American Tower Corporation

Q2 consolidated property revenue grew over 5% year-over-year excluding noncash straight-line revenue and FX impacts, or over 7% on a cash FX-neutral basis when normalized for one-time DISH churn. Organic tenant billings growth was nearly 2%, or 4% excluding DISH churn, and data center cash revenue grew approximately 12%. Adjusted EBITDA grew over 3% ex noncash straight-line and FX, or over 6% on a cash FX-neutral basis excluding DISH churn; cash adjusted EBITDA margin was down about 40 basis points year over year, but up about 30 basis points excluding DISH churn. Attributable FFO per share grew approximately 1% ex FX, or over 5% on an FX-neutral basis excluding DISH churn and refinancing costs. Full-year 2026 outlook was raised: property revenue by $110 million at the midpoint, adjusted EBITDA by $45 million, and attributable AFFO per share by $0.09. Management now expects about 4% year-over-year property revenue growth ex straight-line and FX, about 6% cash FX-neutral growth excluding DISH churn, about 15% data center revenue growth, and nearly 6% AFFO per share growth on an FX-neutral basis excluding DISH churn and refinancing costs.

Steve Vondran struck an upbeat tone, saying the company delivered another strong quarter with robust tower leasing, record CoreSite activity, and continued operational discipline. He emphasized four long-term demand catalysts for towers: 5G densification, new spectrum, 6G, and AI-driven network usage, and said those trends could support investment well into the next decade. On CoreSite, he said demand is broad-based and the platform is becoming a central hub for AI, cloud, and interconnection traffic, with capacity that has grown 1.5x since acquisition and could nearly triple from here.

Rod Smith focused on the financial bridge behind the raised outlook. He said the property revenue raise was driven by about $35 million of FX tailwinds, $25 million of data center outperformance, and $65 million of other items, partly offset by about $15 million from the Philippines and Bangladesh divestitures; adjusted EBITDA benefited from about $20 million of FX, $30 million of data center outperformance, and about $35 million of one-time benefits, partly offset by divestitures and other items. He also noted leverage of 4.9x, within the 3x to 5x target range, about $230 million in acquisitions and more than $200 million in share repurchases year to date, a $2 billion buyback program with a little less than $1.5 billion remaining, and a higher expected refinancing headwind of about 150 basis points to AFFO per share due to rates.

Analysts pressed management on capital allocation, carrier densification, CoreSite monetization, and the path to next year’s growth. Management said domestic towers and CoreSite are the top investment priorities, while buybacks remain part of the toolkit alongside M&A and debt reduction; Rod also reiterated the dividend and said the company expects to pay out 100% of REIT taxable income. On U.S. carrier activity, Steve said the business is now in the capacity phase of the 5G cycle, with more new colocations and less emphasis on amendments, while Rod said 2026 new business should contribute about 250 basis points to organic tenant billings, consistent with last year ex-DISH. On CoreSite, management said interconnection growth is being driven by AI and cloud adoption, and Rod explained that Stonepeak’s convertible note is expected to convert in Q3, shifting ownership to about 64% American Tower and about 36% Stonepeak without a material economic change.