American Tower Corp at Citi TMT Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : So maybe to get us started, we'll start maybe high level and get into some of the particulars of the regional segments. But maybe just provide us with an update on American Tower's strategy to enhance financial performance and improve value for shareholders.

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : And so maybe drilling down just on some of that for a moment. You mentioned this transition, increasing mix towards the developed markets with the investments. You've also in the past talked about optimization of the portfolio. Are you through all of that optimization? Or is there more to go?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : And just going back for a moment. So this customer that you've entered arbitration with, you mentioned $300 million of annual rent, what's the range of outcomes that investors should keep in mind from that process?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : And the details are very helpful. Maybe moving to the domestic business, the domestic tower business. So when we look at your leasing activity, you seem to be -- American Tower seems to be generating better activity and organic tenant billings growth than some of your competitors when you pull out that merger churn. And you mentioned earlier that you're able to extract a premium for the services that you provide. Are there other factors that go behind what's driving your relative success in the US market?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : What are you seeing in terms of leasing activity? Is it still improving quarter-over-quarter? And do you have some updates just in terms of what you're seeing out of the environment?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : So with the news last week, can you help us understand the implications of EchoStar selling spectrum to AT&T and how this is going to influence the forward pace of organic leasing growth for American Tower?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : So we've been getting a bunch of questions, as you may imagine, across the implications. And so One of the questions that we're getting, maybe just to think about the durability of the lease itself. So if EchoStar were to decommission the network, you mentioned you have a comprehensive through '27, but the contract actually goes for longer, right?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : So it's a 15-year deal. What's the durability of a customer who may be decommissioning the network, paying out what's owed on the contract versus the risk that they find a way not to pay the contract?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : And in terms of just thinking conceptually, so one of the interesting things about the sale is AT&T is buying 600 megahertz spectrum, which they currently don't have in their network. Is this an incremental amendment opportunity for American Tower above and beyond what they're doing with the mid-band right now? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 03, 2025 / 2:10PM, AMT.N - American Tower Corp at Citi TMT Conference

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : So one other question on this, and this is maybe a hard one because it's kind of in the realm of scenario analysis. But with AT&T potentially getting more spectrum with this transaction and the possibility that other carriers get some spectrum as well that could be plug and play. So like maybe more mid-band, maybe more AWS 3. I guess maybe just a quick clarification is if those things happen, those are kind of like plug and play where those are not amendment. If the carrier has that spectrum deployed and they're getting more of it, is that right?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : Because this has been, I think, one of the concerns is that if there's more spectrum that the carriers have, they densify less? Like, for example, if they're getting maybe on the downlink, 20% to 30% more spectrum, let's just take that as a percentage and network traffic is growing. You mentioned earlier like 15%, 20%, that's at least a year of extra capacity that they can use with spectrum versus other sources. So in the past, when you've seen these kinds of things happen, at least for short term or midterm period of time, does it reduce -- like is it going to affect the trajectory that you're on right now for densification just for a period of time and then you get to the other side of this and it's back to that longer-term path?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : On the second quarter earnings call, American Tower noted that $5 million of leasing revenue got shifted, right, from '25 to '26. What caused that? And does this transaction do you think had anything to do with it?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : So zooming out on the domestic business, how do you see organic growth pacing over the next few years? You have your multiyear guide out there, how do you see the growth rate from here?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : Maybe while we're just starting that to traverse around the world. So LatAm, Africa data centers, maybe just a sense of how you see growth in those businesses as well. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 03, 2025 / 2:10PM, AMT.N - American Tower Corp at Citi TMT Conference

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : Coming back to some of the priorities you talked about at the beginning of our conversation, you talked about the goal to grow revenue faster than expense. And you also have talked in the past about the efficiency initiatives that you've been pursuing. Is there anything more you can share with us in terms of how that's progressing to identify maybe a step function change in the cost structure?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : When you look across your global portfolio, what region product is the most underappreciated in terms of the growth contribution to American Tower that could actually deliver some upside to how you think about multiyear growth.

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : And then so maybe boiling that down to AFFO per share growth, what's the current goal for the multiyear annual AFFO per share growth, recognizing that there's a few things that you're dealing with right now. You've got some merger churn, you've got interest rates, you've got FX. But when you sort of cut through and normalize, help us appreciate what that trajectory looks like.

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : And so that, a, just to clarify, was that -- remind me because I remember the slide, but was that inclusive of the merger churn? Or is that exclusive of that?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : Because I guess the question is, do you see that like the organic, the underlying strengthening based on your multiyear outlook. Because you've got getting through the merger churn, you talked about activity getting better in the US, you talked about Europe, LatAm is going to get through its issues over the next couple of years.

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : You mentioned the balance sheet also and using your balance sheet. What's been interesting is, I think your competitors have talked about the opportunity to be IG-rated at 6 times plus EBITDA in terms of a leverage multiple. Your target is still trying to be below 5 times at the high end, which you're kind of right there at the moment, if I recall correctly. You're right near there. So what's the opportunity to potentially revisit your target leverage over the next few years and maybe use that as an opportunity to enhance shareholder returns?

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : And then in terms of using your financial flexibility, how do you think about the priority stack right now of capital allocation, where buybacks might fit into that equation as well as if there's any M&A that you feel like could be opportunistic for the company.

Question: Michael Rollins - Citi - Analyst : We talked about a range of topics today. Is there anything that we didn't talk about or anything that you want to revisit just to leave our clients with today?