Lamar Advertising Co - Class A

Lamar Advertising delivered a solid second quarter for 2026, matching Wall Street's GAAP earnings-per-share estimate of $1.58 exactly while posting revenue that genuinely impressed, with the outdoor advertising giant reporting $616.75 million in net revenue, a 6.5% increase year-over-year that cleared the $606.61 million consensus by 1.67%. The headline story behind the results was improving operating leverage, as expense growth lagged revenue gains and pushed adjusted EBITDA up 9.0% to $303.36 million, a key signal of the company's ability to translate billboard, transit, and digital display demand into bottom-line gains. AFFO, the metric REIT investors watch most closely, climbed 10.1% to $247.95 million, with diluted AFFO per share rising to $2.40 from $2.22 a year earlier. Management rewarded shareholders with raised full-year guidance, now projecting diluted AFFO per share of $8.75 to $8.90 and GAAP diluted EPS of $5.95 to $5.99, citing results that exceeded internal expectations and strong advertising pacings through the balance of 2026, a sentiment echoed by analysts who have recently raised price targets on the stock.