American Tower Stock (AMT): Dividend vs AFFO, Debt and Tenants

The dividend against four yardsticks

American Tower reports three profit measures a holder can put next to the dividend. Net income is cut by depreciation and by currency swings (a $484.0 million unrealized foreign-exchange loss in Q2 2025 became a $42.1 million gain in Q2 2026), so it is the weakest test of a REIT payout. Nareit FFO adds back real estate depreciation. AFFO, the company's own measure, also removes straight-line rent and deducts capital improvements and the share that belongs to outside partners. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditures.

Three readings.

The Nareit FFO payout fell from 76.4% in 2025 to about 66% in 2026. The 2025 figure is distorted by $809.4 million of foreign currency losses that reduced FFO to $4,161 million, down 20.5%; the 2026 FFO of $1,279 million in Q1 and $1,249.3 million in Q2 is more normal. That is why we show AFFO first and FFO second.

AFFO coverage is steady but the cushion is not growing. The payout was 63.0% in Q1 and 66.1% in Q2 2026, and the first-half total was $1,668.0 million declared against $2,588.1 million of AFFO, 64.4% (our arithmetic). The dividend grew 5.3% from Q1 2025 while the 2026 AFFO outlook midpoint is 3.0% above 2025, so the payout ratio is drifting up, not down.

On cash flow the payout is higher than the AFFO ratio suggests. First-half free cash flow was $2,099 million (our arithmetic: $941 million in Q1 plus $1,158 million in Q2). Common distributions paid were $1,641.3 million, 78.2% of it. Add $94.0 million paid to noncontrolling interest holders and $202.9 million of buybacks and $160.8 million is left, against $133.2 million spent on acquisitions (our arithmetic). Debt was flat: $37,189.6 million at June 30 against $37,220.3 million at December 31, 2025.

The 10-K also reports a five-year cumulative total return, dividends reinvested, of $90.61 for each $100 invested at December 31, 2020, against $126.71 for the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index and $196.16 for the S&P 500. For tax, the 10-Q says American Tower has distributed about $25.4 billion in all, including the dividend paid in July 2026, “primarily classified as ordinary income that may be treated as qualified REIT dividends under Section 199A of the Code,” which is covered in our Section 199A page and return of capital page.

Why the guidance went up three times, and why that is mostly currency

American Tower has raised its 2026 AFFO outlook twice since February. Its own releases give the reason in dollars per share.

The July release names the rest: “Data Center outperformance and one-time expense benefits.” That is $0.03 of the $0.09. Currency is not a free gift either way: the outlook assumes average rates for July 28 through December 31 (for example 0.86 euros and 5.15 Brazilian reais to the dollar), and the 10-Q says 33% of first-half revenue and 42% of operating expenses were in foreign currencies.

The outlook's own bridge also shows what stands between AFFO and a share: $435 million deducted for “adjustments and dividends for non-controlling interests” on $5,610 million of AFFO before that deduction, 7.8% or about $0.93 a share (our arithmetic). That deduction includes the distributions to Stonepeak, the next section.

How much of CoreSite does an AMT shareholder own?

Our data center REIT comparison puts American Tower's Data Centers segment at about 11% of 2026 property revenue. The filings confirm that: $297.1 million of $2,749.1 million of total revenue in Q2 2026 is 10.8%, and $1,053.1 million of $10,644.6 million in 2025 is 9.9% (our arithmetic). What that page does not say is who owns it and how it earns.

• The data centers earn less per revenue dollar than towers. The segment operating margin is 53% against 69% for all property, and after depreciation the segment keeps $30.9 million of $183.3 million. It is growing: revenue was up 13.4% in Q2, the full-year outlook is $1,200 to $1,220 million (raised from $1,175 to $1,195 million in February), and the CEO cited “record leasing activity at CoreSite.” The 2026 capital outlook includes $695 million of data center development, 37.4% of the $1,860 million midpoint (our arithmetic). The company ran 30 operating data center facilities in eleven U.S. markets at December 31, 2025.
• Stonepeak owns part of it. In 2022 Stonepeak bought a noncontrolling interest. At June 30, 2026 American Tower held about 71% of the common equity, Stonepeak about 29% and 100% of the mandatorily convertible preferred equity, which accrues dividends at 5.0% and converts one for one on a date the 10-Q says is “expected to occur in August 2026.” After conversion American Tower would hold about 64% and Stonepeak about 36%. Stonepeak preferred distributions declared were $22.8 million and common dividends $36.4 million in the half. The Q3 10-Q should be the first to show whether it converted.
• So 10.8% of revenue is not 10.8% of what an AMT share owns. Data Centers revenue is reported at 100%; the AFFO line deducts the outside share.

Tenants: three carriers, one bankrupt customer and a lease dispute in Mexico

• Churn went from about 2% to about 5%. The 10-K says churn was about 2% of tenant billings in 2025; the Q2 10-Q says about 5% for the first six months of 2026, “primarily driven by churn due to one of our U.S. customers,” DISH. The 10-Q adds: “Beginning on January 1, 2026, 100% of DISH revenue will be reflected in churn.” In the Q2 release, cancellations of tenant billings were $92 million against $44 million in Q2 2025, and $63 million against $29 million in the U.S. and Canada.
• DISH is about 2% of property revenue and a creditor in a bankruptcy. The 10-Q says DISH represented “approximately 2% and 4%” of 2025 total and U.S. and Canada property revenue, filed chapter 11 petitions on June 30, 2026, and that American Tower terminated the collocation agreement effective June 2, 2026, is suing DISH and added its parent EchoStar as a defendant on June 15. It recorded $17.5 million of DISH impairment charges in the half. What a bankruptcy court allows American Tower to collect is not in any filing yet.
• U.S. growth is flat and guided down. Organic tenant billings growth in the U.S. and Canada was 0.7% in Q2 2026 and is guided at about 0.5% for the year; U.S. and Canada property revenue was $1,274.4 million in Q2 against $1,307.1 million a year earlier, with guidance of minus 3.0% for the year, which includes an estimated negative effect of over 3% from straight-line accounting. The 10-K reports over $54 billion of non-cancellable tenant lease revenue and an average U.S. escalator of about 3%.
• AT&T Mexico is a separate dispute. The customer, “approximately $300 million of tenant revenue in 2025,” is challenging the monthly lease amount and had withheld rents since the start of 2025; American Tower reserved about $30 million in 2025 and about $20 million in the first half of 2026, expects more reserves until the arbitration is settled, and says the hearing was scheduled for August 2026. We found no filing since then reporting an outcome.
• The land is leased too. About 80% of the 148,824 towers at December 31, 2025 sit on land American Tower leases, and 56% of those ground leases have a final expiration date of 2035 or later.

Debt: about 2.5% coupons meet about 5.5% coupons

At June 30, 2026 total debt was $37,189.6 million, of which $5,226.5 million (14.1%, our arithmetic) was classified as current. Net debt to annualized Q2 Adjusted EBITDA was 4.9 times, and liquidity $9.9 billion. The table lists the maturities in the 10-Q's note 6 at carrying value, with the securitizations at their anticipated repayment dates.

The coupon gap is the 2027 earnings question. The 10-K showed fixed-rate maturities of $3,386.2 million in 2026 at 2.57% and $4,724.9 million in 2027 at 2.52%. On September 9, 2026 the company priced $500 million of 5.300% notes due 2031, $500 million of 5.560% due 2033 and $600 million of 5.750% due 2036, net proceeds $1,579.9 million, to repay the $600.0 million 1.450% notes due in 2026, revolver debt and for general purposes. In May it issued €750 million of 4.000% notes due 2033 and redeemed €250 million of the 4.125% notes due 2027.

It is an illustration: the euro notes would be replaced by euro debt, some maturities will be paid from cash and revolvers at floating rates, and the company can also lower interest cost through asset sales. But it explains why interest expense is rising while debt is flat: $701.8 million in the first half against $667.9 million (up 5.1%, our arithmetic), and cash paid for interest $789.4 million against $684.2 million. Variable-rate debt was $2.78 billion, 7.5% of the total (our arithmetic); a 10% rise in rates would add $6.2 million of interest over six months.

Two covenant points from the 8-Ks. On May 7 the revolver and term loan amendments extended maturities (to May 1, 2029 and May 1, 2031, from January 2028), allowed up to $5.0 billion of borrowing for acquisitions on limited conditions, and allowed liens up to 3.5 times Senior Secured Debt to Adjusted EBITDA. The September notes carry the same 3.5 times lien cap. Euro debt of €7.5 billion (about $8.6 billion) is also a currency exposure: €4.7 billion is designated as a net investment hedge, and the 10-Q says a 10% adverse move on the rest would cost about $0.4 billion.

International: where the other 41.5% comes from

International growth is what offsets the U.S. In Q2 2026 Africa and APAC revenue grew 23.5%, Europe 11.5% and Latin America 13.4% against minus 2.5% in the U.S. and Canada (revenue growth as the release reports it, including pass-through and currency). Some of it is fuel and power cost passed through to tenants: international pass-through revenue was $285 million in the quarter. The company also left two small markets: it sold its Philippines subsidiary for $75.6 million on June 15 and its Bangladesh interest for $6.9 million on June 29, 2026, together less than 1% of property revenue in 2025. In Latin America the 10-Q lists churn in excess of escalations “primarily related to customer cancellations in Brazil,” $13.5 million in Q2.

What to watch before the Q3 10-Q

As of October 16, 2026, the 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 is not filed. The Q2 10-Q was filed July 28 and the Q1 10-Q April 28, 2026; the Q3 10-Q for 2025 was filed October 28, 2025, so a filing in the last days of October is likely (our inference, not an announced date).

What a holder or reader can do with this

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice. What the filings let you check yourself:

• Use the payout that fits the question. 66.1% of AFFO and 66.8% of FFO say the dividend is covered by operations; 78.2% of free cash flow says there is less left over for debt reduction and buybacks than the AFFO ratio implies.
• Watch the refinancing, not only the dividend. About $168 million a year of extra interest on the next $5.97 billion is a larger number than the $0.09 of organic raise in July; the Q3 and Q4 releases will show how much of it the company has already locked in.
• Read AFFO per share with the deductions. Of the 2026 AFFO outlook, $435 million belongs to outside holders, and part of the data center revenue is Stonepeak's.
• Check for double exposure. If you own a REIT index fund, American Tower is already in it; our REIT ETF holdings page shows how large. If you also hold a non-traded fund, non-traded vs publicly traded REITs explains the different exits. Listed peers on our site: Prologis, Realty Income and Public Storage.
• Know the dated items above. The Q3 10-Q will replace every figure here that is labeled June 30, 2026.

If a large part of your portfolio sits in one REIT with this much customer and currency exposure, a conversation with a qualified adviser about position size and how it fits the rest of your holdings may be worth having.

FAQ

All figures are from American Tower Corporation (SEC CIK 1053507) filings read on EDGAR on October 16, 2026: Form 10-K for 2025 (accession 0001053507-26-000035); Forms 10-Q for March 31, 2026 (0001053507-26-000099) and June 30, 2026 (0001053507-26-000133, filed July 28, 2026); the Form 8-K earnings releases for Q4 2025 (0001053507-26-000032), Q1 2026 (0001053507-26-000094) and Q2 2026 (0001053507-26-000131); Forms 8-K of January 28 (0001053507-26-000026), March 5 (0001053507-26-000041), May 7 (0001053507-26-000108), May 19 (0001053507-26-000111), May 27 (0001193125-26-240535), June 2 (0001053507-26-000123), June 4 (0001053507-26-000127), September 9 (0001053507-26-000141), September 14 (0001193125-26-390605) and September 18, 2026 (0001053507-26-000145). Ratios marked “our arithmetic” are ours; the refinancing illustration is not company guidance. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.