA | 20.4× |
At 72.5× earnings it trades well above the 14× that 4% a year of growth would justify. At 24.8× operating cash flow it trades well above that same mark; for a REIT that counts for more than earnings, since depreciation makes its P/E look worse than the business is.
The financials, five years deep
Pulled from Iron Mountain's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are worked out from the others.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | |||||
| Revenue | $6.9B | $6.1B | $5.5B | $5.1B | $4.5B |
| Change on the year | +12% | +12% | +7% | +14% | — |
| Free cash flow | |||||
| Free cash flow | −$932M | −$595M | −$369M | −$830M | −$128M |
| Of revenue | −13% | −10% | −7% | −16% | −3% |
| Profit margins | |||||
| Operating margin | 16.9% | 16.4% | 16.8% | 20.6% | 19.0% |
| Net margin | 2.2% | 3.0% | 3.4% | 11.0% | 10.1% |
| Debt vs. cash | |||||
| Cash | $159M | $156M | $223M | $142M | $256M |
| Long-term debt | $16.2B | $13.0B | $11.8B | $10.5B | $9.0B |
| Net cash (debt) | −$16.1B | −$12.8B | −$11.6B | −$10.3B | −$8.7B |
What Iron Mountain says it does
BUSINESS OVERVIEW Iron Mountain Incorporated, a Delaware corporation ("IMI"), was founded in an underground facility near Hudson, New York in 1951 where it stored business records. Today, we are a global leader in information management services, and we are trusted by more than 240,000 customers in 61 countries, including approximately 95% of the Fortune 1000, to help unlock value and intelligence from their assets through services that transcend the physical and digital worlds. Our broad range of solutions address their information management, digital transformation, information security, data center and asset lifecycle management (“ALM”) needs. Our longstanding commitment to safety, security, sustainability and innovation in support of our customers underpins everything we do. We currently serve customers across an array of market verticals — commercial, legal, financial, healthcare, technology, insurance, life sciences, energy,…