American Tower Corporation
Analysis
These calls cleared out one-off problems — DISH's default, an Asia exit — while CoreSite became the fastest-growing business. Management calls 2026 a trough and 2027 the rebound. How much of American Tower's 2027 rebound needs US densification?
- CoreSite is now the fastest-growing part of the business.
The data center outlook was raised twice this year, to about 15% growth, and CoreSite signed more new business in a quarter than in all of 2021. How much of American Tower's CoreSite growth is AI-driven?
- DISH's default reset the growth rate, not the business.
DISH stopped paying rent, so management pulled it out of 2026 growth and is suing to enforce the contract. Strip it out and US new leasing is running at last year's pace, so the headline number understates what the carriers spend.
- The cleanup costs are landing in this year's numbers.
Refinancing costs bite harder than expected, services steps down from a record year, and Latin America rents fall. Underlying growth is stronger than the headline shows. Which American Tower cost drags ease by 2027?
- Carriers keep spending at today's steady pace. New leasing adds about 2.5% a year, which keeps US tower growth steady with no help from densification.
- CoreSite keeps filling new space at rising prices. Each new lease brings rent and connection fees out of the same building, so profit rises faster than sales.
- Management's cost-savings target lands by 2030. Tower costs growing slower than rent means more of each dollar reaches shareholders without customers paying more.
- Carriers keep filling gaps instead of densifying. US tower growth then stays near 4%, and the 2027 rebound management keeps pointing to slides further out.
- Refinancing the debt keeps getting more expensive. More of the cash the towers throw off goes to lenders, leaving less for dividends and buybacks.
- CoreSite can only grow as fast as power and buildings arrive. Customers it cannot serve are sales it never makes, so growth here is limited by building speed, not by demand.
| Politician | Transaction | Amount | Traded | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Donald Trump Republican · Executive | Purchase | ≥$50K | Aug 28 | Oct 8 |
Donald Trump Republican · Executive | Purchase | ≥$1K | Aug 10 | Oct 8 |
Donald Trump Republican · Executive | Sale | ≥$50K | Jul 27 | Sep 22 |
Donald Trump Republican · Executive | Sale | ≥$1K | Jul 24 | Sep 22 |
Donald Trump Republican · Executive | Sale | ≥$50K | Jul 23 | Sep 22 |
Congressional trading data provided by QuiverQuant
How American Tower turned $10.6B of revenue into $4.8B of operating income.
| Revenue | ||
|---|---|---|
| Property | $10.3B | ▲ 3.74% YoY |
| Services Revenue | $339.6M | ▲ 75.32% YoY |
| Total revenue | $10.6B | |
| Gross profit | $7.9B | 74.2% |
| Operating income | $4.8B | 45.5% |