American Tower Q3 2026: AFFO up 2.4%, data centers lift guidance
American Tower's Q3 2026 was a cash-flow quarter, not an earnings quarter: AFFO rose 2.4% to $1.34 billion while net income fell 14.4% on unrealized equity losses. Revenue of $2.79 billion grew 2.5%, and management nudged its full-year property revenue midpoint up for the third time this year. The mild negative: EPS of $1.64 landed just below the $1.66 consensus. Verdict: Neutral.
1 · Expected vs. Actual
Free preview belowDiluted EPS of $1.64 fell 9.9% from $1.82 and came in just below the $1.66 consensus. Net income dropped 14.4% to $780.8 million, largely because of $71.5 million of unrealized losses on equity investments versus $10.9 million of gains a year earlier — a swing that has nothing to do with tower leasing. The cash measure that funds the dividend, AFFO per share, rose 3.2% to $2.87.
Revenue came in at $2.79 billion, up 2.5% from $2.72 billion a year ago. Property revenue did the work at $2.73 billion (+4.5%), with Data Centers up 17.4% to $313 million, while services revenue halved to $51 million from $101 million. Strip out a $24.0 million straight-line revenue headwind (versus a $27.7 million tailwind a year ago) and the underlying trend is better than the headline.
The full-year 2026 outlook now calls for property revenue of $10.79–$10.87 billion (midpoint $10.83 billion), up $55 million at the middle on data center strength. Adjusted EBITDA midpoint is unchanged at $7.28 billion, and AFFO is $5.15–$5.20 billion, or $11.04–$11.16 per share, with the per-share midpoint lifted $0.02. Net income guidance was cut $30 million to $3.25–$3.31 billion to reflect the unrealized equity losses.
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Figures on this page come from the company's original SEC filings. The analysis is generated automatically and checked against validation rules, but may still contain errors or omissions. Not investment advice. · Generated 2026-11-03
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