• Property Revenue: Slightly positive year-over-year growth, up approximately 3% excluding noncash straight-line revenue, with a 300 basis points FX headwind.
• US and Canada Property Revenue: Declined approximately 1%, grew over 3.5% excluding noncash straight-line, with over 1% negative impact from Sprint churn.
• International Property Revenue: Roughly flat year-over-year, with approximately 8% growth excluding FX impacts.
• Data Center Business Revenue: Grew by approximately 9%.
• Consolidated Organic Tenant Billings Growth: 4.7%, supported by solid demand across the global portfolio.
• US and Canada Organic Tenant Billings Growth: 3.6%, approximately 5% excluding Sprint-related churn.
• International Organic Tenant Billings Growth: 6.7%, a modest acceleration from Q4 2024.
• Adjusted EBITDA: Grew 1.9%, over 5.5% excluding noncash straight-line impacts, with a 300 basis points FX headwind.
• Cash Adjusted EBITDA Margin: Expanded nearly 70 basis points to 68.2%.
• Attributable AFFO and AFFO per Share: Declined approximately 1% and over 1%, respectively, due to prior year contributions from the India business.
• Revised Full Year Outlook: Raised expectations for property revenue, adjusted EBITDA, attributable AFFO, and AFFO per share by $50 million, $30 million, $20 million, and $0.04, respectively, due to updated FX assumptions.
• Projected Attributable AFFO per Share: $10.44, nearly 5% growth year-over-year on an as-adjusted basis.
• Capital Expenditures: Approximately $1.7 billion, including 2,250 newly constructed sites and roughly $610 million for data center development.
• Liquidity: $11.7 billion, with low floating rate debt exposure.

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 9 Warning Signs with AMT.

Release Date: April 29, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

• American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT) exceeded initial expectations across property revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and attributable AFFO per share for the quarter.
• The company experienced its fifth consecutive quarter of sequential increases in both application volumes and services revenue, with services revenue growing over 140% year-over-year.
• CoreSite business posted impressive results, fueled by strong leasing and continued processing favorability, adding 11 megawatts of capacity.
• AMT successfully closed the sale of its South African fiber business, marking a key step in reducing its international fiber footprint.
• The company has a strong balance sheet with enhanced financial flexibility, including $11.7 billion in liquidity and low floating rate debt exposure.

Negative Points

• AMT is closely monitoring the global economic backdrop and potential implications, including foreign exchange (FX) risks, particularly in emerging markets.
• The company is facing ongoing Sprint churn, which is expected to impact growth in the US and Canada segment for the next two quarters.
• Despite strong performance, AMT is cautious about forward-looking volatility and uncertainty, which has led to maintaining a conservative outlook.
• The international segment is experiencing low single-digit organic tenant billings growth due to ongoing churn, particularly from Oi in Latin America.
• AMT's guidance remains largely unchanged due to uncertainties in FX rates and potential macroeconomic impacts, despite a strong start to the year.

Q & A Highlights

Q: Can you discuss your focus on globalization strategy and cost optimization with your current portfolio? A: Steven Vondran, President and CEO, explained that American Tower will continue to focus on both portfolio optimization and globalization. The company will assess its portfolio continuously, considering divestment only if it adds long-term value. Globalization efforts are a major focus, with ongoing evaluations to streamline operations and enhance synergies across markets.

Q: How should we think about the cadence of colocation and amendment revenues in upcoming periods? A: Rodney Smith, CFO, stated that the company is targeting $165 million to $170 million for new leasing in the US. The first quarter saw $38 million, with expectations for similar figures in the next quarter and an acceleration in the latter half of the year.

Q: What are the current trends in US carrier activity and leasing? A: Steven Vondran noted that US carrier activity is consistent with expectations, with a steady ramp in 5G deployment. There is ongoing amendment activity and new colocations, with early signs of network densification.

Q: Can you provide an update on your cost efficiency program and its impact on future growth? A: Steven Vondran mentioned that the company is evaluating cost efficiencies across operations, maintenance, and supply chain. While no specific targets were provided, the focus is on long-term value creation and improving customer service.

Q: How is the CoreSite business performing amid broader data center market trends? A: Steven Vondran reported robust demand for CoreSite's interconnection services, driven by enterprise needs for multi-cloud environments. The sales funnel remains strong, with continued growth in enterprise demand and retail space.

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.