American Tower Raises Full-Year 2025 Outlook on Solid Q3 Results
American Tower (NYSE: AMT) is on a roll. The company reported positive 3Q25 results across the board, pointing out its wireless carrier tenants are continuing with new mid-band spectrum deployments to meet growing mobile data demand. Moreover, American Tower expects new opportunities for the tower business in the coming years with upcoming spectrum auctions that will drive further network expansion and densification.
Total 3Q25 property revenue of $2.6 billion was up six percent year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA of $1.8 billion grew nearly eight percent YoY while AFFO increased by five percent YoY to $1.3 billion. The company’s CoreSite data center property revenue grew over 14 percent YoY to $267 million on new retail leasing and pricing growth.
Organic tenant billings grew five percent, in line with expectations, driven by demand across American Tower’s global portfolio. The U.S. & Canada region grew approximately four percent organically and greater than five percent when excluding Sprint churn. Rod Smith, American Tower EVP, CFO & Treasurer, during the company’s earnings call, confirmed that 3Q25 was the final quarter of Sprint churn.
Organic growth in International markets was nearly seven percent, comprising double-digit growth in Africa and APAC, steady mid-single-digit growth in Europe and low single-digit growth in Latin America.
American Tower ended the quarter with a global portfolio of 148,371 towers, up from 147,299 at the end of 3Q24. That increase was the net result of 2,271 new tower builds, primarily in Europe and Africa, and 293 towers acquired mainly in the company’s U.S. & Canada and Europe regions. The company tells Inside Towers that the sale or decommissioning of 1,492 towers, predominantly in Latin America, is part of American Tower’s operational efficiency initiatives where it sees lower near-term growth at “cold steel sites” and is decommissioning as appropriate.
Note that the U.S. & Canada region accounted for 41,821 towers or 28 percent of the total tower portfolio but contributed $1.3 billion or 50 percent of total property revenues in 3Q25.
The company expects to incur $1.5 billion of capex in discretionary projects to build approximately 2,150 new towers globally in 2025. Importantly, American Tower expects roughly 80 percent of its 2025 discretionary capex to be applied in developed markets, mainly U.S. & Canada and Europe, consistent with the company’s current capital allocation philosophy.
American Tower said it will also spend $600 million in capex on its CoreSite data centers. Smith highlighted that CoreSite has about 296 MW of power available and being held for future development, and currently has about 42 MW under construction.
Based on the positive results through Q3, Smith advised that American Tower was raising guidance across all of its key consolidated financial metrics, with property revenue to increase by approximately three percent YoY. “We are reiterating organic growth assumptions across all regions and continue to expect organic tenant billings growth of approximately five percent and data center growth of approximately 13 percent year-over-year,” Smith said.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
