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The call conveyed a net positive outlook: management upgraded full-year guidance and highlighted strong CoreSite/data center momentum, solid regional growth in Africa/APAC and Europe, disciplined capital allocation (including meaningful share repurchases), and balance sheet strength. Material near-term headwinds include a one-time DISH-related churn impact, Latin America (Brazil) churn-driven weakness, a ~110bps margin decline in the quarter, and permitting/short-term volatility risks. Management emphasized that normalized metrics (excluding DISH and FX effects) show mid-single-digit AFFO per share growth and confidence in long-term secular tailwinds from mobile data, 5G/6G evolution and AI-driven demand.
American Tower raised its full‑year outlook across key metrics: property revenue guidance was increased by about $145 million at the midpoint (roughly +1%), driven by an estimated $110 million FX tailwind and ~$35 million of accelerated noncash straight‑line revenue in Latin America, with the revised outlook implying ≈3% y/y property revenue growth ex noncash straight‑line and FX (≈5% cash FX‑neutral when normalized for one‑time DISH churn). Adjusted EBITDA guidance was raised by ~ $105 million at the midpoint (≈+1%), implying ≈2% y/y adjusted EBITDA growth ex straight‑line and FX (≈5% cash FX‑neutral ex DISH churn); Q1 cash adjusted EBITDA margins declined ~110 bps y/y and the company targets 200–300 bps of tower cash adjusted EBITDA margin expansion by 2030. Attributable AFFO per share guidance was raised by $0.12 to about $10.99 (≈+1% reported, ≈+2% y/y in the revised outlook; ≈+5% FX‑neutral when excluding one‑time DISH churn and refinancing costs); Q1 attributable AFFO per share was down ~1% ex FX (≈+4% FX‑neutral ex DISH and refi). Management reiterated organic tenant billings growth of ~1% (≈4% ex DISH churn), data‑center growth (~13% guidance; CoreSite cash revenue +17% in Q1 excl straight‑line), expectation that services growth and debt refinancings each represent ~100 bps headwinds to AFFO/share this year, a capital plan to deploy ~85% of discretionary capital in developed markets (including >$700M of success‑based data‑center investments), ~700+ new builds planned in Europe, >$565M of share repurchases since Q4 (≈$184M in Q1 + $19M through Apr 21), and a peer‑leading balance sheet (quarter‑end leverage ~4.9x and the highest credit rating in the peer group).
Company raised full-year guidance: property revenue outlook increased by ~$145M at midpoint (~+1% to prior outlook), adjusted EBITDA outlook raised by ~$105M at midpoint (~+1%), and attributable AFFO outlook increased by $0.12 per share (~+1%). Management attributed upgrades primarily to favorable FX (~$110M) and accelerated noncash straight-line revenue (~$35M).
Consolidated property revenue grew ~3% year-over-year excluding noncash straight-line and FX; normalized growth was ~5% on a cash FX-neutral basis after excluding one-time DISH churn. Consolidated organic tenant billings growth was ~2% (or ~4% excluding DISH churn).
CoreSite cash property revenue grew ~17% in Q1 (excluding noncash straight-line) with management characterizing an inflection in interconnection activity. Company reiterated data center property revenue growth expectation of ~13% year-over-year and called CoreSite a differentiated, high-margin interconnection platform that is exceeding expectations.
Africa and APAC delivered robust organic growth of ~11% in Q1, representing one of the strongest regional contributions to consolidated organic tenant billings growth.
Europe delivered ~4% organic growth in Q1 and remains above original underwriting for the Telefonica deal. Company plans >700 new site builds in Europe and expects new builds to deliver returns several hundred basis points above the region's WACC over time.
Made progress reducing direct tower costs (land experience, maintenance, sourcing, internal tech). Company remains confident in delivering 200–300 basis points of cash adjusted EBITDA margin expansion in the tower business by 2030 and is evaluating AI to accelerate efficiency gains.
Capital allocation focused on developed markets and CoreSite: ~85% of discretionary capital to developed platforms, >$700M planned for data center success-based investments, purchases of land under tower sites. Repurchased ~$184M of stock in Q1 plus ~$19M through April 21; total repurchases since Q4 exceed ~$565M.
Management highlighted lowest leverage and highest credit rating among peers (ended quarter leverage ~4.9x), investment-grade balance sheet and flexibility. CoreSite development pipeline expanded: held development power ~287 MW (prior) and increased available development capacity by ~200 MW; continued land and power acquisitions.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the American Tower First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to your host, Spencer Kurn, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning. Welcome to our First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. I'm Spencer Kurn, Head of Investor Relations for American Tower. Joining me on the call today are Steve Vondran, our President and CEO; and Rod Smith, our Executive Vice President, CFO and Treasurer. Following our prepared remarks, we will open the call for your questions. Before we begin, I need to call your attention to our safe harbor statement. It says that some of our comments today may be forward looking. As such, they are subject to risks and uncertainties described in American Tower SEC filings, and results may differ materially.
Additional information is available on our Investor Relations website. I'll now turn the call over to Steve. Steve?
Thanks, Spencer. Good morning, everybody, and thanks for joining the call. I'm extremely pleased with our start to 2026. Our performance through the early part of the year, combined with favorable FX and straight line dynamics, led us to raise our full year outlook. The growth drivers shaping our industry continue to strengthen. Rising wireless data consumption, accelerating cloud adoption, rapidly expanding AI-driven workloads and future generational technology shifts, all point towards sustained investment and high-quali...