What to Expect From American Tower's Q3 2026 Earnings Report

Boston, Massachusetts-based American Tower Corporation (AMT)is a leading independent REIT that owns, operates, and develops multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of nearly 149,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities. With a market cap of $76.8 billion, the company leases antennae sites on multi-tenant towers for a diverse range of wireless communications industries, including personal communications services, paging, and cellular. The leading REIT is expected to announce its fiscal third-quarter earnings for 2026 before the market opens on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Ahead of the event, analysts expect American Tower to report an FFO of $2.78 per share on a diluted basis, unchanged from the year-ago quarter. The company has consistently surpassed Wall Street’s FFO estimates in its last four quarterly reports.

For the full year, analysts expect American Tower to report FFO of $10.80 per share, up marginally from $10.76 in fiscal 2025. Its FFO is expected to rise 5.6% year over year to $11.40 per share in fiscal 2027. 

AMT stock has underperformed the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 16.2% gains over the past 52 weeks, with shares down 11.1% during this period. Similarly, it underperformed the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF’s (XLRE) 2.3% losses over the same time frame.

AMT's underperformance has been primarily driven by persistent pressure from elevated interest rates, which raised refinancing costs and weighed heavily on dividend-paying real estate trusts across the sector. Its growth has further decelerated as major wireless carriers slowed their capital expenditure following initial 5G network rollouts, alongside ongoing customer churn from carrier consolidation and network restructuring. 

On Jul. 28, AMT shares closed up by 2.9% after reporting its Q2 results. Its FFO of $2.71 per share met Wall Street expectations. The company’s revenue was $2.8 billion, beating Wall Street forecasts of $2.7 billion. AMT expects full-year FFO in the range of $11 to $11.17 per share.

Analysts’ consensus opinion on AMT stock is bullish, with a “Strong Buy” rating overall. Out of 24 analysts covering the stock, 19 advise a “Strong Buy” rating, two suggest a “Moderate Buy,” and three give a “Hold.” AMT’s average analyst price target is $214.04, indicating a potential upside of 28.8% from the current levels.