AMT American Tower Corporation 10-Q 2026-09-30 section summaries

American Tower (AMT) — Section Summary

Results and operating trends

For Q3 2026, revenue increased 2.5% to $2.7854B from $2.7174B. Property revenue rose to $2.7340B from $2.6163B, while services revenue declined to $51.4M from $101.1M. Operating income increased to $1.2690B from $1.2333B. Net income attributable to common stockholders fell to $765.8M from $853.3M, and diluted EPS was $1.64 from $1.82, reflecting higher interest expense ($366.1M from $347.1M) and income-tax provision ($117.6M from $37.4M).

For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, revenue increased to $8.2720B from $7.9071B, and operating income to $3.7770B from $3.6851B. Net income attributable to common stockholders rose to $2.4928B from $1.7088B; diluted EPS was $5.35 from $3.64. The year-over-year earnings comparison was strongly affected by foreign currency: 9M 2026 included $137.2M of FX gains, compared with $811.7M of FX losses in 9M 2025. Interest expense increased to $1.0679B from $1.0150B, and the tax provision to $379.0M from $287.6M.

Q3 segment performance

Revenue and segment operating profit, Q3 2026 versus Q3 2025:

Total segment revenue was $2.7854B from $2.7174B and total segment operating profit $1.8925B from $1.8725B. Growth in Africa & APAC, Europe, Latin America and Data Centers was partly offset by declines in U.S. & Canada and Services.

Q3 items reconciling segment operating profit included stock-based compensation of $31.5M from $41.9M, other SG&A of $60.7M from $57.0M, depreciation, amortization and accretion of $519.4M from $522.9M, and other expense of $382.5M from $300.7M. Other expense included interest expense and a $71.5M unrealized equity-securities loss, partly offset by FX gains; the prior period included a $10.9M unrealized gain. Pretax income from continuing operations was $898.4M from $950.0M.

Cash flow, balance sheet and debt

Nine-month operating cash flow was $4.2802B from $4.0365B. Cash payments for property and construction were $1.1678B from $1.1012B; segment capital expenditures were $1.1952B from $1.1288B, including Data Centers capex of $496.0M from $417.2M. Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash ended the period at $2.0073B, versus $2.1008B a year earlier. Shares outstanding declined from 466.318M at December 31, 2025 to 464.172M at September 30, 2026.

At September 30, total assets were $62.9803B and total equity $9.7656B, including $6.2490B of noncontrolling interests; American Tower Corporation equity was $3.5166B. Goodwill was $12.1284B and other intangible assets, net, $13.7126B: acquired network location intangibles $2.588B, tenant-related intangibles $10.432B, and licenses and other intangibles $693.5M. Parent tangible common equity, after goodwill and other intangibles, was negative $22.3244B. Goodwill declined mainly due to $127.1M of adverse currency translation.

Long-term obligations, including current maturities, were $37.579B, versus $37.220B at year-end 2025. The current portion rose to $5.3635B from $3.3878B, while noncurrent obligations declined to $32.215B from $33.833B. AMT refinanced maturing lower-coupon notes with new debt, including $1.6B principal of USD notes bearing 5.300%–5.750% and €750M principal of 4.000% notes. The higher coupons raise borrowing costs on refinanced amounts. A $1.000B note maturity due October 15 was repaid October 14 using credit-facility borrowings and cash. Total debt fair value was $35.3B, below its carrying value of $37.6B.

Portfolio, capital allocation and other considerations

AMT generated $48.734B of contractual future minimum operating-lease receipts, before collectibility adjustments and excluding amounts owed by DISH Wireless. Operating lease liabilities were $7.716B; the weighted-average remaining lease term was 13.6 years. Nine-month operating lease cost was $882.4M from $841.9M.

AMT repurchased 2,969,052 shares for $518.0M including fees during the nine months; cash-flow reporting showed $503.0M of common-stock purchases. It paid common-stock distributions of $2.4756B from $2.3610B, with the 2026 quarterly per-share distribution raised to $1.79 from $1.70. Stock-based compensation expense was $124.1M from $142.6M.

The company sold its Philippines subsidiary for $75.6M, recording a $33.2M gain, and sold its controlling Bangladesh partnership interest for $6.9M, recording a $12.8M loss. These exits were not described as a strategic shift. AMT held about 64% of its U.S. data-center business at quarter-end; Stonepeak held the balance. AMT also agreed to sell its Canadian operations for approximately CAD 288M (about $202M), with closing expected in Q4 2026. The Verizon site purchase option covers approximately 11,100 sites with an aggregate price of about $5.0B; the remaining AT&T tower purchase-option price was $1.1B, representing potential future acquisition outlays.

Currency movements remain an important source of earnings and equity volatility. AMT designated approximately €4.7B of debt as a hedge of its European net investment. It reported a $78.3M 9M foreign-currency translation loss, compared with $1.5933B of income in 9M 2025.

American Tower (AMT) — Q3 and nine months ended September 30, 2026

Operating performance

Property operations generated 98% of revenue in both Q3 and the first nine months. Q3 revenue increased 2.5% to $2,785.4M from $2,717.4M; 9M revenue rose 4.6% to $8,272.0M from $7,907.1M. Property growth was partly offset by a steep decline in Services.

U.S. & Canada revenue fell principally because straight-line revenue declined $47.1M; tenant billings grew only $0.5M, as colocations and amendments were largely offset by churn above contractual escalations, primarily DISH-related. Africa & APAC growth reflected higher pass-through revenue (mainly fuel), tenant billings and favorable currency translation. Europe benefited from tenant billings, pass-through and other revenue, partly offset by unfavorable euro translation. Latin America grew despite lower tenant billings and customer cancellations in Brazil, with favorable currency translation contributing $32.8M. Data Centers benefited from lease commencements, customer expansions and renewals, power revenue and interconnection growth. Services declined with lower site application, permitting, analysis and construction-management activity.

Q3 total property gross margin was $2,009.1M from $1,959.3M; Services gross margin was $19.4M from $47.3M. Property-margin growth was partly offset by higher direct costs, including fuel and utilities, land rent and property taxes. Services’ lower margin principally reflected reduced activity.

Earnings and cash generation

Q3 net income fell 14% to $780.8M from $912.6M, while 9M net income rose 42% to $2,546.8M from $1,791.7M. Nareit FFO attributable to common stockholders was $1,164.7M from $1,262.1M in Q3 and $3,692.9M from $2,842.8M for 9M. AFFO was $1,335.0M from $1,303.1M in Q3 and $3,923.2M from $3,811.6M for 9M. Adjusted EBITDA was $1,831.8M from $1,815.5M in Q3 and $5,475.2M from $5,311.5M for 9M. Thus, Q3 net income and FFO declined despite slightly higher EBITDA; the 9M earnings and FFO comparisons benefited substantially from foreign-exchange and other non-operating changes.

Q3 other expense (income) was $52.2M from income of $27.7M; 9M was income of $91.8M from income of $684.4M. Foreign-exchange results were a major factor: losses of $27.0M and $18.0M in Q3 2026 and Q3 2025, respectively, versus a $137.2M gain and an $811.7M gain for 9M. Q3 also included $71.5M of unrealized losses on U.S. equity securities, compared with $10.9M of gains. Interest expense was $366.1M from $347.1M in Q3 and $1,067.9M from $1,015.0M for 9M. Income tax provision rose to $117.6M from $37.4M in Q3 and $379.0M from $287.6M for 9M.

9M operating cash flow increased to $4,280.2M from $4,036.5M, supported by higher operating profit and lower working-capital cash needs, partly offset by increased cash interest and taxes. Capital expenditures were $1,195.2M: $684.3M discretionary projects, $131.3M ground-lease purchases, $143.6M capital improvements and corporate expenditures, $204.7M redevelopment, and $31.3M start-up projects. Discretionary spending included 1,083 communications sites and approximately $458.6M for data-center assets. FY 2026 capex guidance is $1.765B–$1.875B, including $695M for data centers and approximately 1,300–1,900 communications sites.

Portfolio, funding and capital allocation

At September 30, AMT owned or operated 130,787 communications towers, operated 15,735 towers and owned 847 DAS sites; approximately 98% of operated towers are held under long-term finance leases. Its U.S. data-center portfolio comprised 30 facilities in 11 markets and 3.875M net rentable square feet. AMT expects to sell its Canadian operations in Q4 2026; it completed sales of its Philippines subsidiary and controlling interest in Bangladesh’s KTBL during June. Existing leases imply nearly $49B of future non-cancellable customer lease revenue, before straight-line accounting.

Liquidity was $10.5875B at September 30, comprising $8.7156B available under credit facilities and $1.8719B of cash and equivalents. Total outstanding debt was $37.8B, including $5.4B current. Subsequent net borrowings were $675M and $965M under the multicurrency and other credit facilities, respectively. Management expects operating cash flow and borrowing capacity to cover 2026 distributions, capital spending, debt service and signed acquisitions.

During 9M, AMT issued $2.5B equivalent principal of unsecured notes, including $872M of euro-denominated notes, at coupons ranging from 4.000% to 5.750%, and repaid or redeemed several maturing notes. The refinancing replaces some lower-coupon debt with higher-rate obligations, pressuring interest expense. Amendments extended credit-facility and term-loan maturities. The company was covenant-compliant; its 6.00x total-leverage limit allowed approximately $6.2B of additional debt at unchanged EBITDA. AMT repurchased 2,969,052 shares for $518.0M including fees and commissions during 9M; $3.1B remained authorized after an October increase. It paid $5.28 per share, or approximately $2.5B, in common-stock distributions during 9M and paid a further $1.79 per share, or $831.0M, on October 20.

Key exposures

DISH defaulted in January 2026, filed for Chapter 11 in June, and AMT terminated the relevant agreements effective June 2. DISH represented approximately 2% of 2025 total property revenue and 4% of U.S. & Canada property revenue; AMT recorded $17.5M of related impairment charges in 9M 2026 and is pursuing contractual claims. AT&T Mexico, which generated approximately $300M of 2025 tenant revenue, disputes rent calculations and had withheld rents. AMT recorded an additional $30M of reserves in 9M 2026, following approximately $30M in 2025; arbitration began in August 2026, with a ruling expected in 2027.

Trust securitization reserve accounts held $70.9M of restricted cash. Q3 excess cash distributed was $372.5M and debt-service coverage was 6.52x, versus a 1.30x cash-trap threshold. A default could expose 5,017 secured towers and related revenue to foreclosure. AMT also notes that market-access disruptions, covenant breaches, customer failures and limits on repatriating $2.3B of foreign-subsidiary cash could affect liquidity.

Market Risk

Interest-rate risk

As of September 30, 2026, variable-rate debt included:

• $1.0B under the 2021 Multicurrency Credit Facility;
• $230.0M under the 2021 Credit Facility;
• $1.0B under the 2021 Term Loan; and
• $2.8M of debt related to the Data Centers acquisition, payable in monthly installments through March 31, 2028.

A 10% increase in current interest rates would have increased interest expense by $8.0M for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.

Foreign-currency risk

For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, foreign currencies accounted for 33% of revenue and 41% of total operating expenses, exposing results to exchange-rate movements. A 10% adverse exchange-rate change on unsettled intercompany debt and similar unaffiliated balances would have resulted in $40.0M of unrealized losses in Other income (expense) for the period.

As of September 30, 2026, total EUR-denominated debt was €7.5B (approximately $8.5B). Of this amount, €4.7B (approximately $5.3B) was designated as a non-derivative net investment hedge. A 10% adverse exchange-rate movement on EUR debt not designated as a hedge would have resulted in $0.4B of foreign-currency losses in Other expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2026. The company may use additional foreign-currency instruments to mitigate its exposure.

Management, including the CEO and CFO, concluded that disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of September 30, 2026. No changes during the quarter ended September 30, 2026 materially affected, or were reasonably likely to materially affect, internal control over financial reporting. This section reports no financial results or business developments.

AMT reported no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in its 2025 Form 10-K. The section identifies no new or materially heightened risks.

• On October 23, 2026, AMT’s Board approved an additional $2.0 billion authorization under the company’s share repurchase program. Combined with $1.1 billion remaining as of October 20, 2026, the increase brought total repurchase capacity to $3.1 billion.
• The filing reports no insider trading arrangements.