AMT US S&P 500Russell 1000 Earnings call · transcribed from the recording
American Tower (AMT) · Q3 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $190.24 · 2026-11-11
American Tower is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates, and develops multitenant communications real estate. The company leases space on communications sites, distributed antenna systems, and data centers to wireless service providers, broadcasters, and government agencies across the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Source: 10-K annual report (2026-02-24)
Results Q3 2026 vs Q2 2026 · previous quarter · published 27 Oct 2026 and 28 Jul 2026
Net income down 12.0% on the previous quarter. Management sounded upbeat, in its script and in answers to analysts.
1 · Numbers
−12.0%
Net income vs Q2 2026
Outlook given
Net income 780.8M vs 887.5M
Revenue +1.3%
Against the same quarter last year (Q3 2025) it is −14.4%, so it is not just seasonal.
Why Against the same quarter last year (−14.4%), net income fell because cash adjusted EBITDA margins declined approximately 50 basis points year over year, primarily due to DISH-related churn and lower services contributions.
2 · How management spoke
Upbeat
More upbeat than 77% of company calls
Answers to analysts: upbeat, in line with the script.
Last call it was different: the answers were less upbeat than the script.
3 · What stood out
American Tower raised its data center revenue growth outlook to 16%, up from 15% last quarter and 13% at the start of the year.
Valuation
Is American Tower undervalued?
Reverse DCF. Free cash flow from the last full fiscal year (2025-12-31), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 3.3% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $41.96 a share — the stock trades 353% above it. Today's price assumes 14.4% growth a year.
Current price
$190.24
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+14.4% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$41.96
Buy below
$31.47
Price vs fair value
Overvalued >200%
Price vs buy-below price
Overvalued >200%
Management expects
Revenue +13% · from the Q3 2026 report: “The company raised its data center revenue growth outlook to 16%, up from 15% last quarter and 13% at the start of the year due to CoreSight's outperformance.”
A guidance figure for revenue, usually one year ahead, not a 10-year free-cash-flow rate.
Read between the lines
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Guidance
The company raised its data center revenue growth outlook to 16%, up from 15% last quarter and 13% at the start of the year due to CoreSight's outperformance.
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Guidance
The company lowered its services revenue outlook to approximately $220 million due to a modest pullback in that segment.
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Guidance
The company expects revenue reserves regarding AT&T Mexico to be approximately $70 million by the end of the year.
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Figure
Growth was driven by organic tenant buildings growth of approximately 1% (4% normalized for one-time dish churn) and data center cash revenue growth of approximately 16%.
Source quote
“Our growth was primarily driven by organic tenant buildings growth of approximately 1% or approximately 4% when normalized for the impact of one-time dish churn, complemented by data center cash revenue growth of approximately 16%.”
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Guidance
New business is expected to contribute about 250 basis points towards organic tenant billings growth in the U.S. for the full year.
4 more
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Guidance
AMT is raising guidance for property revenue and AFFO per share while maintaining its adjusted EBITDA outlook due to growth across its tower portfolio, data center, and capital allocation.
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Guidance
AMT is allocating 85% of its investment toward developed markets to provide a more stable return outlook and a clearer path to value creation for shareholders.
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Guidance
AMT raised its full-year outlook for the third time this year due to company momentum and share repurchase activity.
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Key theme
Coresight delivered another strong quarter because both customer demand and pricing exceeded expectations.
Source quote
“Coresight delivered another strong quarter, with customer demand and pricing both exceeding our expectations.”
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q3 2026. Ring: Q2 2026.
Script and answers carried a similar tone, so the script's message held up under questioning.
Sentences that drove the tone
“CTIA reported that Americans consumed a record 159 trillion megabytes of wireless data in 2025, an increase of more than 20% year over year, and projects total wireless demand will...”
“And when you look at those numbers that are coming out of CTIA and the growth that we saw year over year in total mobile data growth consumption going up...”
“As we enter the final quarter of the year, our strategic priorities remain unchanged, driving durable revenue growth, enhancing operational efficiency, and allocating capital with discipline.”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-09-30)
| Metric | Q3 2026period end 2026-09-30 | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Change | Q3 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 2.79B | 2.75B | +1.3% | 2.72B | +2.5% |
| Operating income | 1.27B | 1.27B | ±0% | 1.23B | +2.9% |
| Net income | 780.8M | 887.5M | −12.0% | 912.6M | −14.4% |
| EPS | 1.64 | 1.86 | −11.8% | 1.82 | −9.9% |
| P/E today 26.6 | 23.0 | 22.5 | +0.5 | 30.7 | −7.7 |
Topics
Most discussed now
- As American Tower enters the final quarter of the year, its strategic priorities remain unchanged, driving durable revenue growth…
- American Tower is very confident in the long-term trajectory and the durability of both that revenue and the ability to grow it.
- When you kind of zoom out as to what's going on in the overall ecosystem, there are a lot of...
- American Tower is absolutely seeing demand for a little bit larger scale deployments as well at the edge, as well as the...
Faded since Q2 2026
- Fading American Tower is choosing not to necessarily pre-lease everything because the demand environment is so robust and pricing is...
- Fading Not knowing exactly where I cut out, a little bit of this may be redundant, but American Tower does follow a...
- Fading American Tower is looking at some new market expansions.
- Fading All the existing satellite providers are current customers of ours on their existing networks.
Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first. Summaries are generated from each filing and its attachment; every figure is checked against the source.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
American Tower Corporation reported total revenue of $2,785 million, up 2.5% year over year, and net income of $781 million, down 14.4% from the previous year.
- Director or officer change; Other events · SEC 8-K
American Tower Corporation elected Kristen M. Ludgate to its Board of Directors and declared a quarterly cash distribution of $1.79 per share.
- Material agreement; New financial obligation · SEC 8-K
American Tower Corporation entered into a Supplemental Indenture No. 3 with U.S. Bank Trust Company, National Association, dated September 14, 2026, regarding the issuance of Notes.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
American Tower Corporation priced a public offering of senior unsecured notes with an expected net proceeds of $1,579.9 million to repay debt and for general corporate purposes.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
American Tower Corporation reported total revenue of $2,749 million, up 4.7% year over year, and net income of $888 million, up 133.2% year over year.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
The filing states that the company assumes no obligation to update the information in this 8-K report to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
American Tower Corporation filed a Form 8-K on June 2, 2026, listing various senior notes with maturities ranging from 2027 to 2034.
- Material agreement; New financial obligation · SEC 8-K
American Tower Corporation entered into a Supplemental Indenture dated May 27, 2026, regarding the issuance of notes with an associated legal opinion from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.
Catalyst calendar
management-stated targets — from the latest earnings call; plans, not promises.
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next decade
support network demand
Source quote
“The first catalyst is the capacity phase of 5G. Early deployments were primarily focused on coverage. The next phase will increasingly be about adding capacity, improving performance, and densifying networks as traffic continues to grow. That requires carriers to add equipment to existing sites and increase cell site density where demand is greatest. And we're already beginning to see that activity emerge. Recent industry data reinforces the scale of that opportunity. CTIA reported that Americans consumed a record 159 trillion megabytes of wireless data in 2025, an increase of more than 20% year over year, and projects total wireless demand will grow fourfold by 2032. These trends point to sustained investment simply to keep pace with growing consumer and enterprise demand.”
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over the coming years, beginning with upper C-band in 2027
additional mobile spectrum expected to become available
Source quote
“Approximately 800 megahertz of additional mobile spectrum is expected to become available over the coming years, beginning with upper C-band in 2027 and potentially followed by additional deployments across bands such as 2.7 gigahertz, 4 gigahertz, and 7 gigahertz.”
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by 2034
AI traffic to account for nearly one-third of broadband traffic
Source quote
“CTIA expects AI traffic to grow three times faster than traditional wireless traffic and account for nearly one-third of broadband traffic by 2034.”
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by 2030
expanding TowerCache EBITDA margins by 200 to 300 basis points
Source quote
“These actions support our objective of expanding TowerCache EBITDA margins by 200 to 300 basis points by 2030, while maintaining the service quality our customers depend on.”
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2026
trough year for U.S. and Canada organic growth
Source quote
“We remain confident that 2026 represents a trough year for U.S. and Canada organic growth and continue to expect organic growth to accelerate in 2027.”