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American Tower Stock Before Q3 Earnings: Smart Buy or Risky Move?
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Key Takeaways
American Tower's Q3 2026 results are expected to reflect year-over-year revenue and AFFO per share growth.
CoreSite's data center revenues are projected to rise 14.1%, supported by AI workloads and multicloud demand.
DISH-related churn, higher refinancing costs and lower services revenues may partially offset growth drivers.
American Tower Corporation (AMT - Free Report) is scheduled to release third-quarter 2026 results on Oct. 27, before the opening bell. The company’s quarterly results are expected to reflect year-over-year growth in revenues and adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share.
In the last reported quarter, American Tower posted an AFFO per share attributable to AMT common stockholders of $2.71, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Results benefited from higher property revenues, robust global leasing activity and continued data center growth.
Over the preceding four quarters, the company’s AFFO per share topped on three occasions and met once, the average beat being 5.81%. The graph below depicts this surprise history:
American Tower’s third-quarter 2026 results are likely to benefit from rising mobile data consumption, continued 5G deployments and increasing network densification. U.S. carriers are shifting their focus from coverage expansion to capacity enhancement, supporting new colocation and amendment activity.
Management expects mid-single-digit organic tenant billings growth in the United States and Canada, excluding DISH-related churn, supported by steady carrier investments. Solid leasing demand across Europe and Africa, along with contractual rent escalations, is also likely to have supported property revenue growth.
CoreSite is expected to have remained a major growth driver, supported by robust demand for hybrid multicloud deployments, AI-driven workloads and interconnection services. Management raised its full-year data center revenue growth outlook to approximately 15% from 13%, reflecting record leasing activity and improving demand.
However, DISH-related churn, higher refinancing costs and lower services revenues are expected to have partially offset these gains.
Q3 Projections for AMT
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for operating revenues from the Total Property segment is pegged at $2.70 billion, which implies an uptick of 3.1% from the figure reported in the year-ago period.
The consensus estimate for operating revenues from the Data Centers segment is currently pegged at $304.5 million, calling for a 14.1% increase from the year-ago period.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly revenues stands at $2.77 billion, suggesting growth of 2.1% from the year-ago period’s reported figure.
American Tower’s activities during the soon-to-be-reported quarter have been inadequate to gain analysts’ confidence. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly AFFO per share has remained unchanged at $2.84 over the past three months. The figure implies 2.2% growth from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.
What Our Quantitative Model Predicts for AMT
Our proven model does not conclusively predict a surprise in terms of AFFO per share for American Tower this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an AFFO beat, which is not the case here.
American Tower has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks That Warrant a Look
Here are two stocks from the broader REIT sector, SBA Communications (SBAC - Free Report) and Host Hotels & Resorts (HST - Free Report) , which you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to report an FFO beat this quarter.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
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American Tower Stock Before Q3 Earnings: Smart Buy or Risky Move?
Key Takeaways
American Tower Corporation (AMT - Free Report) is scheduled to release third-quarter 2026 results on Oct. 27, before the opening bell. The company’s quarterly results are expected to reflect year-over-year growth in revenues and adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share.
In the last reported quarter, American Tower posted an AFFO per share attributable to AMT common stockholders of $2.71, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Results benefited from higher property revenues, robust global leasing activity and continued data center growth.
Over the preceding four quarters, the company’s AFFO per share topped on three occasions and met once, the average beat being 5.81%. The graph below depicts this surprise history:
American Tower Corporation Price and EPS Surprise
American Tower Corporation price-eps-surprise | American Tower Corporation Quote
AMT: Factors at Play
American Tower’s third-quarter 2026 results are likely to benefit from rising mobile data consumption, continued 5G deployments and increasing network densification. U.S. carriers are shifting their focus from coverage expansion to capacity enhancement, supporting new colocation and amendment activity.
Management expects mid-single-digit organic tenant billings growth in the United States and Canada, excluding DISH-related churn, supported by steady carrier investments. Solid leasing demand across Europe and Africa, along with contractual rent escalations, is also likely to have supported property revenue growth.
CoreSite is expected to have remained a major growth driver, supported by robust demand for hybrid multicloud deployments, AI-driven workloads and interconnection services. Management raised its full-year data center revenue growth outlook to approximately 15% from 13%, reflecting record leasing activity and improving demand.
However, DISH-related churn, higher refinancing costs and lower services revenues are expected to have partially offset these gains.
Q3 Projections for AMT
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for operating revenues from the Total Property segment is pegged at $2.70 billion, which implies an uptick of 3.1% from the figure reported in the year-ago period.
The consensus estimate for operating revenues from the Data Centers segment is currently pegged at $304.5 million, calling for a 14.1% increase from the year-ago period.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly revenues stands at $2.77 billion, suggesting growth of 2.1% from the year-ago period’s reported figure.
American Tower’s activities during the soon-to-be-reported quarter have been inadequate to gain analysts’ confidence. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly AFFO per share has remained unchanged at $2.84 over the past three months. The figure implies 2.2% growth from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.
What Our Quantitative Model Predicts for AMT
Our proven model does not conclusively predict a surprise in terms of AFFO per share for American Tower this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an AFFO beat, which is not the case here.
American Tower has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks That Warrant a Look
Here are two stocks from the broader REIT sector, SBA Communications (SBAC - Free Report) and Host Hotels & Resorts (HST - Free Report) , which you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to report an FFO beat this quarter.
SBA Communications is slated to report quarterly numbers on Nov. 2. SBAC has an Earnings ESP of +1.54% and carries a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Host Hotels & Resorts is slated to report quarterly numbers on Nov. 4. HST has an Earnings ESP of +2.80% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.