American Tower Corporation

What they do

American Tower leases space on communications sites — towers, rooftop sites and DAS networks — to wireless service providers, broadcasters, government agencies and other tenants. It also leases space in 30 operating U.S. data center facilities and provides tower-related services such as zoning, permitting and construction management, mainly supporting its own leasing business.

Revenue drivers

• Property operations — Leasing space on communications sites and data centers; accounted for 97% of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2025.
• U.S. & Canada property — Largest tower segment by site mix, with 27,037 owned towers, 14,727 operated towers and 425 owned DAS sites as of June 30, 2026.
• Latin America property — Second-largest owned-tower count at 44,510 owned towers as of June 30, 2026, led by Brazil with 20,749 owned towers.
• Data Centers — 30 operating data center facilities across 11 U.S. markets, comprising approximately 3.7 million NRSF as of December 31, 2025.

Recent performance

For Q2 2026, total revenue rose 4.7% to $2,749 million and total property revenue rose 6.3% to $2,688 million. Net income increased 133.2% to $888 million, and net income attributable to AMT common stockholders rose 136.5% to $868 million, or $1.86 per diluted share, which the company said was impacted by foreign currency gains of about $42.1 million versus prior-year foreign currency losses of $(484.0) million. Adjusted EBITDA rose 3.2% to $1,808 million and AFFO attributable to AMT common stockholders rose 3.8% to $1,264 million, or $2.71 per share. Organic Tenant Billings Growth was 1.7%, or $34 million, and total Tenant Billings Growth was 2.4%. The company declared a Q2 2026 distribution of $1.79 per share.

Strategy

Management cites robust leasing demand across the global tower portfolio and record leasing activity at CoreSite, the data center business. It frames mobile data growth, cloud adoption and AI-driven applications as a multi-year demand cycle for digital infrastructure. The company raised its full-year outlook for the second time in 2026. It describes itself as positioned at the intersection of wireless, cloud and AI, with towers and highly interconnected data centers. Since the last 10-K it has continued portfolio changes, including sales of its Philippines subsidiary and its controlling interest in Kirtonkhola Tower Bangladesh Limited in Q2 2026, and the 2025 sale of South Africa fiber assets.

Risks

• Leasing demand — A significant decrease in leasing demand — from carrier capital spending cuts, consolidation, network sharing or slower next-generation deployments — would materially and adversely affect results.
• Customer disputes — Disputes over lease terms could lead to lease terminations, adverse lease modifications or lost business with key customers.
• Technology shifts — Technological changes including AI, wireless equipment changes, satellite technology and RAN sharing could reduce demand for the company's infrastructure.
• Regulation and macro — Zoning, environmental, health and tax regulation, spectrum licensing decisions, tariffs, high interest rates or recession could affect demand and operations.

Outlook

Management said the outlook for digital infrastructure remains compelling, supported by mobile data growth, cloud adoption and scaling AI applications. The company raised its full-year 2026 outlook for the second time this year, citing mid-single-digit AFFO per share growth normalized for one-time DISH churn. It expects to capture growth from customer capacity expansion and network densification.