American Tower: 3 Key Takeaways for Long-Term Investors

On its third-quarter 2026 earnings call, held on Oct. 27, 2026, American Tower (NYSE:AMT) announced higher full-year guidance for property revenue and adjusted funds from operations (AFFO, a REIT performance metric measuring cash available for distribution) per share while raising its data center growth outlook. For long-term investors, the company's pivot toward high-yielding digital infrastructure and disciplined portfolio recycling strengthens its cash generation as network densification takes hold. Three key takeaways from management explain where the business is heading.

1. Data Center Growth Accelerates as AI and Cloud Demand Surpass Expectations

The company's CoreSite data center segment is expanding faster than initially projected, driven by enterprise demand for connected cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure. That momentum provides pricing leverage to expand returns on new build-outs.

At the same time, CoreSite's continued outperformance is enabling us to raise our outlook for data center revenue growth to 16%. Up from our expectation of 15% last quarter and 13% at the start of the year.
-- Steven O. Vondran, President and Chief Executive Officer

2. Selling the Canada Business Unlocks Capital for Buybacks and High-Return Investments

American Tower agreed to sell its Canadian tower operations for roughly $2 billion, monetizing assets at a robust valuation multiple. Management plans to redeploy those proceeds into share repurchases, debt reduction, and higher-yielding domestic infrastructure.

As Steve mentioned, we recently entered into an agreement to sell our Canada portfolio for approximately $2 billion, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
-- Rodney Smith, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer

3. Domestic Organic Growth Reaches a Trough Ahead of an Expected 2027 Recovery

Cancellation of tenant leases by DISH Network created a temporary four-percentage-point drag on organic billings growth in the United States this year. As the customer churn headwind fades, underlying network densification and new spectrum deployments should reaccelerate revenue growth.

We remain confident that 2026 represents a trough year for US and Canada organic growth and continue to expect organic growth to accelerate in 2027.
-- Rodney Smith, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer

Looking Ahead

Wireless data consumption is surging over 20% year over year, forcing mobile carriers to add network capacity. American Tower holds a distinct competitive edge through its interconnected data center platform and neutral-host tower footprint, positioning it to capture demand across upcoming spectrum deployments. Management is keeping a close watch on carrier capital spending cycles and leasing activity.

Taken together, these catalysts reinforce one another. The capacity phase of 5G, future spectrum deployments, the transition to 6G, and AI driven traffic growth all point to a future requiring more capacity greater density, and increasingly sophisticated digital infrastructure.
-- Steven O. Vondran, President and Chief Executive Officer

With leverage maintained within its target range of 3 to 5 times adjusted EBITDA, a measure of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, the balance sheet provides ample flexibility to navigate near-term headwinds. Capital allocation discipline ensures steady reinvestment while returning excess cash to shareholders.

Heading into 2027, we are confident that we can deliver a meaningful inflection in growth and return to our long term expectation of AFFO per share growth in the mid to high single digit range.
-- Rodney Smith, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer

The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends American Tower. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.