American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) traded at around $165 on October 6, within five dollars of its 52-week low of $160.06.
The company keeps 45.41% of revenue as operating profit on a portfolio of communications towers leased to wireless carriers. A business that profitable sitting at a 52-week low is usually a disagreement about the future rather than the present.
READ ALSO: What is eBay's (EBAY) Economic Moat, and is it Widening or Narrowing?
A tower is difficult to replicate for reasons that have nothing to do with engineering. Local authorities restrict where new structures can go, so an existing site near a highway or a dense suburb cannot simply be copied next door.
The economics follow from that scarcity. The first tenant on a tower covers the construction and the ground lease, and each additional tenant is close to pure margin. Gross margin of 73.77% is what that layering produces, and the 45.41% operating margin is what survives after the overheads.
#NYSE
The company keeps 45.41% of revenue as operating profit on a portfolio of communications towers leased to wireless carriers. A business that profitable sitting at a 52-week low is usually a disagreement about the future rather than the present.
READ ALSO: What is eBay's (EBAY) Economic Moat, and is it Widening or Narrowing?
A tower is difficult to replicate for reasons that have nothing to do with engineering. Local authorities restrict where new structures can go, so an existing site near a highway or a dense suburb cannot simply be copied next door.
The economics follow from that scarcity. The first tenant on a tower covers the construction and the ground lease, and each additional tenant is close to pure margin. Gross margin of 73.77% is what that layering produces, and the 45.41% operating margin is what survives after the overheads.
#NYSE
2 days ago
