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What's in Store for American Tower (AMT) This Earnings Season?
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American Tower Corporation (AMT - Free Report) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results before the opening bell on Feb 24. The company’s results are likely to highlight year-over-year growth in revenues and funds from operations (FFO) per share.
In the last quarter, the operator of wireless communication towers surpassed adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share estimates by 6.87%. The results reflected an improvement in revenues across all property segments.
Over the preceding four quarters, American Tower topped the FFO per share estimate on three occasions and missed the same on the other, the average beat being 3.96%.
Let’s see how things have shaped up before this announcement.
Factors to Note
During the fourth quarter, AMT is likely to have benefited from secular growth trends in the wireless industry. As the data volume for wireless and wired networks has been growing rapidly amid the widespread adoption of smartphones and applications, network carriers continue to spend on network deployments in a bid to harness spectrum abilities as well as improve and densify their cell sites and coverage.
As for American Tower, the company’s unmatched geographically diversified portfolio of distributed sites has been attracting businesses from carriers that are seeking network expansion and densification amid the growing mobile data scenario.
The company has been ramping up its investments in the international market and fortifying the global footprint through acquisitions and developments. In December, American Tower announced the completion of the acquisition of CoreSite Realty Corporation. The expansion efforts have helped AMT scale its presence and are anticipated to have aided during the soon-to-be-reported quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for operating revenues from the property segment is pegged at $2.35 billion, indicating growth from $2.12 billion in the prior-year quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for operating revenues from the service segment is pegged at $58 million, indicating a decline from $85 million in the prior quarter but a rise from $23 million in the year-ago period.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2021 revenues is pegged at $2.42 billion, indicating a rise of 13.8% from the year-earlier period.
American Tower’s financial position and liquidity are expected to have been strong during the quarter under review.
However, before the fourth-quarter earnings release, American Tower’s activities were inadequate to gain analysts’ confidence. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly FFO per share has been revised marginally downward to $2.19 over the past month. However, it suggests a year-over-year increase of 5.8%.
Tower operations in emerging markets are not as profitable as those in the mature U.S. markets. Operating profit margins from international businesses might have been less compared with the U.S. segment.
Moreover, the elevated churn in certain markets, where the company operates, is expected to have been a deterrent. Management expected the first and largest tranche of contractual Sprint churn to hit its run rate in the fourth quarter.
For full-year 2021, American Tower anticipated total property revenues in the range of $9,035-$9,105 million, suggesting a year-over-year improvement of 14% at the midpoint. Adjusted EBITDA is projected in the range of $5,930-$5,990 million, indicating a midpoint increase of 15.6% from the prior year. Consolidated AFFO is expected in the range of $4,335-$4,395 million, calling for a year-over-year midpoint expansion of 15.2%.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FFO per share has moved a cent up to $9.50 over the past month. Also, the figure indicates a 12.6% increase year over year on revenues of $9.32 billion.
Here Is What Our Quantitative Model Predicts
Our proven model does not conclusively predict a surprise in terms of FFO per share for AMT this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an FFO beat. However, that is not the case here.
American Tower currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and has an Earnings ESP of +4.87%.
You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell, before they’re reported, with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Upcoming Releases
It’s time to look forward to the earnings releases of REITs, including Iron Mountain Incorporated (IRM - Free Report) , Extra Space Storage Inc. (EXR - Free Report) and SBA Communications Corporation (SBAC - Free Report) .
Iron Mountain is scheduled to report its numbers on Feb 24 and Extra Space Storage on Feb 23. SBA Communications is slated to release fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 28.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Iron Mountain’s fourth-quarter 2021 FFO per share is pegged at 71 cents, suggesting a year-over-year increase of 7.6%. IRM currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Extra Space Storage’s fourth-quarter 2021 FFO per share stands at $1.86, indicating a year-over-year increase of 25.7%. EXR currently has a Zacks Rank of 3.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SBA Communications’ fourth-quarter 2021 FFO per share is pegged at $2.80, implying a year-over-year increase of 12.45%. SBAC currently carries a Zacks Rank of 4.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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What's in Store for American Tower (AMT) This Earnings Season?
American Tower Corporation (AMT - Free Report) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results before the opening bell on Feb 24. The company’s results are likely to highlight year-over-year growth in revenues and funds from operations (FFO) per share.
In the last quarter, the operator of wireless communication towers surpassed adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share estimates by 6.87%. The results reflected an improvement in revenues across all property segments.
Over the preceding four quarters, American Tower topped the FFO per share estimate on three occasions and missed the same on the other, the average beat being 3.96%.
American Tower Corporation Price and EPS Surprise
American Tower Corporation price-eps-surprise | American Tower Corporation Quote
Let’s see how things have shaped up before this announcement.
Factors to Note
During the fourth quarter, AMT is likely to have benefited from secular growth trends in the wireless industry. As the data volume for wireless and wired networks has been growing rapidly amid the widespread adoption of smartphones and applications, network carriers continue to spend on network deployments in a bid to harness spectrum abilities as well as improve and densify their cell sites and coverage.
As for American Tower, the company’s unmatched geographically diversified portfolio of distributed sites has been attracting businesses from carriers that are seeking network expansion and densification amid the growing mobile data scenario.
The company has been ramping up its investments in the international market and fortifying the global footprint through acquisitions and developments. In December, American Tower announced the completion of the acquisition of CoreSite Realty Corporation. The expansion efforts have helped AMT scale its presence and are anticipated to have aided during the soon-to-be-reported quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for operating revenues from the property segment is pegged at $2.35 billion, indicating growth from $2.12 billion in the prior-year quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for operating revenues from the service segment is pegged at $58 million, indicating a decline from $85 million in the prior quarter but a rise from $23 million in the year-ago period.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2021 revenues is pegged at $2.42 billion, indicating a rise of 13.8% from the year-earlier period.
American Tower’s financial position and liquidity are expected to have been strong during the quarter under review.
However, before the fourth-quarter earnings release, American Tower’s activities were inadequate to gain analysts’ confidence. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly FFO per share has been revised marginally downward to $2.19 over the past month. However, it suggests a year-over-year increase of 5.8%.
Tower operations in emerging markets are not as profitable as those in the mature U.S. markets. Operating profit margins from international businesses might have been less compared with the U.S. segment.
Moreover, the elevated churn in certain markets, where the company operates, is expected to have been a deterrent. Management expected the first and largest tranche of contractual Sprint churn to hit its run rate in the fourth quarter.
For full-year 2021, American Tower anticipated total property revenues in the range of $9,035-$9,105 million, suggesting a year-over-year improvement of 14% at the midpoint. Adjusted EBITDA is projected in the range of $5,930-$5,990 million, indicating a midpoint increase of 15.6% from the prior year. Consolidated AFFO is expected in the range of $4,335-$4,395 million, calling for a year-over-year midpoint expansion of 15.2%.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FFO per share has moved a cent up to $9.50 over the past month. Also, the figure indicates a 12.6% increase year over year on revenues of $9.32 billion.
Here Is What Our Quantitative Model Predicts
Our proven model does not conclusively predict a surprise in terms of FFO per share for AMT this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an FFO beat. However, that is not the case here.
American Tower currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and has an Earnings ESP of +4.87%.
You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell, before they’re reported, with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Upcoming Releases
It’s time to look forward to the earnings releases of REITs, including Iron Mountain Incorporated (IRM - Free Report) , Extra Space Storage Inc. (EXR - Free Report) and SBA Communications Corporation (SBAC - Free Report) .
Iron Mountain is scheduled to report its numbers on Feb 24 and Extra Space Storage on Feb 23. SBA Communications is slated to release fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 28.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Iron Mountain’s fourth-quarter 2021 FFO per share is pegged at 71 cents, suggesting a year-over-year increase of 7.6%. IRM currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Extra Space Storage’s fourth-quarter 2021 FFO per share stands at $1.86, indicating a year-over-year increase of 25.7%. EXR currently has a Zacks Rank of 3.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SBA Communications’ fourth-quarter 2021 FFO per share is pegged at $2.80, implying a year-over-year increase of 12.45%. SBAC currently carries a Zacks Rank of 4.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.