American Tower Corporation (REIT)
AMT · NYSE
Next quarter
Reports Oct 27, 2026.
Consensus is $2.76 EPS for Sep 2026 across 4 estimates, ranging $2.71 to $2.85.
AMT Jun 2026
- 2.26%
- +4.52%
- $2.65
- $2.71
- —
- $211.10M
Reported results
- $211.10M
- $1.27B
- 601.04%
- $887.50M
- $1.86
Highlights
- AFFO beat: AFFO attributable to AMT common stockholders rose 3.8% to $1.264 billion, or $2.71 per share, ahead of the $2.65 consensus by 2.26%.
- Core operating growth: Total revenue increased 4.7% to $2.749 billion, while property revenue rose 6.3% to $2.688 billion; Adjusted EBITDA grew 3.2% to $1.808 billion.
- Data centers accelerated: Data Centers revenue increased 13.4% to $297 million, with segment operating profit up 11.9% to $157 million; management cited record leasing activity and customer expansions.
- International growth offset U.S. pressure: Africa & APAC, Europe and Latin America property revenue increased 23.5%, 11.5% and 13.4%, respectively, while U.S. & Canada declined 2.5%.
- Underlying leasing was mixed: Total tenant billings growth was 2.4%, including 1.7% organic growth; Africa & APAC grew 14.5%, Europe 6.0% and U.S. & Canada 0.7%, while Latin America declined 2.4%.
- DISH and AT&T Mexico remain headwinds: Six-month churn was approximately 5% of tenant billings, primarily due to DISH; AT&T Mexico generated approximately $20 million of additional reserves in the first half and has an arbitration hearing scheduled for August.
- GAAP earnings benefited from currency: Net income attributable to AMT common stockholders rose 136.5% to $868 million, or $1.86 per diluted share, helped by a $42.1 million foreign-currency gain versus a $484.0 million loss a year earlier.
- Outlook raised again: Management lifted 2026 midpoint AFFO per share by $0.09 to a range of $11.00-$11.17, and raised midpoint property revenue by $110 million to $10.770 billion and Adjusted EBITDA by $45 million to $7.275 billion.
- Balance sheet and distributions: Net leverage was 4.9x, with $9.9 billion of liquidity; the quarterly common distribution was $1.79 per share, up 5.3% year over year, and the company repurchased approximately $19 million of stock in the quarter.
Analysis
American Tower’s second quarter was a modest underlying operating beat wrapped in stronger reported GAAP earnings and a second increase to full-year guidance. AFFO per share was $2.71 versus the $2.65 consensus, up 4.2% from $2.60 a year earlier; GAAP diluted EPS was $1.86, compared with $0.78 in Q2 2025 and $1.84 in Q1 2026. Total revenue reached $2.749 billion, up 4.7% year over year, while Adjusted EBITDA rose 3.2% to $1.808 billion. The reported net income increase to $888 million from $381 million was less indicative of operating momentum because the comparison included a $42.1 million foreign-currency gain versus a $484.0 million loss last year.
The defining features were growth in data centers and international towers, offset by U.S. churn and weaker services revenue. Data Centers revenue rose 13.4% to $297 million, while Africa & APAC, Europe and Latin America property revenue grew 23.5%, 11.5% and 13.4%. By contrast, U.S. & Canada property revenue fell 2.5%, reflecting DISH-related churn and a $44 million decline from straight-line accounting. Management raised the 2026 AFFO-per-share midpoint to $11.085, implying 3.0% growth, while net leverage ended at 4.9x.
Operating performance
The quarter delivered steady recurring-property growth, but the headline earnings improvement overstated the change in the underlying business. Property revenue increased 6.3% to $2.688 billion and property gross margin rose 4.9% to $1.980 billion, although the property margin eased to 73.7% from 74.6% a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA increased 3.2% to $1.808 billion, with the margin declining to 65.8% from 66.7%.
- Cash earnings: AFFO increased 3.8% to $1.264 billion, or $2.71 per share, while free cash flow rose 19.6% to $1.158 billion.
- GAAP volatility: Net income attributable to common stockholders was $868 million, up from $367 million, primarily because other income included a $42.1 million foreign-currency gain versus a $484.0 million loss in Q2 2025.
- Services weakness: Services revenue fell 38.4% to $61 million, reflecting lower site application, zoning, structural-analysis and construction-management activity.
Data centers and towers
Data centers were the clearest growth engine in the quarter. The segment benefited from new lease commencements, customer expansions, renewals, power consumption and interconnection additions, supporting the company’s positioning at the intersection of wireless, cloud and AI infrastructure.
- Data Centers: Revenue increased 13.4% to $297 million, while segment operating profit rose to $157 million from $140 million; the segment margin was 53%.
- Africa & APAC: Revenue grew 23.5% to $415 million and tenant billings increased 14.5%, supported by colocations, new sites, currency and pass-through revenue.
- Europe: Revenue rose 11.5% to $259 million, with tenant billings up 6.0% and operating profit increasing to $147 million from $132 million.
- Latin America: Revenue increased 13.4% to $442 million, but tenant billings declined 2.4% as Brazilian cancellations outweighed colocations and amendments.
- U.S. & Canada: Revenue fell 2.5% to $1.274 billion; tenant billings still grew 0.7%, helped by $33.8 million of colocations and amendments, but DISH-related churn was $24.6 million.
Churn and customer disputes
Customer-specific issues remain the main constraint on tower growth. Management said six-month churn was approximately 5% of tenant billings, primarily driven by DISH, while AT&T Mexico continues to create reserves ahead of an August arbitration hearing.
- DISH: DISH entered Chapter 11 on June 30 after defaulting on its contractual obligations. American Tower terminated the relevant agreements effective June 2, added damages and tortious-interference claims against EchoStar, and recorded $17.5 million of DISH-related impairment charges in the first half.
- AT&T Mexico: The customer represented approximately $300 million of 2025 tenant revenue and had withheld tower rents. American Tower recorded approximately $20 million of additional reserves in the first six months after $30 million in 2025, while most withheld rents are being remitted or placed in escrow.
- Portfolio exposure: The company said DISH represented approximately 2% of total 2025 property revenue and 4% of U.S. & Canada property revenue, limiting the direct scale of the issue but weighing on near-term U.S. growth.
Raised 2026 outlook
American Tower raised its full-year outlook for the second time, with the increases driven by foreign-exchange assumptions, data-center outperformance and one-time expense benefits. The guidance increase is more meaningful for AFFO and operating measures than for net income, whose higher midpoint largely reflects unrealized currency gains.
- Property revenue: Raised by $110 million at the midpoint to a range of $10.695 billion-$10.845 billion, implying 4.5% growth.
- Adjusted EBITDA: Raised by $45 million to $7.240 billion-$7.310 billion, implying 2.0% growth; the range includes an approximately 2% negative impact from lower straight-line revenue.
- AFFO: Raised by $45 million to $5.135 billion-$5.215 billion, with AFFO per share lifted by $0.09 to $11.00-$11.17, implying 3.0% growth.
- Segment mix: Midpoint property-revenue growth ranges from negative 3.0% in U.S. & Canada to 14.9% in Data Centers, 14.6% in Africa & APAC and 10.9% in Europe.
Capital allocation and leverage
The company continued to fund substantial development and shareholder distributions while refinancing near-term maturities. Liquidity was ample, though leverage remains material for a capital-intensive REIT.
- Balance sheet: Net debt was $35.427 billion and net leverage was 4.9x annualized second-quarter Adjusted EBITDA; total liquidity was approximately $9.9 billion.
- Debt management: American Tower issued €750 million of 4.000% notes due 2033, repaid €500 million of 1.950% notes at maturity and partially redeemed €250 million of 4.125% notes due 2027.
- Investment: Second-quarter capital expenditures were approximately $329 million, including $47 million of non-discretionary improvements and corporate spending; full-year capital expenditure guidance is $1.805 billion-$1.915 billion.
- Shareholder returns: The company declared a $1.79 quarterly distribution per share, up 5.3% year over year, and repurchased approximately 0.1 million shares for $19 million during the quarter.
