American Tower Corp. American Tower (AMT) shares climbed Tuesday after the communications infrastructure REIT delivered second-quarter results that topped expectations and raised its full-year outlook for the second time this year. The company, which owns and operates over 148,000 communications sites and U.S. data center facilities, is riding a wave of demand from AI, 5G, and cloud computing.

For the quarter, American Tower reported adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) of $2.71 per share, beating the analyst consensus of $2.60 and up from $2.60 a year ago. Revenue rose 4.7% year over year to $2.75 billion, also exceeding the $2.70 billion analysts had expected. The company posted an adjusted EBITDA margin of 65.8%, while operating income increased to $1.269 billion from $1.198 billion in the same period last year.

As of June 30, American Tower had total liquidity of about $9.9 billion, including roughly $1.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents and about $8.2 billion available under its revolving credit facilities, net of outstanding letters of credit.

Regional Performance

Breaking down the numbers by region, the U.S. and Canada segment generated $1.27 billion in revenue with an operating profit margin of 79%. Latin America contributed $442 million in revenue at a 65% operating margin, while Africa and Asia-Pacific reported $415 million in revenue with a 59% margin. Europe rounded out the portfolio with $259 million in revenue and a 57% operating margin.

Tower and Data Center Demand Fuel Optimism

CEO Steven Vondran attributed the strong quarter to robust global tower leasing activity, record leasing at the company's CoreSite data center business, and disciplined operations. "Strong global tower leasing activity, record leasing at CoreSite and disciplined operations enabled the company to raise its full-year guidance again," Vondran said.

He noted that American Tower expects about 4% organic tenant billings growth across its global tower portfolio, excluding one-time impacts from DISH, and raised its data center revenue growth outlook to about 15%. Looking further ahead, Vondran pointed to long-term demand drivers including 5G network densification, new spectrum deployments, the eventual transition to 6G, and growing AI-related wireless traffic. "AI-powered devices, autonomous systems, robotics and edge computing applications are expected to increase network capacity requirements and support infrastructure investment," he added.

CoreSite, in particular, continues to be a standout. Vondran said the business delivered another record leasing quarter, fueled by demand from hyperscale cloud providers, enterprises, network operators, and AI companies. He highlighted that nine of the top 10 AI companies and three of the top five neocloud providers operate within CoreSite facilities.

CFO Rod Smith added that the improved outlook reflects continued tower growth, stronger-than-expected data center performance, expense benefits, and favorable foreign exchange. On capital allocation, Vondran said the company's priorities remain investments in domestic and developed-market towers and data centers. Smith noted that American Tower continues to prioritize dividends, internal investments, acquisitions, share repurchases, and debt reduction while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

2026 Outlook Raised Again

American Tower raised its full-year 2026 AFFO guidance to $11.00-$11.17 per share, up from its prior forecast of $10.90-$11.07. The updated range sits well above the analyst consensus estimate of $10.77. The company also expects property revenue of $10.695 billion to $10.845 billion for the year, net income of $3.27 billion to $3.35 billion, and adjusted EBITDA of $7.24 billion to $7.31 billion. Capital expenditures are projected to be between $1.805 billion and $1.915 billion.

Investors cheered the news, sending American Tower shares up 4.64% to $174.47 at the time of publication on Tuesday.