American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Michael Rollins: Thanks and good morning. Just a couple of follow-ups. So first, and maybe this is a slightly different question on the US leasing environment. But you outlined the percentage of revenue tied to comprehensive deals. I’m just curious if you can unpack where the flex could be in US performance, both in 2023 and maybe going forward as you think about the organic leasing growth potential of the US business. And then thinking a little bit more about the percent of revenue that you have tied to comprehensive deals. You shared a lot over the last couple of years on how the US has been shaping up on that front. Can you share with us how other regions fit in terms of the percent of revenue tied to comprehensive deals? And as you work with your customers, are there aspirations that you have in different markets to get that to certain levels over time? Thanks.

Rod Smith: Hey, Michael. Good morning. This is Rod. I’ll start here, and Tom can certainly join in. So — but in the US, the leasing activity is really strong. And our revenue in the US is underpinned through what we refer to as the holistic agreements, which I think everyone is very familiar with. But we’ve seen contributions from colocations and amendments rise from about $150 million in 2022, up to $220 million in 2023. That drives about a 5% contribution to our organic tenant billings growth. And as Tom mentioned in his previous answer, we see about 90% of that locked in for 2023. And the long-term guidance that Rick asked about, we are continuing to target equal to or greater than 5% between 2023 out to 2027. And a fair amount of that activity, both the underlying revenue and the revenue growth, is locked in as part of the holistic deals.

Now of course, as we move beyond 2023, that 90% will come down maybe to about two-thirds or so by the time you get in the outer years. And that’s just a function of getting closer to the end of some of the agreements, and chances are some agreements will be rewritten sort of along the way. So we feel really good about the visibility we have into the US leasing market and the strength that we’re seeing in the US market, particularly because of our assets and the way that we drive these agreements. Now your question kind of refers to flex. And I think what you mean there is where is the potential upside? And of course, there is a potential upside to the extent that there’s faster uptake on 5G utilization in the US. And if that requires carriers to densify the networks a little bit quicker, and we see a faster conversion for colocations and fewer amendments going forward, that could certainly provide some upside.

And then depending on just the build of some of the carriers. And certainly, DISH comes to mind as they build a greenfield network to the extent that they go beyond their minimum commitments with us, that could certainly be some upside as well. So I would really kind of watch — certainly watch DISH. I would watch the other carriers and see the 5G utilization. And some of these new applications come out for 5G, we’ll see what kind of bandwidth constraints that puts on networks and when network densification may end up happening. But it’s a pretty exciting time in the US market, particularly when you look at the 5G networks and potential applications coming down the pike. So I think that kind of covers off the points around the US leasing. When you think about our international business, we don’t have holistic deals in the same way in a material fashion outside the US.

They are much more traditional green, more of an a la carte, kind of pay as you go around the globe. So, that’s what I would say about that point, Michael.

Michael Rollins: Thanks very much.

Rod Smith: You’re welcome.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of David Barden from Bank of America. Please go ahead.

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