IRON MOUNTAIN INC vs Public Storage, two REIT stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Both trace back to storage, but Public Storage rents self-storage lockers for cash while Iron Mountain rents records vaults and reinvests everything into data centers. Public Storage's economics are pristine, 39% net margins, 20.4% on equity, 5.57% free cash; Iron Mountain's are transitional, free cash negative at 1.6% under its data-center build-out. Public Storage yields 3.70%, Iron Mountain 2.43%. Both carry the REIT P/E distortion, Public Storage at 33.5 and Iron Mountain at a triple-digit 144. Public Storage runs modest 1.04-turn leverage; Iron Mountain carries far more as it funds expansion. This is a cash machine beside a turnaround: Public Storage has one of the sector's best models and simply runs it, Iron Mountain is spending its storage cash flow to buy into the data-center growth Public Storage does not chase.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | IRM | PSA |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $132.50 | $324.33 |
| Market cap | $39.6B | $57.1B |
| Sector | REIT | REIT |
| Stage | Growth | Mature |
| P/E | 144.0 | 33.5 |
| P/B | — | 6.12 |
| P/S | 5.46 | 11.74 |
| EV/EBITDA | 24.0 | 40.8 |
| Revenue growth | +15.6% | +2.9% |
| Operating margin | 20.4% | 39.0% |
| Net margin | 3.9% | 39.2% |
| Return on equity | — | 20.4% |
| Return on assets | 1.3% | 9.6% |
| Return on invested capital | 6.8% | 2.5% |
| FCF yield | -1.6% | 5.6% |
| Dividend yield | 2.4% | 3.7% |
| Debt / equity | — | 1.04 |
| Current ratio | 0.77 | — |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 6.36 | 3.49 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 8 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.