SBA Communications reports Q3 AFFO $3.34, consensus $3.23

Reports Q3 revenue $678.01M, consensus $682.6M. “We posted strong financial results for the third quarter, exceeding estimates and our own expectations,” stated Jeffrey A. Stoops, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We continue to execute very well, making the most of varying demand. Customer activity varied by region, with US customers less active in the aggregate with their wireless networks year over year, and international customers more active than we expected. Combined, we posted solid growth in site leasing revenue, Tower Cash Flow and Adjusted EBITDA. Despite higher interest expense, we generated solid AFFO in the quarter, providing ample cash for discretionary spending and strong dividend coverage. We repurchased $100 million of our common stock. We dedicated the remainder of our discretionary spending to portfolio growth and to retire floating-rate indebtedness. We posted quarter-end net debt to Adjusted EBITDA of 6.4x, our lowest leverage ratio in decades. Based on third quarter results and our current expectations for the remainder of 2023, we have adjusted our full year outlook in a number of areas, including increases to Site Leasing Revenue, Tower Cash Flow, Adjusted EBITDA, AFFO and AFFO per share notwithstanding anticipated less favorable foreign currency exchange rates. Long-term, the quality of our assets and our operational execution position us well to capitalize on the continuing growth in wireless data consumption and the resulting necessary investment of our carrier customers into the development and expansion of their 5G networks.”