American Tower Corporation Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results

CONSOLIDATED HIGHLIGHTS

First Quarter 2026

• Total revenue increased 6.8% to $2,738 million
• Total property revenue increased 7.3% to $2,670 million
• Net income increased 76.2% to $879 million⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 5.2% to $1,835 million
• Net income attributable to AMT common stockholders increased 75.9% to $860 million⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾
• AFFO attributable to AMT common stockholders increased 2.6% to $1,324 million

American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026.

Steve Vondran, American Tower's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We had an excellent start to 2026. The structural growth drivers of our business continue to strengthen, with rising mobile data consumption, accelerating cloud adoption and the rapid expansion of AI-driven workloads all pointing toward sustained investment in high-quality digital infrastructure.

I believe American Tower is now operating from its strongest strategic position in more than a decade, reflecting the actions we've taken to strengthen our balance sheet, reduce risk and enhance the quality and predictability of our earnings. With a best-in-class portfolio of towers and interconnection-rich data centers, we are well positioned to drive durable growth, expand margins and deliver attractive long-term value for our shareholders."

CONSOLIDATED OPERATING RESULTS OVERVIEW

American Tower generated the following operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 (all comparative information is presented against the quarter ended March 31, 2025).

Please refer to "Non-GAAP and Defined Financial Measures" below for definitions and other information regarding the Company's use of non-GAAP measures. For financial information and reconciliations to GAAP measures, please refer to the "Unaudited Selected Consolidated Financial Information" below.

CAPITAL ALLOCATION OVERVIEW

Distributions – During the quarter ended March 31, 2026, the Company declared the following regular cash distributions to its common stockholders:

Stock Repurchase Program – During the first quarter of 2026, the Company repurchased a total of approximately 1.1 million shares of its common stock for an aggregate of approximately $184 million, including commissions and fees. Subsequent to the end of the first quarter, through April 21, 2026, the Company repurchased approximately 0.1 million shares of its common stock for an aggregate of approximately $19 million, including commissions and fees.

Capital Expenditures – During the first quarter of 2026, total capital expenditures were approximately $460 million, of which $48 million was for non-discretionary capital improvements and corporate capital expenditures. For additional capital expenditure details, please refer to the supplemental disclosure package available on the Company's website.

LEVERAGE AND FINANCING OVERVIEW

Leverage – For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, the Company's Net Leverage Ratio was 4.9x net debt (total debt less cash and cash equivalents) to first quarter 2026 annualized Adjusted EBITDA.

Liquidity and Financing Activities – As of March 31, 2026, the Company had approximately $10.4 billion of total liquidity, consisting of approximately $1.6 billion in cash and cash equivalents plus the ability to borrow an aggregate of approximately $8.8 billion under its revolving credit facilities, net of any outstanding letters of credit.

On February 13, 2026, the Company repaid $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of its 4.400% senior unsecured notes due February 15, 2026 upon their maturity.

On April 14, 2026, the Company repaid $700.0 million aggregate principal amount of its 1.600% senior unsecured notes due April 15, 2026 upon their maturity.

FULL YEAR 2026 OUTLOOK

The following full year 2026 estimates are based on a number of assumptions that management believes to be reasonable and reflect the Company's expectations as of April 28, 2026. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates as a result of various factors, and the Company refers you to the cautionary language regarding "forward-looking statements" included in this press release when considering this information.

The Company's outlook is based on the following average foreign currency exchange rates to 1.00 U.S. Dollar for April 28, 2026 through December 31, 2026: (a) 1,623 Argentinean Pesos; (b) 123.30 Bangladeshi Taka; (c) 5.50 Brazilian Reais; (d) 1.37 Canadian Dollars; (e) 880 Chilean Pesos; (f) 3,800 Colombian Pesos; (g) 0.85 Euros; (h) 11.00 Ghanaian Cedis; (i) 132 Kenyan Shillings; (j) 17.90 Mexican Pesos; (k) 1,430 Nigerian Naira; (l) 6,700 Paraguayan Guarani; (m) 3.40 Peruvian Soles; (n) 58.20 Philippine Pesos; (o) 16.90 South African Rand; (p) 3,580 Ugandan Shillings; and (q) 560 West African CFA Francs.

The Company's outlook reflects estimated positive impacts of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations to total property revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, AFFO attributable to AMT common stockholders and AFFO attributable to AMT common stockholders per Share of approximately $107 million, $67 million, $55 million and $0.12 per Share, respectively, relative to the Company's prior 2026 outlook. The impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on net income metrics is not provided, as the impact on all components of the net income measure cannot be calculated without unreasonable effort.

As a result of the estimated positive foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations described above and accelerating straight-line revenue in Latin America, the Company is raising the midpoints of its full year 2026 outlook for property revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, AFFO attributable to AMT common stockholders and AFFO attributable to AMT common stockholders per Share by $145 million, $105 million, $55 million and $0.12, respectively. The Company is increasing the midpoint for net income and net income attributable to AMT common stockholders by $70 million and $85 million, respectively, primarily due to unrealized foreign currency gains.

Additional information pertaining to the impact of foreign currency and Secured Overnight Financing Rate fluctuations on the Company's outlook has been provided in the supplemental disclosure package available on the Company's website.

Conference Call Information

American Tower will host a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 and its updated outlook for 2026. Supplemental materials for the call will be available on the Company's website, www.americantower.com.

Pre-Registration Link for Dial-in Access

Participants can pre-register for the conference call here to receive dial-in information and a personalized PIN.

Access via Webcast

The earnings call will be broadcast live (listen only) and can be replayed shortly after the conclusion of the call via the Investor Relations webcast at https://www.americantower.com/webcasts.

About American Tower

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of nearly 150,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities. For more information about American Tower, please visit the "Earnings Materials" and "Investor Presentations" sections of our investor relations hub at www.americantower.com.

Non-GAAP and Defined Financial Measures

In addition to the results prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP) provided throughout this press release, the Company has presented the following Non-GAAP and Defined Financial Measures: Segment Gross Margin, Segment Operating Profit, Segment Operating Profit Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Nareit Funds From Operations (FFO) attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders, Adjusted Funds From Operations (AFFO) attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders, AFFO attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders per Share, Free Cash Flow, Net Debt and Net Leverage Ratio. In addition, the Company presents: Tenant Billings, Tenant Billings Growth, Organic Tenant Billings Growth and New Site Tenant Billings Growth.

These measures are not intended to replace financial performance measures determined in accordance with GAAP. Rather, they are presented as additional information because management believes they are useful indicators of the current financial performance of the Company's core businesses and are commonly used across its industry peer group. As outlined in detail below, the Company believes that these measures can assist in comparing company performance on a consistent basis irrespective of depreciation and amortization or capital structure, while also providing valuable incremental insight into the underlying operating trends of its business.

Depreciation and amortization can vary significantly among companies depending on accounting methods, particularly where acquisitions or non-operating factors, including historical cost basis, are involved. The Company's Non-GAAP and Defined Financial Measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

Revenue Components

In addition to reporting total revenue, the Company believes that providing transparency around the components of its revenue provides investors with insight into the indicators of the underlying demand for, and operating performance of, its real estate portfolio. Accordingly, the Company has provided disclosure of the following revenue components: (i) Tenant Billings; (ii) New Site Tenant Billings; (iii) Organic Tenant Billings; (iv) International pass-through revenue; (v) Straight-line revenue; (vi) Pre-paid amortization revenue; (vii) Foreign currency exchange impact; and (viii) Other revenue.

Tenant Billings: The majority of the Company's revenue is generated from non-cancellable, long-term tenant leases. Revenue from Tenant Billings reflects several key aspects of the Company's real estate business: (i) "colocations/amendments" reflects new tenant leases for space on existing sites and amendments to existing leases to add additional tenant equipment; (ii) "escalations" reflects contractual increases in billing rates, which are typically tied to fixed percentages or a variable percentage based on a consumer price index; (iii) "cancellations" reflects the impact of tenant lease terminations or non-renewals or, in limited circumstances, when the lease rates on existing leases are reduced; and (iv) "new sites" reflects the impact of new property construction and acquisitions.

New Site Tenant Billings: Day-one Tenant Billings associated with sites that have been built or acquired since the beginning of the prior-year period. Incremental colocations/amendments, escalations or cancellations that occur on these sites after the date of their addition to our portfolio are not included in New Site Tenant Billings. In certain cases, this could also include the net impact of certain divestitures. The Company believes providing New Site Tenant Billings enhances an investor's ability to analyze the Company's existing real estate portfolio growth as well as its development program growth, as the Company's construction and acquisition activities can drive variability in growth rates from period to period.

Organic Tenant Billings: Tenant Billings on sites that the Company has owned since the beginning of the prior-year period, as well as Tenant Billings activity on new sites that occurred after the date of their addition to the Company's portfolio.

International pass-through revenue: A portion of the Company's pass-through revenue is based on power and fuel expense reimbursements and therefore subject to fluctuations in fuel prices. As a result, revenue growth rates may fluctuate depending on the market price for fuel in any given period, which is not representative of the Company's real estate business and its economic exposure to power and fuel costs. Furthermore, this expense reimbursement mitigates the economic impact associated with fluctuations in operating expenses, such as power and fuel costs and land rents in certain of the Company's markets. As a result, the Company believes that it is appropriate to provide insight into the impact of pass-through revenue on certain revenue growth rates.

Straight-line revenue: Under GAAP, the Company recognizes revenue on a straight-line basis over the term of the contract for certain of its tenant leases. Due to the Company's significant base of non-cancellable, long-term tenant leases, this can result in significant fluctuations in growth rates upon tenant lease signings and renewals (typically increases), when amounts billed or received upfront upon these events are initially deferred. These signings and renewals are only a portion of the Company's underlying business growth and can distort the underlying performance of our Tenant Billings Growth. As a result, the Company believes that it is appropriate to provide insight into the impact of straight-line revenue on certain growth rates in revenue and select other measures.

Pre-paid amortization revenue: The Company recovers a portion of the costs it incurs for the redevelopment and development of its properties from its tenants. These upfront payments are then amortized over the initial term of the corresponding tenant lease. Given this amortization is not necessarily directly representative of underlying leasing activity on its real estate portfolio (i.e., does not have a renewal option or escalation as our tenant leases do), the Company believes that it is appropriate to provide insight into the impact of pre-paid amortization revenue on certain revenue growth rates to provide transparency into the underlying performance of our real estate business.

Foreign currency exchange impact: The majority of the Company's Latin America, Africa & APAC and Europe revenue and operating expenses are denominated in each country's local currency. As a result, foreign currency fluctuations may distort the underlying performance of our real estate business from period to period, depending on the movement of foreign currency exchange rates versus the U.S. Dollar. The Company believes it is appropriate to quantify the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on its reported growth to provide transparency into the underlying performance of its real estate business.

Other revenue: Other revenue represents revenue not captured by the above listed items and can include items such as customer settlements, fiber solutions revenue and data centers revenue.

Non-GAAP and Defined Financial Measure Definitions

Adjusted EBITDA: Net income before Income (loss) from equity method investments; Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes; Income tax benefit (provision); Other income (expense); Gain (loss) on retirement of long-term obligations; Interest expense; Interest income; Other operating income (expense), including Goodwill impairment; Depreciation, amortization and accretion; and Stock-based compensation expense. The Company believes this measure provides valuable insight into the profitability of its operations while at the same time taking into account the central overhead expenses required to manage its global operations. In addition, it is a widely used performance measure across the telecommunications real estate sector.

Adjusted EBITDA Margin: The percentage that results from dividing Adjusted EBITDA by total revenue.

Adjusted Funds From Operations (AFFO) attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders: Nareit FFO attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders before (i) straight-line revenue and expense, (ii) stock-based compensation expense, (iii) the deferred portion of income tax and other income tax adjustments, (iv) non-real estate related depreciation, amortization and accretion, (v) amortization of deferred financing costs, debt discounts and premiums and long-term deferred interest charges, (vi) other income (expense), (vii) gain (loss) on retirement of long-term obligations, and (viii) other operating income (expense), less cash payments related to capital improvements and cash payments related to corporate capital expenditures and including adjustments and distributions for unconsolidated affiliates and noncontrolling interests and adjustments for discontinued operations, which includes the impact of noncontrolling interests and discontinued operations on both Nareit FFO and the corresponding adjustments included in AFFO. The Company believes this measure provides valuable insight into the operating performance of its assets by further adjusting the Nareit AFFO attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders metric to exclude the factors outlined above, which if unadjusted, may otherwise cause material fluctuations in Nareit FFO attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders growth from period to period that would not be representative of the underlying performance of the Company's property assets in those periods. In addition, it is a widely used performance measure across the telecommunications real estate sector. The Company believes providing this metric, excluding the impacts of noncontrolling interests, enhances transparency, given the minority interests in its Europe business and its U.S. data center business.

AFFO attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders per Share: AFFO attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders divided by the diluted weighted average common shares outstanding.

Free Cash Flow: Cash provided by operating activities less total cash capital expenditures, including the impacts associated with discontinued operations and payments on finance leases and perpetual land easements. The Company believes that Free Cash Flow is useful to investors as the basis for comparing our performance and coverage ratios with other companies in its industry, although this measure of Free Cash Flow may not be directly comparable to similar measures used by other companies.

Nareit Funds From Operations (FFO), as defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), attributable to American Tower Corporation common stockholders: Net income before gains or losses from the sale or disposal of real estate, real estate related impairment charges, real estate related depreciation, amortization and accretion, and including adjustments and distributions for unconsolidated affiliates and noncontrolling interests and adjustments for discontinued operations. The Company believes this measure provides valuable insight into the operating performance of its property assets by excluding the charges described above, particularly depreciation expenses, given the high initial, up-front capital intensity of the Company's operating model. In addition, it is a widely used performance measure across the telecommunications real estate sector.

Net Debt: Total long-term debt, including current portion and for periods beginning in the first quarter of 2019, finance lease liabilities, less cash and cash equivalents.

Net Leverage Ratio: Net debt (total long-term debt, including current portion, and for periods beginning in the first quarter of 2019, finance lease liabilities, less cash and cash equivalents) divided by the quarter's annualized Adjusted EBITDA (the quarter's Adjusted EBITDA multiplied by four). The Company believes that including this calculation is important for investors and analysts given it is a critical component underlying its credit agency ratings.

New Site Tenant Billings Growth: The portion of Tenant Billings Growth attributable to New Site Tenant Billings. The Company believes this measure provides valuable insight into the growth attributable to Tenant Billings from recently acquired or constructed properties.

Organic Tenant Billings Growth: The portion of Tenant Billings Growth attributable to Organic Tenant Billings. The Company believes that organic growth is a useful measure of its ability to add tenancy and incremental revenue to its assets for the reported period, which enables investors and analysts to gain additional insight into the relative attractiveness, and therefore the value, of the Company's property assets.

Segment Gross Margin: Revenues less operating expenses, excluding depreciation, amortization and accretion, selling, general, administrative and development expense and other operating expenses. The Company believes this measure provides valuable insight into the site-level profitability of its assets.

Segment Operating Profit: Segment Gross Margin less selling, general, administrative and development expense, excluding stock-based compensation expense and corporate expenses. The Company believes this measure provides valuable insight into the site-level profitability of its assets while also taking into account the overhead expenses required to manage each of its operating segments.

Segment Operating Profit and Segment Gross Margin are before interest income, interest expense, gain (loss) on retirement of long-term obligations, other income (expense), net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest and income tax benefit (provision).

Segment Operating Profit Margin: The percentage that results from dividing Segment Operating Profit by revenue.

Tenant Billings Growth: The increase or decrease resulting from a comparison of Tenant Billings for a current period with Tenant Billings for the corresponding prior-year period, in each case adjusted for foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. The Company believes this measure provides valuable insight into the growth in recurring Tenant Billings and underlying demand for its real estate portfolio.

Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" concerning our goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives, plans, future operating results and underlying assumptions and other statements that are not necessarily based on historical facts. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our full year 2026 outlook and other targets, foreign currency exchange rates, our expectations regarding our stock repurchase program, the creditworthiness and financial strength of our customers, the expected impacts of strategic partnerships on our business, our expectations for the closing of signed agreements and the expected impacts of such agreements on our business and our expectations regarding the leasing demand for communications real estate. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: (1) a significant decrease in leasing demand for our communications infrastructure would materially and adversely affect our business and operating results, and we cannot control that demand; (2) our business, results of operations and financial condition could be negatively impacted by disputes with our customers; (3) a substantial portion of our current and projected future revenue is derived from a small number of customers, and we are sensitive to adverse changes in the creditworthiness and financial strength of our customers; (4) increasing competition within our industries may materially and adversely affect our revenue; (5) if our customers consolidate their operations, exit their businesses or share site infrastructure to a significant degree, our growth and revenue could be materially and adversely affected; (6) competition to build or purchase assets could adversely affect our ability to achieve our return on investment criteria; (7) new technologies or changes, or lack thereof, in our or a customer's business model could make our communications infrastructure leasing business less desirable and result in decreasing revenues and operating results; (8) divestitures may materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows; (9) our use of joint ventures and strategic partnerships may expose us to risks associated with jointly owned investments; (10) our leverage, debt service obligations and repurchase activity may materially and adversely affect our ability to raise additional financing to fund capital expenditures, future growth and expansion initiatives and may reduce funds available to satisfy our distribution requirements; (11) increased inflation and interest rates may adversely affect us by increasing costs beyond what we can recover through price increases; (12) restrictive covenants in the agreements related to our securitization transaction, our credit facilities and our debt securities could materially and adversely affect our business by limiting flexibility, and we may be prohibited from paying dividends on our common stock, which may jeopardize our qualification for taxation as a REIT; (13) our foreign operations are subject to economic, political and other risks that could materially and adversely affect our revenues or financial position, including risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; (14) our business, and that of our customers, is subject to laws, regulations and administrative and judicial decisions, and changes thereto, that could restrict our ability to operate our business as we currently do or impact our competitive landscape; (15) if we fail to remain qualified for taxation as a REIT, we will be subject to tax at corporate income tax rates, which may substantially reduce funds otherwise available, and even if we qualify for taxation as a REIT, we may face tax liabilities that impact earnings and available cash flow; (16) complying with REIT requirements may limit our flexibility or cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities; (17) we could have liability under environmental and occupational safety and health laws; (18) we may be adversely affected by regulations related to climate change; (19) if we, or third parties on which we rely, experience technology failures, including cybersecurity incidents or the loss of personally identifiable information, we may incur substantial costs and suffer other negative consequences, which may include reputational damage; (20) our data center segment contains certain operational differences from our tower leasing operations, resulting in different operational risks. If we do not successfully operate our data center segment or identify or manage the related operational risks, such operations may produce results that are lower than anticipated; (21) if we are unable to protect our rights to the land under our towers and buildings in which our data centers are located, it could adversely affect our business and operating results; (22) our business depends on effective data governance, and failures in our data governance frameworks could adversely affect our operations; (23) the transformation initiatives we undertake may not deliver the results we expect; (24) our expansion initiatives involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect our operating results, disrupt our operations or expose us to additional risk; (25) our towers, data centers, other telecommunications assets or computer systems may be affected by natural disasters (including as a result of climate change), public perception of health risks and other unforeseen events for which our insurance may not provide adequate coverage or result in increased insurance premiums; and (26) if we are unable or choose not to exercise our rights to purchase towers that are subject to lease and sublease agreements at the end of the applicable period, our cash flows derived from those towers will be eliminated. For additional information regarding factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements, we refer you to the information that is provided in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, and other risks described in documents we subsequently file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update the information contained in this press release to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.