Deutsche Bank has initiated coverage of ACS Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA with a Hold rating and set a price target of EUR86.70. The bank highlighted ACS’s expanding footprint in the global data center market as a central element of its investment thesis.
Analyst Harishankar Ramamoorthy noted ACS is positioned as a worldwide leader in building data centers. Management expects AI-driven demand to boost data center capacity to 15 times 2024 levels by 2035, which the firm describes as implying more than a 20% compound annual growth rate in the medium term.
Deutsche Bank also drew attention to ACS’s move beyond contractor roles toward owning and operating capacity. The group plans to lease data center space through its joint venture with Global Infrastructure Partners, an arrangement the bank views as an important shift in ACS’s business mix.
On the financial outlook, Deutsche Bank projects ACS net income will expand at a 16% compound annual growth rate over 2025-2028. That forecast is driven largely by the structural expansion the bank expects in the data center sector.
Despite the positive medium-term growth case, Deutsche Bank adopted a neutral stance on the shares because of the stock’s recent price appreciation. The bank noted ACS shares have nearly doubled since January 2025, and the stock is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 24 times. By comparison, Deutsche Bank referenced a pre-COVID average forward P/E of 11 times, a gap that underpins the Hold rating.
Below are the key takeaways and considerations surrounding Deutsche Bank’s initiation of coverage.
- Positioning: ACS is identified as a global leader in data center construction.
- Business model shift: Management plans to increase investor exposure by leasing capacity via a joint venture with Global Infrastructure Partners.
- Valuation caution: Shares have nearly doubled since January 2025 and now trade at materially higher forward multiples than the company’s pre-COVID average.
Deutsche Bank’s initiation combines an optimistic operational outlook tied to AI-driven demand with a cautious near-term view on valuation. The bank’s Hold rating reflects that balance: supportive medium-term growth assumptions versus a stretched current market price.