AI compute was the clearest growth engine in the latest results covered here: NVIDIA’s data-center revenue rose 117% year over year in fiscal Q2 2027. Microsoft’s cloud business, Vertiv’s power-and-cooling sales, and colocation operators’ capacity plans also showed the buildout reaching beyond chips. These are not results from one shared quarter, however, so they show how different parts of the industry were performing—not a synchronized Q3 scorecard or a ranking of stock returns.
What “Q3” means in this roundup
Q3 refers to the July–September 2026 calendar window. The companies’ reporting periods do not line up with it: the latest results covered below include NVIDIA’s fiscal Q2 2027, ended July 26, 2026; calendar Q2 results from Vertiv, Digital Realty, and Equinix, ended June 30, 2026; and Microsoft FY26 Q3, ended March 31, 2026. The figures describe those named fiscal or calendar quarters, not results for one common July–September period.
That distinction matters when comparing growth rates. The businesses also report different measures—such as data-center revenue, cloud revenue, total sales, net income, and capacity expansion—so the strongest percentage or dollar figure is not automatically the strongest overall company result.
How the companies performed
| Company | Period covered | Reported result | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | Fiscal Q2 2027, ended July 26, 2026 | Total revenue: $96.2 billion, up 106% year over year and 18% sequentially. Data-center revenue: $89.0 billion, up 117% year over year. | AI compute was the standout disclosed growth area; data-center sales made up most of NVIDIA’s reported revenue. |
| Microsoft | FY26 Q3, ended March 31, 2026 | Microsoft Cloud revenue: $54.5 billion, up 29% year over year. | Cloud demand was strong, and Microsoft said capacity delivered earlier in the quarter enabled increased consumption across AI and non-AI services. |
| Vertiv | Calendar Q2 2026, ended June 30, 2026 | Net sales: $3.274 billion, up 24% year over year. Organic sales grew 18%; acquisitions contributed 5% and foreign exchange 1%. | Growth extended to the power and thermal-management equipment used to support data-center infrastructure; most of the reported increase was organic. |
| Digital Realty | Calendar Q2 2026, ended June 30, 2026 | Net income: $458 million. The company continued adding powered land and hyperscale capacity, including interests in three Northern Virginia hyperscale data centers. | The result combines a profitability measure with continuing capacity expansion; no comparable revenue growth rate is stated here. |
| Equinix | Calendar Q2 2026, ended June 30, 2026 | Reported Q2 results, raised its 2026 guidance and long-term outlook, and issued Q3 2026 guidance. | Its update points to continued investment and expectations for future growth, but the specific guidance figures are not stated here. |
Where growth was strongest—and what the figures can establish
NVIDIA led on disclosed data-center growth
NVIDIA’s $89.0 billion in data-center revenue grew 117% year over year in fiscal Q2 2027, the largest stated year-over-year growth rate among the figures in this roundup. Its total revenue reached $96.2 billion. In a separate earlier comparison, NVIDIA reported fiscal Q3 2026 data-center revenue of $51.2 billion, up 66% year over year and 25% from the preceding quarter. The 66% and 117% figures refer to different fiscal quarters; together they show faster year-over-year growth in the later reported quarter, not a direct quarter-to-quarter growth rate.
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NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang described the demand shift this way: “AI has reached its inflection point. It’s doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable. Now, compute is revenue.” That is management’s characterization of the market, rather than an independent measure of returns across the data-center industry.
Cloud usage and physical infrastructure shared in the expansion
Microsoft Cloud’s 29% year-over-year increase shows substantial growth in a broad cloud business, but it is not a data-center-only revenue figure. Microsoft attributed higher consumption across AI and non-AI services to capacity it delivered earlier in the quarter. That makes capacity delivery part of the growth story: demand can translate into usage when infrastructure is available.
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Vertiv’s 24% sales increase shows that growth also reached power and thermal infrastructure. Its 18% organic growth separates underlying sales expansion from the stated 5% acquisition contribution and 1% foreign-exchange contribution. These components explain the reported increase; they should not be treated as a recurring growth forecast.
Colocation operators emphasized capacity and outlook
Digital Realty reported $458 million in net income while adding powered land and hyperscale capacity, including interests in three Northern Virginia facilities. Equinix raised its 2026 guidance and long-term outlook and issued guidance for Q3 2026. Its release also described work with Cisco and NVIDIA on standardized AI-factory architectures and secure infrastructure across its data-center footprint. Capacity additions and guidance are relevant evidence of investment and expectations, but neither is itself a measure of realized revenue growth.
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Did data-center companies beat earnings?
The results summarized here do not establish which companies beat analyst estimates. An earnings beat requires a comparison between a reported measure and a specific consensus estimate; those estimates are not provided for these companies. Nor do these operating and financial results establish how each stock performed during calendar Q3. Stock returns and market reactions require share-price data over a defined period, which is not included here.
What the figures do support is a narrower conclusion: the AI and data-center buildout was reflected in growth at several layers of the business, from NVIDIA’s compute sales and Microsoft’s cloud usage to Vertiv’s infrastructure sales and the operators’ capacity plans. The disclosures do not provide a uniform basis for declaring one company the overall earnings winner.
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How to compare the results without mixing unlike measures
- Start with the business measure. NVIDIA’s data-center revenue and Microsoft Cloud revenue are segment or business-line figures; Vertiv’s figure is total net sales. Digital Realty’s stated figure is net income, while the Equinix update emphasizes guidance. These are not interchangeable measures.
- Separate organic growth from other effects. Vertiv disclosed organic growth alongside acquisition and currency contributions. The other figures shown here do not provide the same decomposition.
- Distinguish reported results from capacity and forecasts. Revenue, sales, and net income describe reported performance. Powered land, facility interests, capacity delivery, and guidance speak to investment, deployment, or expectations.
- Align fiscal periods before ranking. NVIDIA’s fiscal quarter, Microsoft’s March quarter, and the providers’ June quarters cover different windows. A meaningful comparison needs comparable periods as well as comparable metrics.
What this means for investors
The operating picture is broad but unevenly measurable: AI compute had the clearest disclosed growth, while cloud demand, power-and-cooling sales, and colocation expansion showed activity elsewhere in the infrastructure chain. The evidence here can explain where reported business growth appeared; it cannot, on its own, show which stock is attractively valued, whether growth will continue, or whether a company beat expectations. Those judgments require comparable financial periods, forward estimates, valuation, and share-price data in addition to these results.
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