American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) has made a habit of raising expectations this year. On Tuesday, the tower REIT did it again, reporting third-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates on both earnings and revenue and lifting the midpoint of its 2026 outlook for property revenue and adjusted funds from operations per share.

The headline numbers: AFFO came in at $2.87 per share, comfortably above the analyst consensus of $2.68 and up from $2.78 a year earlier. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $1.64, down from $1.82 in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 2.5% to $2.785 billion from $2.717 billion, beating the $2.761 billion consensus.

Revised 2026 Guidance

American Tower narrowed its full-year AFFO per-share guidance to $11.04 to $11.16, up from $11 to $11.17. Analysts had expected $10.85 per share. The company attributed the 2-cent increase in the midpoint primarily to capital allocation decisions.

It also raised the midpoint of its property revenue outlook by $55 million, citing performance in its data centers segment, while leaving its adjusted EBITDA midpoint unchanged. On the other side of the ledger, the company lowered the midpoint of its net income outlook by $30 million, primarily due to unrealized losses on equity securities.

Cash Flow and Balance Sheet

AFFO attributable to common stockholders, a cash-based earnings measure, rose 2.4% to $1.335 billion. The company reported $1.872 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and its net leverage ratio, calculated as net debt divided by annualized adjusted EBITDA, stood at 4.9 times.

Third-Quarter Operating Results

Total property revenue rose 4.5% to $2.734 billion, driven by 1.1% organic tenant billings growth and a 16.3% increase in cash revenue from its data centers segment. Adjusted EBITDA, a profitability measure that excludes certain expenses, rose 0.9% to $1.832 billion.

Net income fell 14.4% to $781 million, while net income attributable to common stockholders declined 10.3% to $766 million. The company said unrealized losses on equity investments of approximately $71.5 million, compared with gains of about $10.9 million a year earlier, weighed on the year-over-year net income comparison.

Stock Repurchase Expansion

American Tower repurchased approximately $315 million of its shares during the quarter and an additional $68 million through Oct. 20. On Oct. 23, the company's board authorized up to $2 billion in additional share repurchases, supplementing approximately $1.1 billion remaining under its existing program.

The company also declared a quarterly distribution of $1.79 per share, up 5.3% from a year earlier. And it expects to complete the sale of its Canadian subsidiaries for approximately $202 million in the fourth quarter.

Management Commentary

"We delivered another solid quarter, supported by consistent leasing demand across our global tower portfolio and continued outperformance from CoreSite," CEO Steve Vondran said in the earnings release.

Vondran noted that the company has raised its full-year outlook three times in 2026.

AMT Price Action: American Tower shares were down 1.69% at $185.10 during premarket trading on Tuesday.