HXL vs GDS Comparison

Founded in 1948, Hexcel designs and manufactures a range of highly engineered composite fibers, fabrics, resins, and structures for use in the commercial aerospace, defense, and high-performance automotive markets. These are lighter than metal and perform under rigorous conditions in aircraft frames, wings, engines, and other components and subassemblies. The company's name derives from the six-sided honeycomb structures that lend many of its products their light weight and rigidity. Hexcel's biggest customers are Airbus (40% of 2024 sales) and Boeing (15% of 2024 sales; 25% before the pandemic) and their respective subcontractors.

GDS Holdings started as an IT service provider in 2001 then moved to the data center business with its first self-developed data center opening in 2010. The company now develops and operates data centers in China and also builds, operates and transfers data centers for other clients. It offers colocation and managed services and mainly targets hyperscale cloud service customers who take large areas of its data centers or even whole data centers under long-term contracts. Its data centers are located predominantly in and around the Tier 1 cities in China and it has also started an expanding into Southeast Asia via the now 38% owned DayOne. GDS listed on the Nasdaq in 2016 and completed a secondary listing in Hong Kong in 2020.