American Tower Co. raises annual performance guidance, Core Site leasing hits record high
American Tower reported on Tuesday that its second-quarter revenue and profit exceeded market expectations. At the same time, it benefited from the strong performance of its data center and favorable currency movements. The company raised its full-year performance guidance for the second time this year. The financial report showed that American Tower's total revenue in the second quarter was US$2.75 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%, higher than analysts' expectations of US$2.7 billion; adjusted earnings per share were US$1.86, far exceeding the expected US$1.55. Core property business revenue increased 6.3% to US$2.69 billion. The data center business became the biggest highlight of this quarter. Its CoreSite business leasing activity hit a record high, with new business volume in a single quarter exceeding the total for 2021, and achieving double-digit revenue growth for the fifth consecutive quarter. Data center cash revenue grew by about 12%, and nine of the top ten AI companies in the world are currently deployed in CoreSite facilities. Based on this, the company raised its full-year property revenue guidance for 2026 by US$110 million to US$10.77 billion (mid-value), adjusted EBITDA guidance by US$45 million, and distributable AFFO per share guidance by US$0.09 to US$11.00-11.17. The company also specifically raised its data center business growth forecast from 13% to about 15%. The company expects 2026 to be the trough year for AFFO per share growth, mainly due to DISH customer losses, refinancing costs and declining contribution from the services business. American Tower owns approximately 149,000 communication towers around the world, and its customers include major telecom operators such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.