American Tower Corp at UBS Global Media & Communications Conference Transcript

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

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : That's great. And maybe we start with the US business. So the majority of your business and a lot of questions on the predictability of the growth rate in the US. You have guided to about 5% through '27. Maybe if you could talk about that. As we think about the last tranche of T-Mobile churn coming out, can we now start to see an inflection in US organic growth through this period?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : Right. And maybe just to follow up on that, if you could remind us when you guide in February for '25, what will be -- what will your approach to FX inclusion be?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : So I guess if you were guiding today, that mid-$10, let's say, $10.50, is I think where most are shaping up would be about $0.10 too high based on FX?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : Okay. I'm going to dig in on all of those in a bit. But let's go back to the US. The carrier that fell off the comprehensive deal, we think, still has a lot to do in order to deploy 5G. Maybe around 40% of its towers have been deployed. So to the extent that they're active, do you see that as incrementally better than signing them under an MLA or it doesn't matter?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : But to the extent that, let's say, you sign a holistic deal with that carrier in the beginning of the year, I know there would be a straight-line adjustment which doesn't impact the AFFO. But could we see an uptick to 40 of AFFO if you sign a new comprehensive with them?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : Okay. And maybe just going back to one of the carriers who is still under a holistic agreement and potentially dropping off, I think, beginning of '26, almost 80% of the towers have been upgraded for 5G. Are you seeing a bit of more densification efforts from that carrier?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : And I guess that's especially true if there's -- if we don't have new spectrum coming up available in the pipeline. I mean, that could change. The new administration probably will push for spectrum policy sooner than later. But how do you think about kind of the next couple of years in terms of that? With the lack of more spectrum becoming available, will we see an acceleration in densification? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 10, 2024 / 5:45PM, AMT.N - American Tower Corp at UBS Global Media & Communications Conference

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : Okay. And in terms of the -- maybe just activity from DISH. It looks like potentially, they have a little bit more runway in terms of the network build. Are you seeing any change in the activity from them?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : Okay. Network services business has been pretty strong last year, and that's -- I think you work with all the carriers, and that's a good precursor for more activities to come. As you go through that business, can you -- backlog, can you maybe give us a sense on if that could stay as strong into '25? And also within that, do you have a sense if the carriers are deploying capacity to support fixed wireless?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : So US is still a very healthy growth market. And you rarely get opportunity for new portfolios to exchange hands. And we saw maybe Shentel selling towers and then Verizon selling towers to Vertical Bridge. Can you talk about -- and you own -- you purchased quite a bit of towers from Verizon in the past, your decision-making process on maybe not to look at these or not to purchase these portfolios?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : Got it. Maybe let's shift gears towards CoreSite. Three years since you purchased that asset, it has been, I think, performing better than what you underwrote the growth for. Can you talk a little bit about if we can see that growth repeat into '25 and what kind of visibility you have? And maybe tie it in terms of your decision to spend a bit more on development CapEx to drive that growth.

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : Maybe you bought the asset for different reasons that -- do you still -- that's still an opportunity also in the future to play out in terms of edge compute and converting some of your hubs into that facility?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : We're out of time but I want to squeeze in just one more. With everything you've said, discretionary CapEx potentially is coming down. You're spending more on data centers but build-to-suit towers potentially coming down, and Africa, India is out. You're almost inside your leverage target of five. And M&A, you will continue to look at opportunities but can we -- and dividend growth should resume in '25. Can we expect you potentially start a buyback also in '25?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS - Analyst : That's a great place to end it. Thank you so much.