American Tower Corp. last week reported double-digit increases in revenue and earnings, although the latter fell short of expectations.
The tower giant’s fourth quarter financial results showed total revenue of $1.705 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.031 billion — up 10.7 percent and 10.2 percent compared to the same quarter in 2016.
But Wells Fargo Senior Analyst Jennifer Fritzsche characterized the report as mixed after the firm predicted revenue of $1.701 billion but earnings of $1.036 billion. Adjusted funds from operations, meanwhile, came in at $1.64 per share compared to the projected $1.66.
Property revenue beat expectations as strong domestic performance overcame more sluggish revenue internationally. Organic growth in tenant billings also fell short of expectations.
The company’s 2018 forecast anticipated record activity from U.S. carriers but headwinds due to continued carrier consolidation in India.
CEO Jim Taiclet highlighted a site portfolio and AFFO levels that easily exceeded the goals set by the company a decade earlier.
“As we look forward to 2018, we expect strong organic tenant billings growth of over 6 percent in the U.S., driven by unlimited data plans, increasing mobile video consumption, announced spectrum build-outs in the 2.5 GHz and 600 MHz bands and the planned FirstNet deployment,” Taiclet said in a statement.