AMT vs. DLR: American Tower vs. Digital Realty Trust Stock Comparison

July 7, 2026

How do American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR) both belong to the Specialized REITs industry, though AMT is classified under Telecom Tower REITs while DLR falls under Data Center REITs.

Both American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR) are REITs — read their payout ratios and P/E alongside FFO (funds from operations) rather than at face value.

Company profile comparison for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Profile Item	AMT	DLR
Name	American Tower Corporation	Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Real Estate	Real Estate
GICS Industry Group	Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)	Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
GICS Industry	Specialized REITs	Specialized REITs
GICS Sub-Industry	Telecom Tower REITs	Data Center REITs
Market Capitalization	75.53 billion USD	65.36 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	NYSE
Listing Date	February 27, 1998	October 29, 2004
Security Type	REIT	REIT

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

AMT

DLR

GSPC

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Metric	AMT	DLR
Total Return (1Y)	-24.07%	3.54%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	-2.78%	18.53%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	-7.22%	6.23%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

AMT

DLR

GSPC

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Risk profile metrics for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Metric	AMT	DLR
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	25.57%	23.92%
Beta (5Y)	0.90	1.04
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-45.34%	-48.52%
Avg. Volume (3M)	3.25M	2.65M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

AMT and DLR are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Metric	AMT	DLR
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	-1.10	-0.02
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	-1.47	-0.03

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

American Tower (AMT) at 29.95% clears its industry range for ROE, a sharper capital-efficiency signal than Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 5.69%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

AMT

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

29.95%

AMT: 29.95%
Max: 21.85%
Q3: 9.86%
Median: 5.86%
Q1: 1.38%
Min: -9.66%

DLR

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

5.69%

Max: 21.85%
Q3: 9.86%
Median: 5.86%
DLR: 5.69%
Q1: 1.38%
Min: -9.66%

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR): A comparison of their ROE against the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

Neither American Tower (AMT) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) nor Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) is well served by net margin: heavy depreciation makes net income a poor profitability proxy in their businesses, where FFO-based measures are the standard read.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Neither side reports a meaningful operating margin: for American Tower (AMT) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), funding costs are part of the core business, so net margin and ROE are the cleaner profitability reads.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Metric	AMT	DLR
ROE (TTM)	29.95%	5.69%
ROA (TTM)	4.91%	1.26%
Net Margin (TTM)	--	--
Operating Margin (TTM)	--	--
Gross Margin (TTM)	--	--

Growth

Revenue Growth

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

Revenue Growth Metrics

Revenue growth metrics for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Metric	AMT	DLR
Revenue Growth (YoY)	5.11%	10.04%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	3.34%	9.22%

EPS Growth

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth Metrics

EPS growth metrics for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Metric	AMT	DLR
EPS Growth (YoY)	--	--
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	--	--

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 1.23 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while American Tower (AMT) at 0.30 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — a thinner cushion against current liabilities for AMT.

AMT

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

0.30

Max: 4.00
Q3: 1.93
Median: 0.98
Q1: 0.46
AMT: 0.30
Min: 0.08

DLR

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

1.23

Max: 4.00
Q3: 1.93
DLR: 1.23
Median: 0.98
Q1: 0.46
Min: 0.08

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR): A comparison of their current ratio against the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 0.77 keeps leverage in the lower quartile, while American Tower (AMT) at 4.45 is above its industry debt-to-equity ratio range.

AMT

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

4.45

AMT: 4.45
Max: 2.53
Q3: 1.51
Median: 1.04
Q1: 0.77
Min: 0.19

DLR

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

0.77

Max: 2.53
Q3: 1.51
Median: 1.04
Q1: 0.77
DLR: 0.77
Min: 0.19

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Metric	AMT	DLR
Current Ratio (MRQ)	0.30	1.23
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	4.45	0.77
Net Debt / EBITDA	6.23	5.88

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

American Tower (AMT) at 4.15% pays a yield in its industry’s typical range, while Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 2.82% falls in the bottom quartile of its peers.

AMT

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

4.15%

Max: 8.88%
Q3: 5.56%
AMT: 4.15%
Median: 4.01%
Q1: 3.15%
Min: 0.00%

DLR

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

2.82%

Max: 8.88%
Q3: 5.56%
Median: 4.01%
Q1: 3.15%
DLR: 2.82%
Min: 0.00%

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

An earnings-based payout ratio fits neither American Tower (AMT) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) nor Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs): their distributions are mandated and conventionally measured against FFO, so the accounting-earnings ratio overstates both.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Metric	AMT	DLR
Dividend Yield (TTM)	4.15%	2.82%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	--	--

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

P/E ratio is not a meaningful valuation yardstick for either American Tower (AMT) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs): depreciation suppresses reported earnings in their businesses, and price-to-FFO is the conventional yardstick instead.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

American Tower (AMT) at 6.98 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 10.35 sits in the pricier quartile — DLR costs more per dollar of sales.

AMT

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

6.98

Max: 15.51
Q3: 8.88
AMT: 6.98
Median: 6.59
Q1: 3.75
Min: 0.82

DLR

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

10.35

Max: 15.51
DLR: 10.35
Q3: 8.88
Median: 6.59
Q1: 3.75
Min: 0.82

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

Both look rich against book: Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 2.68 sits in the upper P/B ratio quartile, and American Tower (AMT) at 21.45 prices even higher, above its industry range.

AMT

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

21.45

AMT: 21.45
Max: 4.82
Q3: 2.67
Median: 1.78
Q1: 1.20
Min: 0.35

DLR

Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group

2.68

Max: 4.82
DLR: 2.68
Q3: 2.67
Median: 1.78
Q1: 1.20
Min: 0.35

American Tower (AMT) vs. Digital Realty Trust (DLR): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for American Tower (AMT) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
Metric	AMT	DLR
P/E Ratio (TTM)	--	--
P/S Ratio (TTM)	6.98	10.35
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	21.45	2.68
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	--	--