American Tower raises 2026 property revenue outlook as third-quarter profit falls

American Tower Corporation (AMT) said Tuesday that third-quarter revenue rose 2.5% from a year earlier, while net income fell 14.4%, and that it raised the midpoint of its full-year property revenue outlook.

The company reported results for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026, in a press release attached to a regulatory filing.

Here's how the company did:

• Total revenue: $2,785.4 million vs. $2,717.4 million a year earlier
• Diluted net income per share attributable to common stockholders: $1.64 vs. $1.82 a year earlier
• Net income: $780.8 million vs. $912.6 million a year earlier
• Net income attributable to common stockholders: $765.8 million vs. $853.3 million a year earlier
• Adjusted EBITDA: $1,831.8 million vs. $1,815.5 million a year earlier
• AFFO attributable to common stockholders: $1,335.0 million vs. $1,303.1 million a year earlier

Property revenue rose 4.5% to $2,734 million. The company said that growth was driven by 1.1% organic tenant billings growth and 16.3% cash revenue growth in its Data Centers segment.

Net income fell 14.4%. The filing ties part of that decline to unrealized losses on equity investments of about $71.5 million, compared with unrealized gains of about $10.9 million a year earlier.

A decrease in non-cash straight-line revenue also affected the growth rates, the filing said. That item was about negative $24.0 million in the quarter, from about $27.7 million a year earlier.

Cash provided by operating activities was $1,393 million, down 4.6%. Free cash flow was $986 million, up 0.2%.

CEO Steve Vondran said, “We delivered another solid quarter, supported by consistent leasing demand across our global tower portfolio and continued outperformance from CoreSite.”

Vondran said momentum and disciplined capital allocation “enabled us to raise our full-year outlook for the third time this year.”

The company raised the midpoint of its full-year 2026 property revenue outlook by $55 million, citing Data Centers segment outperformance. The range is now $10,785 million to $10,865 million, a midpoint growth rate of 5.0%.

Adjusted EBITDA guidance is $7,248 million to $7,303 million, with the midpoint unchanged. The AFFO per share outlook is $11.04 to $11.16, with the midpoint raised by $0.02, which the company attributed to capital allocation decisions.

The company lowered the midpoints for net income and net income attributable to common stockholders by $30 million each. The new ranges are $3,253 million to $3,308 million and $3,183 million to $3,238 million, primarily due to unrealized losses on equity securities.

The outlook puts U.S. & Canada property revenue at a midpoint decline of 3.0%, which the company tied to lower straight-line revenue recognition.

Full-year capital expenditures are expected to total $1,765 million to $1,875 million, including $695 million of development spend in the Data Centers segment.

The company allocated $315 million to share repurchases during the quarter. On Oct. 23, its board authorized an additional $2.0 billion for buybacks, in addition to about $1.1 billion still available as of Oct. 20.

The company declared a regular cash distribution of $1.79 per share, totaling $831.0 million and up 5.3% per share from a year earlier. The distribution was paid on Oct. 20 to holders of record on Sept. 30.

Through its subsidiary American Towers LLC, the company entered into an agreement to sell 100% of its ownership interests in its subsidiaries in Canada for about 288 million Canadian dollars, or about $202 million. The company expects the sale to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

The net leverage ratio was 4.9x at Sept. 30, based on net debt of $35,707 million. Total liquidity was about $10.6 billion, including about $1.9 billion of cash.

Data Centers property revenue is outlined for 2026 at $1,218 million to $1,228 million, a midpoint growth rate of 16.1%. Europe property revenue is outlined at a midpoint growth rate of 10.4%.

Selling, general, administrative and development expense was $228.2 million, down from $233.0 million a year earlier. Depreciation, amortization and accretion was $519.4 million, compared with $522.9 million. The filing does not give a headcount figure.