How Is American Tower’s Stock Performance Compared to Other Real Estate Stocks

How Is American Tower’s Stock Performance Compared to Other Real Estate Stocks

Thu, September 3, 2026 at 1:04 PM GMT+3 3 min read

• AMT -1.11%

Boston, Massachusetts-based American Tower Corporation (AMT) is a leading global real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on communications infrastructure, primarily owning and operating wireless communications towers and other critical telecom assets. With a market cap of $87.1 billion, the company leases antenna sites on multi-tenant towers for a diverse range of wireless communications industries, including personal communications services, paging, and cellular.

Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks," and AMT perfectly fits that description, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the specialty REIT industry. With a large, geographically diversified portfolio of communications sites, American Tower benefits from the growing demand for wireless connectivity and data consumption. Its asset-heavy infrastructure business also generates recurring, long-term rental revenue, making AMT a key player in the global digital infrastructure ecosystem.

More News from Barchart

Despite its notable strength, AMT slipped 14.7% from its 52-week high of $202.80. Over the past three months, AMT stock declined 6.8%, underperforming the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF's (XLRE) marginal loss during the same time frame.

AMT has delivered only modest gains in 2026, with shares up 1.5% YTD, while its 13.8% decline over the past 52 weeks stands in stark contrast to XLRE's 8.4% YTD advance and 5.2% one-year return.

Still, the stock's technical picture is showing early signs of a turnaround. After spending much of the past year below its 200-day moving average, AMT has recently pushed above its 50-day moving average, hinting that momentum may be starting to shift.

AMT's recent struggles have been largely a story of higher rates and slower telecom spending. Elevated interest rates increased refinancing costs and pressured the valuation of dividend-focused REITs, while wireless carriers pulled back capital spending after the initial 5G rollout. Carrier consolidation and network restructuring also weighed on tenant growth.

Still, AMT showed signs of resilience on Jul. 28, when shares jumped 2.9% after the company released Q2 earnings. Its revenue of $2.8 billion topped expectations of $2.7 billion, while FFO of $2.71 per share met forecasts. The company maintained its full-year FFO outlook of $11.00–$11.17 per share, offering investors a steadier outlook despite the headwinds.

AMT's rival, Equinix, Inc. (EQIX), has taken the lead in the real estate sector, with a 33% YTD gain and 32.1% gain over the past 52 weeks.

Despite that, Wall Street analysts are bullish on AMT's prospects. The stock has a consensus "Strong Buy" rating from the 24 analysts covering it. The mean price target of $214.46 suggests a potential upside of 24% from current price levels.

On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com