American Tower vs. Crown Castle Q3 2026: CCI's 10.7% AFFO gain came from debt cuts, not towers

American Tower and Crown Castle both own cell towers and rent space on them to wireless carriers. Their Q3 2026 results tell opposite stories at first glance: Crown Castle's cash earnings per share rose 10.7% while American Tower's rose 3.2%. Read the two reports side by side and the ranking flips. Crown Castle's gain came from paying down debt after it sold its fiber business; its towers earned less than a year ago. American Tower's towers stalled too, but it has a growing data center business, lower debt and room in its dividend.

Figures below come only from our two published reports: American Tower Q3 2026 and Crown Castle Q3 2026. Both were written from the companies' earnings releases; neither 10-Q was filed yet.

The quarter side by side

AFFO (adjusted funds from operations) is the cash measure tower companies pay dividends from: net income with depreciation and non-cash rent accounting added back, less the spending needed to keep sites running.

Both GAAP EPS declines mostly reflect accounting rather than lost rent. At American Tower, an $82.4 million swing to unrealized losses on equity investments, a $51.7 million reversal of non-cash "straight-line" rent and a higher tax rate (13.1% vs 3.9%) cut EPS. Our report rated its earnings understated. At Crown Castle, the 9.5% drop is a comparison effect: Q3 2025 still included $46 million of profit from the fiber business it has since sold. EPS from continuing operations (towers only) rose 4.7% to $0.67.

The same problem: DISH, and carriers spending less

Both companies lost DISH Wireless as a paying tenant. Crown Castle stopped booking DISH revenue on January 1, 2026, which cost $61 million in the quarter, more than its $35 million of organic growth. American Tower's U.S. & Canada cancellations rose to $63 million from $28 million; our Q2 report traced the increase to DISH, though the Q3 release doesn't name it.

The bigger worry is shared too. New leasing on existing towers slowed at both companies: from $41 million to $25 million at American Tower in the U.S. (−39%) and from $20 million to $16 million at Crown Castle (−20%). Services revenue, the site preparation and permitting work carriers pay for before installing equipment, roughly halved at both. Services tends to lead new leasing, so both companies are signalling that carriers are spending less on sites right now.

One caution when comparing growth rates: American Tower's U.S. & Canada organic tenant billings growth of 0.0% includes DISH, while Crown Castle's 3.8% (down from 4.1%) leaves DISH and Sprint out. They measure different things, so the gap between them overstates the difference in the underlying rent trends.

Where they diverge

What is producing the growth. Crown Castle's AFFO rose $40 million while its Adjusted EBITDA fell $45 million. The $70 million drop in interest expense explains nearly all of the difference, after the fiber sale proceeds repaid about $7 billion of debt and a $1.0 billion buyback reduced the share count. Our Crown Castle report notes this is a one-time step that drops out of year-over-year comparisons after Q2 2027. American Tower's 3.2% AFFO per share growth came from operations: pre-tax income before other items rose 3.1%. Its Data Centers segment grew revenue 17.4% to $313 million, and buybacks helped a little (shares −0.7%).

Debt costs are moving in opposite directions. Crown Castle's interest bill fell 28%, but it is borrowing again (revolver and commercial paper) and has $2.24 billion due within 12 months at 2.9%–4.0% coupons. American Tower's interest expense rose 5.5% and its current debt maturities are $5,363.5 million, so refinancing will keep raising its interest costs. The difference is starting leverage: 4.9x at American Tower versus 6.5x at Crown Castle, and Crown Castle's ratio rose this quarter.

Room in the dividend. American Tower's $1.79 quarterly dividend is 62% of AFFO per share. It raised the dividend 5.3% and added a $2.0 billion buyback authorization. Crown Castle's unchanged $1.0625 dividend uses about 86% of AFFO per share. Our report notes that leaves little room for buybacks without more borrowing.

Guidance. American Tower raised full-year property revenue guidance by $55 million at the midpoint, crediting data centers, and lifted AFFO per share guidance by two cents. Crown Castle raised AFFO guidance by $5 million to $1,980 million, but its new guide implies Q4 AFFO of about $515 million, below Q3's $530 million. It also said core leasing will land at the bottom of its $60–70 million range.

Takeaway: Crown Castle had the better headline (+10.7% AFFO per share against +3.2%), but that gain came from a one-time cut in interest costs. Its towers earned less, with Adjusted EBITDA down 6.3%. American Tower is the business in better shape right now: its U.S. tower growth has also stalled, but data centers growing 17.4%, leverage of 4.9x against 6.5x and a dividend at 62% of AFFO give it ways to grow that Crown Castle doesn't have once the debt savings drop out of comparisons in mid-2027.

What to watch next quarter

For both companies, the test is whether new leasing on existing towers stops falling and services revenue stabilizes, since that would show carriers are spending on sites again. For Crown Castle, also watch how it refinances its March 2027 notes and whether the 10-Q gives any figure for a recovery from DISH. For American Tower, watch whether data centers keep growing in the mid-teens, and what the 10-Q says drove Latin America's "other revenue".