American Tower Corporation (REIT)
AMT · NYSE
Dec 2026
Next quarter
Expected to report Feb 23, 2027 — estimated from last year’s reporting date.
Consensus is $2.69 EPS for Dec 2026 across 4 estimates, ranging $2.61 to $2.85.
AMT Sep 2026
- 3.24%
- $2.78
- $2.87
- —
- $202.50M
Reported results
- $202.50M
- $1.27B
- 626.67%
- $780.80M
- $1.64
Highlights
- AFFO per share: Q3 AFFO per share was $2.87, up 3.2% year over year and 3.2% above the $2.78 consensus; attributable AFFO rose 2.4% to $1.335 billion.
- Data centers: CoreSite cash revenue grew 16.3% year over year, with strong leasing and interconnection demand; management raised its 2026 data-center growth outlook to about 16% from 15% last quarter and 13% at the start of the year.
- Tower growth: Total property revenue rose 4.5% to $2.734 billion, while organic tenant billings grew 1.1% and total tenant billings 1.7%; management said organic growth was about 4% excluding the one-time DISH churn impact.
- Earnings mix: GAAP net income fell 14.4% to $781 million and diluted EPS declined 9.9% to $1.64, despite operating income increasing 2.9% to $1.269 billion; equity marks swung to a $71.5 million unrealized loss from a $10.9 million gain a year earlier.
- 2026 outlook: The company raised the midpoint of property-revenue guidance by $55 million, held the Adjusted EBITDA midpoint unchanged, maintained AFFO dollars guidance and lifted AFFO per-share guidance midpoint by $0.02, citing buybacks.
- Capital returns: AMT repurchased $315 million of stock in Q3 and another $68 million through October 20; the board authorized an additional $2.0 billion of repurchases, with about $3.1 billion of capacity then available.
- Leverage and dividend: Net leverage was 4.9x, within the stated 3–5x target range; the quarterly distribution was $1.79 per share, up 5.3% year over year.
- Canada sale disclosure: The release describes consideration of C$288 million (about $202 million), while the CFO said on the call the transaction was about $2 billion at roughly 26x expected 2026 EBITDA; the supplied materials conflict on the price.
Analysis
American Tower’s Q3 combined modest underlying tower growth with much faster data-center expansion, while reported GAAP earnings were pressured by non-operating marks. AFFO per share, the measure corresponding to the $2.78 analyst consensus, was $2.87, up 3.2% year over year and ahead of expectations. By contrast, diluted GAAP EPS was $1.64 versus $1.82 a year ago. Revenue increased 2.5% to $2.785 billion and operating income rose 2.9% to $1.269 billion, but net income fell 14.4% to $781 million, reflecting a $71.5 million unrealized equity-investment loss versus a $10.9 million gain in Q3 2025, alongside higher interest expense and taxes. The supplied prior-quarter financial figures do not provide a reliable consolidated revenue comparison; sequentially, management did raise its data-center growth expectation from 15% last quarter to about 16% now.
CoreSite was the clearest operating bright spot: cash revenue grew 16.3%, leasing demand and interconnection activity strengthened, and management cited mid-teens stabilized returns on incremental investment. Tower organic tenant billings grew 1.1% overall, but were about 4% after adjusting for one-time DISH churn; growth varied sharply by region. AMT raised the property-revenue outlook midpoint by $55 million for the third time this year, while keeping the Adjusted EBITDA midpoint flat and raising AFFO per-share guidance by $0.02, largely on repurchases. The quarter also featured $315 million of buybacks and a new $2.0 billion authorization.
CoreSite acceleration
- Revenue growth: Data Centers segment revenue increased 17.4% to $313 million; management said cash revenue growth was 16.3%, excluding non-cash straight-line effects.
- Leasing and interconnection: Customer demand and pricing exceeded expectations, with activity spanning cloud, network, enterprise and AI customers. Management described cross-connect demand as broadening across these ecosystems, not simply a one-quarter fluctuation.
- Investment returns: The company expects mid-teens or better stabilized yields on incremental CoreSite capital and said actual results are exceeding that underwriting in some cases. Its development pipeline could nearly triple current capacity over time; 2026 development spend is expected to be about $695 million.
- Raised target: Full-year data-center revenue growth guidance moved to about 16%, from 15% last quarter and 13% at the start of 2026. The company said double-digit CoreSite revenue growth remains its expectation for the foreseeable future.
Tower leasing trends
- Consolidated billings: Total property revenue reached $2.734 billion, up 4.5%; total tenant billings grew 1.7% and organic tenant billings 1.1%. Management characterized organic growth as about 4% excluding the one-time DISH churn impact.
- Regional spread: Organic tenant billings were flat in U.S. & Canada, down 2.1% in Latin America, up 8.2% in Africa & APAC and up 4.2% in Europe. Management attributed Latin America weakness primarily to elevated churn in Brazil and said U.S. growth was about 4% excluding DISH.
- U.S. leasing cadence: New-business contribution was expected to add about 250 basis points to U.S. organic tenant-billings growth for 2026, with second-half activity lower than the first half as anticipated. Management called 2026 a trough year for U.S. & Canada organic growth and expects growth to improve in 2027 as DISH churn does not recur and carrier activity broadens.
- Industry demand: Management pointed to rising mobile data use, spectrum deployments, network densification and future 6G and AI workloads as potential drivers of additional tower equipment and leasing. It also said satellite and terrestrial networks are complementary and that AMT is speaking with wireless-minded satellite providers, without giving a deployment timetable or customer commitments.
Earnings and cash flow
- Reported results: Total revenue rose 2.5% to $2.785 billion, property revenue increased 4.5% to $2.734 billion, and operating income grew 2.9% to $1.269 billion. Adjusted EBITDA increased 0.9% to $1.832 billion.
- Per-share measures: AFFO attributable to common stockholders increased 2.4% to $1.335 billion, or $2.87 per share, beating the $2.78 consensus. Nareit FFO declined 7.7% to $1.165 billion.
- GAAP pressure: Net income declined to $781 million from $913 million, and diluted EPS was $1.64 versus $1.82. The year-over-year comparison included an unfavorable swing in unrealized equity-security results: a $71.5 million loss in Q3 2026 versus a $10.9 million gain in Q3 2025.
- Cash generation: Operating cash flow was $1.393 billion, down 4.6% year over year; after $407 million of cash capital expenditures, free cash flow was $986 million, up 0.2%.
Raised 2026 outlook
- Property revenue: The company raised the full-year midpoint by $55 million to a range of $10.785 billion–$10.865 billion. The revised midpoint implies 5.0% growth year over year, with management citing about $10 million of data-center outperformance and $45 million from other items, including pass-through and straight-line revenue.
- Adjusted EBITDA: The range remained $7.248 billion–$7.303 billion, with the midpoint unchanged. About $10 million of data-center outperformance and $5 million from other items were offset by roughly $15 million of lower network-services contribution due to project timing.
- AFFO: The company maintained attributable AFFO guidance of $5.148 billion–$5.203 billion and raised the AFFO-per-share midpoint by $0.02 to $11.10, within a range of $11.04–$11.16, primarily reflecting repurchases.
- Growth context: Management described 2026 as the trough year for AFFO per-share growth and expects a meaningful 2027 inflection, returning toward its longer-term mid- to high-single-digit growth range. Its normalized outlook excludes or adjusts for specified DISH churn, foreign-exchange and refinancing effects.
Capital and portfolio
- Share repurchases: AMT bought about 1.8 million shares for $315 million in Q3 and about 0.4 million shares for $68 million through October 20. The board authorized another $2.0 billion; together with remaining prior authorization, management cited about $3.1 billion of capacity after quarter-end.
- Canada divestiture: The company expects to sell its Canadian subsidiaries in Q4, subject to customary conditions. The release gives consideration as C$288 million, approximately $202 million, but the CFO described the deal on the call as approximately $2 billion at around 26x expected 2026 EBITDA. The figures are inconsistent in the supplied materials, so the transaction value cannot be stated unambiguously.
- Balance sheet: Net debt was $35.7 billion and net leverage 4.9x, within management’s 3–5x target. Total liquidity was about $10.6 billion, including $1.9 billion of cash and $8.7 billion of revolving-credit availability.
- Shareholder distributions: The quarterly distribution was $1.79 per share, 5.3% above the year-ago level, for an aggregate $831 million.
