AMT vs DLR vs TDS Stock Comparison

American Tower, Digital Realty Trust and Telephone & Data Systems Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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AMT American Tower Corp /Ma/
$188.97 +10.6% 1M -0.7% 1Y
Market cap
$87.68B
P/E
25.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.94B
Div. yield
–
Tower REITs Real Estate
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Telephone & Data Systems leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Telephone & Data Systems 5, American Tower 4, Digital Realty Trust 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAMTDLRTDSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $87.68B $61.72B $4.10B AMT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.8x 81.4x 11.8x TDS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.0x 59.8x 9.1x TDS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.6% +17.4% +3.8% DLR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 31.1% 11.2% 27.7% AMT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.2% 2.0% 6.6% AMT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.1x 5.6x -1.8x TDS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.02% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.7% -1.7% -8.1% AMT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.9%/yr +1.9%/yr +12.8%/yr TDS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.5% 27.6% 30.6% DLR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 45/100 58/100 TDS

Percentile Scorecard

AMTDLRTDS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAMTDLRTDS
Valuation 30 #8 of 11 10 #10 of 11 52 #24 of 49
Growth 89 #2 of 10 78 #3 of 10 60 #19 of 46
Profitability 67 #4 of 10 11 #9 of 10 56 #21 of 46
Financial Health 40 #7 of 11 80 #3 of 11 98 #2 of 50
Shareholder Returns – – 23 #28 of 36
Overall 56 45 58
  • AMT ranked among 11 companies in Infrastructure REITs
  • DLR ranked among 11 companies in Infrastructure REITs
  • TDS ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAMTDLRTDSSPY
1 month +10.6%-5.0%-3.0% -1.0%
3 months +13.4%-13.3%+2.8% +2.9%
6 months +6.0%-13.8%-21.8% +6.4%
Year to date +7.6%+11.4%-13.8% +11.4%
1 year -0.7%-1.7%-8.1% +13.1%
3 years +15.8%+44.3%+90.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +5.0%+13.0%+24.0% +21.5%
5 years -33.6%+9.9%+82.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year -7.9%+1.9%+12.8% +10.9%
10 years +63.3%+80.1%+33.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year +5.0%+6.1%+2.9% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureAMTDLRTDSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.5%27.6%30.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.7%26.9%30.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.060.810.51 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.02-0.06-0.26 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.1%-51.1%-68.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.7%-15.5%-25.7% -2.5%
52-week high $194.12$203.91$47.59 $779.14
52-week low $161.11$147.93$32.96 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAMTDLRTDS
P/E now vs peer median 25.9xmedian 24.1x 80.5xmedian 24.1x 11.6xmedian 11.6x
P/S now vs peer median 8.0xmedian 6.3x 9.4xmedian 6.3x 3.2xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.7xmedian 16.7x 26.7xmedian 16.7x 3.1xmedian 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 22.2xmedian 18.0x -125.8xmedian 18.0x -9.6xmedian 5.6x
P/B now vs peer median 8.6xmedian 2.3x 2.3xmedian 2.3x 0.8xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.50median 0.71 4.36median 0.71 0.15median 0.24

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAMTDLRTDS
Revenue $10.94B $6.77B $1.26B
Gross profit $10.78B – $746.62M
Operating income $4.90B $986.10M $465.89M
Net income $3.52B $792.24M $544.60M
Free cash flow $3.96B -$506.74M -$424.28M
EPS (diluted) $7.29 $2.10 $3.00
Cash & equivalents $1.76B $1.86B $2.19B
Total debt $37.19B $73.26B $6.26B
Shares (diluted) 466.27M 361.54M 116.29M
Enterprise value $80.88B $50.68B -$1.16B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAMTDLRTDS
P/E 25.9x 80.5x 11.6x
P/FCF 22.2x -125.8x -9.6x
P/Operating cash flow 15.2x 21.5x 30.4x
P/S 8.0x 9.4x 3.2x
P/B 8.6x 2.3x 0.8x
P/Tangible book -23.6x 2.5x 1.1x
EV/EBITDA 17.7x 26.7x 3.1x
EV/EBIT 25.2x 81.7x 5.5x
EV/Revenue 11.3x 11.9x 2.0x
EV/FCF 31.2x -158.9x -6.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.4x 27.1x 19.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.50 4.36 0.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAMTDLRTDS
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.6% 17.4% 3.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.4% 9.7% -38.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.5% – 9.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.2% – -35.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 4.9% -40.3% 360.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 20.1% 17.3% 161.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 164.5% -42.6% 1,371%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 58.7% 23.2% 174.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 164.5% -46.0% 413.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 52.1% 18.5% 77.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.1% 24.9% -88.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.5% 20.6% -47.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 5.8% 19.9% -139.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.2% 26.1% -8.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAMTDLRTDS
Gross margin 98.5% – 59.4%
EBITDA margin 63.7% 44.5% 65.4%
Operating margin 44.8% 14.6% 37.0%
Pretax margin 36.0% 7.8% 61.4%
Net margin 31.1% 11.2% 27.7%
FCF margin 36.2% -7.5% -33.7%
Operating cash flow margin 52.8% 43.8% 10.6%
Return on equity 34.5% 3.1% 10.0%
Return on assets 5.6% 1.6% 6.4%
Return on invested capital 9.2% 2.0% 6.6%
Return on capital employed 9.0% – 6.1%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.1x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 3.7x 0.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.5% 1.5% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAMTDLRTDS
Debt / assets 58.8% 34.2% 8.1%
Debt / equity 3.6x 0.7x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.1x 5.6x -1.8x
Debt / FCF 9.4x -36.8x -1.6x
Liabilities / assets 83.8% 48.7% 35.6%
Equity / assets 16.2% 51.3% 64.4%
Interest coverage 3.5x 2.1x 6.1x
Current ratio 0.4x – 3.8x
Quick ratio 0.3x – 3.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x – 3.6x
Altman Z-score 1.20 – 1.74

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAMTDLRTDS
Dividend yield 3.7% 2.8% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 0.2% -4.7% –
Shareholder yield 3.9% -1.9% 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 16.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – -20.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 0.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – -16.6%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAMTDLRTDS
Forward P/E 28.0xFY2026 59.8xFY2026 9.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.75FY2026 $2.88FY2026 $3.90FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +25.0%FY2026 -19.6%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after -0.3% -11.1% -94.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.51BFY2026 $7.40BFY2026 $1.32BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.2%FY2026 +21.1%FY2026 +7.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.0% +0.6% -8.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAMTDLRTDS
Held by institutions 94.4% 100.0% 92.5%
Institutions holding 1,743 1,325 348
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.5% +18.3% +5.4%
Institutions buying 860 745 182
Institutions selling 657 383 113
Buyers to sellers 1.31 1.95 1.61

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AMTDLRTDS
AMT 1.00 0.25 0.19
DLR 0.25 1.00 0.20
TDS 0.19 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AMT, DLR and TDS?

American Tower (AMT) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Tower (AMT) $87.68B, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) $61.72B, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) $4.10B.

Which stock is cheaper, AMT, DLR and TDS?

Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Tower (AMT) 25.8x, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) 81.4x, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 11.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) is cheapest (American Tower (AMT) 28.0x, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) 59.8x, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 9.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: American Tower (AMT) +6.6%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) +17.4%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) +3.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

American Tower (AMT) has the highest net margin (American Tower (AMT) 31.1%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) 11.2%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 27.7%). On return on invested capital, American Tower (AMT) leads (American Tower (AMT) 9.2%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) 2.0%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 6.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Tower (AMT) returned the most: American Tower (AMT) -0.7%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) -1.7%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) -8.1%. Over five years, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) compounded fastest (American Tower (AMT) -7.9%/yr, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) +1.9%/yr, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) +12.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: American Tower (AMT) 0.00%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) 0.00%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 0.02%. American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) has been the steadiest (American Tower (AMT) 28.5%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) 27.6%, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) 30.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AMT, DLR and TDS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.