Iron Mountain raises annual forecast on AI-fueled data center boom

April 30 (Reuters) - Iron Mountain IRM.N raised its annual forecast on Thursday, as companies increasingly rely on its data centers to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence capabilities.

Demand for computing power needed to train AI models and run applications such as ChatGPT has driven a data center boom, expanding the market for companies such as Iron Mountain that lease such spaces.

• Iron Mountain, which operates as a real estate investment trust, reported adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) of $1.43 per share for the first quarter, above analysts' estimates of $1.26 according to data compiled by LSEG.

• The company is also benefiting from stable cash flows from its core storage and records management business, which has a large and diversified customer base including Boeing BA.N, Akamai Technologies AKAM.O and Coca-Cola KO.N.

• It now expects full-year revenue between $7.83 billion and $7.93 billion, compared with estimates of $7.74 billion.

• The annual AFFO is expected between $5.79 and $5.86 per share, compared with estimates of $4.68 per share.

• "Looking ahead, we are accelerating our cross-selling efforts in ALM and Digital and we are off to a strong start to the year in data center leasing, where we have already leased 32 megawatts through April," President and CEO, William Meaney said.

• Iron Mountain posted first-quarter revenue of $1.94 billion, compared with estimates of $1.86 billion.

• Additionally, the company's board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.864 per share of common stock on Thursday.