SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBAC) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Brendan Cavanagh: Yes. The leasing growth, I wouldn’t say that it’s really all that different than what we thought three months ago when we talked about it. It’s perhaps slower than what we thought at the beginning of the year than we were originally thinking how this year would play out. But what we described last quarter, it’s staying pretty much in line with that expectation that we laid out. And you could see that even in the guidance that we gave, where we didn’t make any changes there. On the AT&T MLA and it’s the potential for that with others. We have master agreements in place with other carriers. The form of those agreements can vary among the carriers, but it’s really dependent upon the needs of that specific customer, and what works best for them and for us and creates the best win-win situation given what they’re trying to accomplish in that particular negotiation.

So I would say that we are certainly open to agreements with others over time as they’re needed, and we have those conversations all the time. Exactly how they’re structured may very well vary though, depending on the carriers’ needs.

Batya Levi: Got it. And one quick follow-up; I think you mentioned that the activity on putting 5G equipment on towers is still pretty low. Roughly 1% of your towers have seen that deployment?

Brendan Cavanagh: Using the 5G-related spectrum it’s approximately 50%.

Batya Levi: Got it. Okay. Thank you.

Operator: And our next question comes from Michael Rollins with Citi. Please go ahead.

Michael Rollins: Thanks. And Jeff, I also want to extend my thanks and best wishes as you move on to your next chapter.

Jeff Stoops: Thanks Mike.

Michael Rollins: Welcome. And just curious as we shift over to maybe the international side for a few more minutes; have you thought about alternative ways to structure those operations? Or is there a need at some level to adjust the market structure of what you have over time to create greater scale or find some ancillary opportunities for growth in those markets where they may not be structured similar to the U.S.?

Brendan Cavanagh: Yes. I don’t know if it’s necessarily structure. I would agree with your reference to scale, that in markets where we have scale, we’ve seen the benefits of that in our relationships with the carrier customers in those markets, and our ability to be more impactful in their projects for build-outs that they have. So scale is something that we’re definitely paying attention to within these markets. And then in terms of other things that we might add, in some of these places, there are opportunities to provide incremental services that are somehow related or associated with what we currently do that add sort of an extra level of value that we’re able to provide. It generates additional revenue streams that but it also kind of strengthens that relationship for a longer period of time.

So we’re exploring that. We’re doing some things around C-RAN hubs, some things around power, some things around security in certain of our markets and we’ll continue to explore those opportunities.

Michael Rollins: And just one other question. In past moments where there’s been some uncertainty, whether it’s in the operating environment or financial environment, the company has provided a North Star in terms of a metric or a guide or an aspiration that you were targeting. And just given some of the questions on leasing activity and what it might mean for growth rates over the next few years, is there a range or an average domestic organic growth rate that SBA is targeting, aspiring to that would be helpful for investors to be mindful of?

Brendan Cavanagh: No, there’s not a specific target. I think, excluding Sprint churn, I would expect that we’ll be able to produce mid-single digits growth rate in the U.S. But at this point, we’re not comfortable to lay out a long-term target. And some of that, Mike, just to be clear, it’s – there are a lot of factors that really aren’t about wireless needs. If it was just about what do our customers need to do in terms of their network deployments, we perhaps would be able to do that a little bit more comfortably. I think some of these factors around cost of capital and other things that may affect timing of when our customers are spending influence that. So that just leads us to be a little bit more cautious in kind of naming specific targets.

Michael Rollins: Thanks.

Operator: And our next question comes from Nick Del Deo with MoffettNathanson. Please go ahead.

Nick Del Deo: Hey. Jeff, first of all I just want to echo others’ comments and thank you for all the time you spent with us, and all the insights you shared with us over the years. I really appreciate that.

Jeff Stoops: Thanks Nick.

Nick Del Deo: Jeff, you emphasized in your comments that the carriers will need to invest to support traffic growth over time, just like they always have. I don’t think many people dispute that. I guess, is there any reason to think that they have more capacity runway today than they have typically had over the years, given the amount of 5G spectrum they’ve rolled out? Or do you not believe that’s the case?

Jeff Stoops: I do believe that there’s a lot of spectrum out there, which is why now all of the three largest carriers have now all, or either have, or are beginning to deploy fixed wireless. Don’t know that, that technology’s been available in the last generation, it would have worked out. I mean, just on that point, from some things that I’ve read, the fixed wireless subscriber takes up 20 times to 30 times the wireless – the spectrum capacity. So I mean, it’s statistics like that, Nick, that give us great confidence that over time, the connection that’s existed forever, at least as long as I’ve been around, the connection between wireless data growth and the need for additional physical infrastructure is going to continue. But yes, I mean there’s a lot of spectrum out there now, but it’s rapidly getting used up. And it’s going to continue to rapidly get used up the more success that the customers have with fixed wireless.

Nick Del Deo: Okay. Okay. And then I also thought it was interesting that you lowered your site development revenue forecast, but you left the bottom line contribution unchanged, which implies a pretty – a not insignificant bump in your expected margin. So I guess, can you talk about what’s behind that dynamic and how sustainable it might be as we look into the coming year?