American Tower (NYSE: AMT) raises its outlook but net income falls 14.4%

Posted by Geri Gentry on Oct 27th, 2026

What happened

American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT) raised its 2026 outlook for the third time this year. Its quarterly net income fell 14.4%.

Management raised the midpoint of its full-year property revenue outlook by $55 million, crediting Data Centers outperformance. On Oct. 23 the board authorized up to $2.0 billion more in share repurchases.

Part of the profit decline comes from equity investment marks. The filing says net income was hit by unrealized losses on equity investments of about $71.5 million, against unrealized gains of about $10.9 million a year earlier.

Key numbers

Metric	Latest	Change	Source
Total revenue	$2.79 billion	+2.5%	SEC 8-K
Total property revenue	$2.73 billion	+4.5%	SEC 8-K
Net income	$781 million	-14.4%	SEC 8-K
Adjusted EBITDA	$1.83 billion	+0.9%	SEC 8-K
AFFO attributable to AMT common stockholders	$1.34 billion	+2.4%	SEC 8-K
Additional share repurchase authorization	Up to $2.0 billion		SEC 8-K

How the third quarter compares with a year earlier

Total revenue rose 2.5% to about $2.79 billion. Property revenue rose 4.5% to about $2.73 billion. The company says growth came from 1.1% Organic Tenant Billings Growth and 16.3% cash revenue growth in Data Centers.

A swing in non-cash straight-line revenue held both growth rates back. It went from positive $27.7 million a year earlier to negative $24.0 million this quarter.

Profit measures were weaker. Net income fell 14.4% to $781 million. Net income attributable to common stockholders fell 10.3% to $766 million, or $1.64 per diluted share, down 9.9%.

Cash measures held up better. Adjusted EBITDA rose 0.9% to about $1.83 billion at a 65.8% margin. AFFO attributable to common stockholders rose 2.4% to about $1.34 billion.

Free cash flow was $986 million, up 0.2%. Cash capital expenditures fell 14.6% to $407 million, which offset a 4.6% decline in cash from operating activities.

Stock perps: every US stock that trades as a perpetual future, by leverage, live

Why it matters

OptimistFi has argued that American Tower turns long-term, inflation-linked leases into predictable cash flow and scalable margins. This quarter supports the cash-flow part, since AFFO and free cash flow both grew. But Adjusted EBITDA edged up and its full-year outlook midpoint did not change.

The faster growth came from Data Centers, not towers. The company says Data Centers outperformance is what lifted its property revenue outlook. Tower billings growth was the slower line.

On profit, guidance moved down. The company cut the midpoints for net income and for net income attributable to common stockholders by $30 million each, mainly because of unrealized losses on equity securities. It kept the AFFO midpoint.

The AFFO per share outlook is now $11.04 to $11.16. That is $0.02 higher at the midpoint, mainly because of capital allocation decisions.

The distribution declared in the quarter was $1.79 per share, or $831 million in total. It grew 5.3% from a year earlier. AFFO per share grew more slowly, up 3.2% to $2.87.

Buybacks, debt and the Canada sale

American Tower bought back about 1.8 million shares for about $315 million in the quarter. It bought about 0.4 million more for about $68 million through Oct. 20. About $1.1 billion remained available then, and the new authorization comes on top of it.

The buyback sits alongside a leveraged balance sheet. Net leverage was 4.9x on Sept. 30. Total debt was $37.58 billion and total liquidity was approximately $10.6 billion. The filing's risk language says leverage, debt service and repurchase activity may limit the company's ability to raise financing and reduce funds available for distributions.

On Sept. 14 the company issued $1.6 billion of senior unsecured notes due 2031, 2033 and 2036. It used the net proceeds to repay $600.0 million of 1.450% notes at maturity, to repay existing debt under its $6.0 billion revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. On Oct. 14 it repaid $1.0 billion of 3.375% notes at maturity.

The company also agreed to sell 100% of its Canadian subsidiaries for approximately 288 million Canadian dollars (approximately $202 million). It expects to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, once the usual closing conditions are met.

What's next

The Canada sale is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Completion would settle the divestiture. Unmet closing conditions would leave it open.

The next quarterly report will test the raised outlook. Full-year Adjusted EBITDA is guided to $7.25 billion to $7.30 billion. Data Centers must keep outperforming for property revenue to reach its range. A shortfall there, or further equity investment losses, would weaken the case.