SBA Communications Q3 2026 earnings: strong

SBA Communications, which owns mobile phone towers and rents space on them to network operators, took in $713.9 million in the third quarter of 2026, 2.5% less than a year earlier. Rent from its towers still grew a little, but building and services work for customers fell sharply. Its main measure of cash earnings per share, adjusted funds from operations (AFFO), fell 3.3% to $3.19. That was still well above what analysts expected. The business abroad grew strongly while US rent shrank. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Cash earnings per share (AFFO) of $3.19 came in about 10% above the $2.89 analysts expected on average, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar. ¹²

The strong points

Rent from towers outside the US rose 13.3% to $211.0 million, making up for a shrinking US business. ¹
Cash from running the business rose about 2.2% to $325.1 million. ¹

The weak points

Cash earnings per share (AFFO) fell 3.3% from a year ago to $3.19, even with fewer shares in issue after buybacks. ¹
US tower rent fell 3.4% to $454.4 million. ¹
Debt due within a year rose to $3.56 billion, from $1.94 billion at the end of 2025. ¹

What the company expects

The company narrowed its full-year forecast for cash earnings per share to $12.15–12.37, from $11.95–12.40 in August, tightening it toward the upper end. ¹
It lowered its full-year sales forecast to $2,833–2,858 million, from $2,841–2,886 million, mostly because of tower sales in Chile and Ecuador and currency moves. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A strong report. Cash earnings per share came in well above what analysts expected and the company tightened its yearly forecast toward the top, even though sales and cash earnings per share were down from a year ago.

The results as published

Notes

SBA Communications's results release, 2 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 3 November 2026. ↩

SBA Communications earnings: third quarter 2026