AMERICAN TOWER CORP /MA/ (AMT)

American Tower is one of the largest global real estate investment trusts and a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate. Its primary business is leasing space on communications sites to wireless service providers, radio and television broadcasters, wireless data providers, government agencies, municipalities and tenants in other industries. This property business, which includes its data centers, generated 97% of total revenues in 2025. The company also offers tower-related services in the United States that mainly support its site leasing business. It operates as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, using taxable REIT subsidiaries for certain businesses, and its international operations are taxed in the jurisdictions where they are located.

Results are reported in six segments: U.S. & Canada property, Africa & Asia-Pacific property, Europe property, Latin America property, Data Centers and Services. In 2025 the property segments accounted for 49% (U.S. & Canada), 13% (Africa & APAC), 9% (Europe), 15% (Latin America) and 10% (Data Centers) of consolidated revenue. As of December 31, 2025, the portfolio held 149,686 communications sites: 42,224 in the U.S. & Canada, 27,857 in Africa & APAC, 32,524 in Europe and 47,081 in Latin America. It also included urban telecommunications assets in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Spain, property interests in Canada and the United States, and 30 operating data center facilities across eleven U.S. markets. Offerings include owned and leased towers, in-building and outdoor distributed antenna systems, rooftop and site management, fiber, land interests under third-party sites, shared backup generators and power solutions, and interconnected data centers. The Services segment, 3% of revenue, covers site application, zoning and permitting, structural and mount analyses, construction management and program management.

Revenue comes mainly from tenant leases. Wireless carrier leases generally have initial non-cancellable terms of five to ten years with multiple renewals and periodic escalators, averaging about 3% in the U.S. or tied to inflation indexes in most international markets. The company expects over $54 billion of non-cancellable tenant lease revenue in future periods, and churn in 2025 was about 2% of tenant billings. Customers are concentrated: AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless made up 85% of U.S. & Canada segment revenue; Airtel and MTN 81% of Africa & APAC; Telefónica 70% of Europe; and América Móvil, AT&T, Telefónica and TIM 71% of Latin America. Data center customers are primarily enterprises, network operators, cloud providers and supporting service providers.

Operating costs mainly consist of ground rent, power and fuel (some or all passed through to tenants), property taxes, and repair and maintenance. Tower operations are subject to national, state and local rules on siting, construction, lighting and maintenance, including FCC and FAA requirements in the U.S., and several international subsidiaries must hold licenses or registrations. The strategy focuses on adding tenants to existing sites, selectively growing the portfolio through investment and acquisitions, improving operating efficiency and maintaining a strong balance sheet. The company had $11.1 billion of liquidity and investment grade credit ratings at year-end 2025. It acquired data center operator CoreSite in 2021 and has divested businesses in Mexico, Poland, Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa since 2023.