American Tower Logs Lower 4Q Profit, Despite Higher Revenue

By Connor Hart

American Tower said profit fell in the fourth quarter, despite an uptick in revenue, as higher operating expenses offset continued demand for its properties.

The Boston-based owner of cellphone towers and data centers on Tuesday posted a profit of $836.8 million, or $1.75 a share. That compares with a profit of $1.23 billion, or $2.62 a share, a year earlier.

Adjusted funds from operations, a key metric for real-estate investment trusts, came in at $2.63 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $2.53 a share.

Revenue rose 7.5% to $2.74 billion, topping Wall Street models for $2.69 billion.

Total operating expenses were up 7.4%, to $1.58 billion.

Chief Executive Steven Vondran said leasing demand across the company's tower portfolio and data-center business remains robust, supported by continued growth in mobile data consumption, continued 5G deployment, and increasing hybrid-cloud and AI-related workloads.

"Alongside these demand trends, we've taken meaningful actions to streamline our global operations, enhance the quality and durability of our earnings, and improve financial flexibility," he added.

Looking ahead, American Tower guided for net income of $2.95 billion to $3.03 billion in 2026. Adjusted funds from operations are projected to come in between $10.78 and $10.95 a share, while total property revenue is expected to be between $10.44 billion and $10.59 billion.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2026 07:42 ET (12:42 GMT)