Key Highlights

  • Net income attributable to the company was USD 231.3 million, or USD 2.19 per diluted share.
  • AFFO per share was USD 3.19, down 3.3% from USD 3.30, while AFFO totaled USD 337.3 million.
  • Site leasing Revenue rose 1.4% to USD 665.4 million, as international revenue rose 13.3% and domestic fell 3.4%.
  • The company repurchased 1.7 million shares in the quarter and established a USD 2.5 billion Commercial Paper program.

Quarter in Numbers

SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC), a wireless infrastructure owner and operator, reported third-quarter 2026 Net Income attributable to the company of USD 231.3 million, or USD 2.19 per diluted share, compared with net income of USD 240.4 million, or USD 2.20, a year earlier. Net income in the prior-year quarter included a USD 25.5 million foreign currency remeasurement gain, net of taxes, against a USD 1.6 million loss this quarter.

Site leasing revenue was USD 665.4 million, up 1.4%, while site development revenue fell 36.0% to USD 48.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA was USD 488.1 million, down 1.1%, though Margin rose to 68.8% from 67.5%. Tower Cash Flow was USD 526.9 million, and AFFO was USD 337.3 million, down 5.0%, or USD 3.19 per share, down 3.3%.

Domestic and International

Domestic site leasing revenue was USD 454.4 million, down 3.4%, with segment operating profit down 4.4% to USD 382.6 million. International site leasing revenue was USD 211.0 million, up 13.3% (9.8% excluding currency), with segment operating profit up 15.5% to USD 149.1 million. The company owned or operated 45,252 communication sites at September 30, 2026, of which 17,340 are in the United States and 27,912 are international. It built 213 towers, acquired 7 sites for USD 10.8 million and spent USD 105.2 million on cash capital expenditures.

On September 10 it sold all towers in Chile and Ecuador and agreed to sell all towers in Peru, subject to regulatory approval. Chief executive Brendan Cavanagh said the agreements complete the exit from South America outside Brazil, while new tower builds more than doubled in markets where the company has scale.

Financing and Capital Return

The company ended the quarter with USD 13.0 billion of total debt, USD 6.5 billion of secured Debt and USD 12.5 billion of net debt, equal to Leverage of 6.4 times annualized adjusted EBITDA on a net basis and 3.1 times on a net secured basis. In July it issued USD 3.5 billion of senior notes across three tranches with a blended rate of 5.113% and used proceeds to repay a USD 1.0 billion revolver balance and a USD 2.2 billion term loan, and it entered a new USD 2.5 billion unsecured revolver maturing in July 2031. It also established a USD 2.5 billion commercial paper program.

The company has bought back USD 300 million of stock since its last Earnings release. The board declared a quarterly Dividend of USD 1.25 per share, payable December 10, 2026 to holders of record on November 12.

Leverage and Capital Return Indicators

The chief executive pointed to carrier network expansion, growing mobile data traffic, the upper C-band auction, new spectrum and the industry's move toward 6G as sources of future deployments, along with interest from satellite and edge compute providers. The company also updated its full-year 2026 outlook, with no adjustment for the pending Peru sale given uncertainty over its closing date. Items to track include domestic leasing trends, the timing of the Peru transaction, interest cost after the refinancing and the pace of repurchases relative to leverage near 6.4 times.