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Crown Castle
(NYSE:CCI)
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Rating:61Neutral
Price Target:
$80.00
▼(-9.82% Downside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:05/21/26
The score is anchored by strong cash generation and constructive technical trend, supported by maintained guidance, cost savings, and a deleveraging/buyback plan. These positives are materially tempered by balance-sheet fragility (negative equity and high debt), DISH-related revenue/legal uncertainty, and a high P/E that limits valuation support.
Positive Factors
Cash Generation
Crown Castle's recurring operating cash flow (~$2.9B TTM) and robust free cash flow (~$2.7B TTM) underpin durable funding for dividends, interest, and capital allocation. FCF being ~94% of net income signals earnings quality and long-term ability to fund deleveraging and shareholder returns despite cyclical pressures.
Negative Factors
Balance Sheet Fragility
Very large absolute debt and persistent negative shareholders' equity indicate a stressed capital structure that heightens refinancing, covenant and rating risk. Even with planned paydown, execution failure or slower deleveraging would leave the company exposed to higher interest costs and constrained strategic flexibility.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Cash Generation
Crown Castle's recurring operating cash flow (~$2.9B TTM) and robust free cash flow (~$2.7B TTM) underpin durable funding for dividends, interest, and capital allocation. FCF being ~94% of net income signals earnings quality and long-term ability to fund deleveraging and shareholder returns despite cyclical pressures.
Read all positive factors
Crown Castle Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Any
Revenue by Segment
Breaks down revenue across different business segments, revealing where the company is generating the most sales and potential areas for growth or concern.
Breaks down revenue across different business segments, revealing where the company is generating the most sales and potential areas for growth or concern.
Data provided by:
The Fly
The FlyCrown Castle (CCI) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$33.40B
Dividend Yield5.44%
Average Volume (3M)4.04M
Price to Earnings (P/E)31.5
Beta (1Y)0.05
Revenue Growth-29.63%
EPS GrowthN/A
CountryUS
Employees1,500
SectorReal Estate
Sector Strength53
IndustryREIT - Specialty
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)2.43
Shares Outstanding436,452,000
10 Day Avg. Volume4,747,157
30 Day Avg. Volume4,042,181
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-0.78
Price to Book (P/B)-23.64
Price to Sales (P/S)9.06
P/FCF Ratio13.45
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.86
Enterprise Value/Revenue14.73
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit22.41
Enterprise Value/Ebitda22.88
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$97.00Price Target Upside9.35% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Buy
Number of Analyst Covering10
EPS Forecast (FY)2.1
Revenue Forecast (FY)$4.07B
Crown Castle Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Crown Castle Inc. specializes in critical digital infrastructure across the United States. The company actively manages, operates, and leases an expansive network, featuring over 40,000 cellular communication towers and approximately 80,000 miles ...
How the Company Makes Money
Crown Castle makes money primarily by leasing access to its communications infrastructure under long-term contracts. The core revenue stream is recurring site rental revenue from wireless carriers and other tenants that place antennas and related ...
Crown Castle Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Apr 22, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Jul 22, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call contained a mix of positive operational and financial developments — reiteration of full-year guidance, solid organic growth (3.1%–3.6% depending on exclusions), a $65 million annualized cost savings from restructuring, planned $1B buybacks and $7B debt paydown from the anticipated sale, and a clear strategic focus on land ownership and systems investment to drive margins. Offsetting these positives are significant near-term headwinds tied to the DISH contract default ($49M revenue impact in the quarter) and related legal uncertainty that could take a year or more to resolve, additional one-time revenue offsets (Sprint cancellations and $26M straight-line revenue decrease), and transition risks from separating the small cell and fiber businesses. On balance, the company maintained its guidance, has defined capital allocation to deleverage and return capital, and announced tangible cost savings — while the DISH dispute and transition timing present meaningful risks. Overall the highlights moderately outweigh the lowlights given maintained guidance, solid organic growth, and concrete deleveraging and cost-saving plans, though investors should continue to monitor DISH litigation outcomes and near-term seasonality of costs.Positive Updates
Guidance Reiterated and Stable Full-Year Outlook
Management reiterated full-year 2026 guidance and kept the outlook unchanged despite portfolio separations and DISH issues. At the midpoint they expect site rental revenues of ~ $3.9 billion, adjusted EBITDA of ~ $2.7 billion and AFFO of ~ $1.9 billion.
Negative Updates
DISH Contract Default and Revenue Impact
DISH defaulted on contractual payment obligations, prompting Crown Castle to terminate the agreement and pursue litigation. DISH terminations reduced site rental revenues by $49 million in the quarter and created material legal and timing uncertainty (management expects legal resolution could take at least a year).
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Guidance Reiterated and Stable Full-Year Outlook
Management reiterated full-year 2026 guidance and kept the outlook unchanged despite portfolio separations and DISH issues. At the midpoint they expect site rental revenues of ~ $3.9 billion, adjusted EBITDA of ~ $2.7 billion and AFFO of ~ $1.9 billion.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Crown Castle reiterated its full‑year 2026 outlook (excluding the small‑cell/fiber businesses as discontinued and assuming the sale closes June 30) with site rental revenues of about $3.9 billion, adjusted EBITDA of about $2.7 billion and AFFO of about $1.9 billion at the midpoint; the company expects ~3.5% organic growth for the year when excluding DISH prior‑year site rental billing and (like Q1) excluding Sprint cancellations and DISH terminations. In Q1 organic growth was 3.1% ($30 million) excluding Sprint/DISH impacts (3.3% if DISH is excluded from prior year), while Q1 site rental revenue was reduced by ~$5 million of Sprint cancellations, ~$49 million of DISH terminations and a ~$26 million decrease in non‑cash straight‑line revenue/amortization of prepaid rent. Management implemented a restructuring expected to cut annualized run‑rate costs by ~$65 million, guided discretionary CapEx at $200 million ($160 million net of $40 million prepaid rent received), noted timing‑driven lower R&M/sustaining CapEx and modestly lower interest expense in the quarter, and said it ended Q1 with significant liquidity. Assuming the transaction close, the company plans to allocate roughly $1 billion to share repurchases and $7 billion to debt repayment to target leverage of 6.0–6.5x, and it reiterated AFFO guidance for the 12 months following close of about $2.1 billion at the midpoint.Crown Castle Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
56
Neutral
Balance Sheet
22
Negative
Cash Flow
68
Positive
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 4.21B | 4.26B | 6.57B | 6.98B | 6.99B | 6.34B |
| Gross Profit | 2.77B | 2.82B | 4.72B | 5.00B | 4.92B | 4.35B |
| EBITDA | 2.71B | 2.77B | -1.24B | 4.10B | 4.07B | 3.46B |
| Net Income | 1.06B | 444.00M | -3.90B | 1.50B | 1.68B | 1.10B |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 31.39B | 31.52B | 32.74B | 38.53B | 38.92B | 39.04B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 55.00M | 269.00M | 119.00M | 105.00M | 156.00M | 292.00M |
| Total Debt | 24.68B | 29.57B | 29.61B | 28.81B | 27.96B | 27.01B |
| Total Liabilities | 33.31B | 33.15B | 32.87B | 32.15B | 31.47B | 30.78B |
| Stockholders Equity | -1.92B | -1.64B | -133.00M | 6.38B | 7.45B | 8.26B |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 2.73B | 2.88B | 1.72B | 1.70B | 1.57B | 1.50B |
| Operating Cash Flow | 2.92B | 3.06B | 2.94B | 3.13B | 2.88B | 2.73B |
| Investing Cash Flow | -1.22B | -1.16B | -1.22B | -1.52B | -1.35B | -1.33B |
| Financing Cash Flow | -1.66B | -1.89B | -1.71B | -1.65B | -1.67B | -1.31B |
Crown Castle Technical Analysis
Negative
88.71
Price Trends
87.31
Negative
85.86
Negative
86.97
Negative
Market Momentum
-3.02
Positive
32.70
Neutral
8.78
Positive
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For CCI, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 88.71 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 85.88, above the 50-day MA of 87.31, and above the 200-day MA of 86.97, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -3.02 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 32.70 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 8.78 is Positive, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for CCI.
Crown Castle Risk Analysis
Crown Castle disclosed 31 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Crown Castle reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Crown Castle Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (65)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
70 Outperform | $99.97B | 69.90 | 10.03% | 2.47% | 6.67% | 50.09% | |
69 Neutral | $82.02B | 28.52 | 76.90% | 3.76% | 2.72% | 58.77% | |
65 Neutral | $2.17B | 12.19 | 3.79% | 4.94% | 3.15% | 1.96% | |
65 Neutral | $36.27B | 133.96 | -28.32% | 3.98% | 15.64% | 121.11% | |
64 Neutral | $2.71B | 1.99 | -446.35% | ― | 149.33% | 1191.20% | |
63 Neutral | $19.17B | 18.95 | -20.90% | 2.31% | 6.27% | 25.76% | |
61 Neutral | $33.40B | 31.49 | -65.88% | 5.44% | -29.63% | ― |
* Real Estate Sector Average
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Crown Castle Corporate Events
Dividends
Crown Castle Board Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend
Positive
May 20, 2026
Crown Castle Inc., a major U.S. owner and operator of roughly 40,000 cell towers, provides critical wireless infrastructure that supports data, technology and mobile services nationwide. The company’s assets form a key backbone for modern co...
Executive/Board ChangesShareholder Meetings
Crown Castle Shareholders Back Board, Auditor and Pay
Positive
May 20, 2026
At Crown Castle Inc.’s annual meeting of stockholders held on May 20, 2026, shareholders elected all nine director nominees to serve until the next annual meeting, reinforcing continuity in the company’s board leadership. Stockholders ...
Business Operations and StrategyM&A TransactionsPrivate Placements and Financing
Crown Castle Secures New $4.5 Billion Credit Facility
Positive
May 1, 2026
On May 1, 2026, Crown Castle entered into a new $4.5 billion unsecured revolving credit facility led by JPMorgan Chase, which includes a $100 million letter of credit subfacility and the option to seek up to $500 million in additional commitments....
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesStock BuybackFinancial DisclosuresM&A Transactions
Crown Castle Completes Fiber Sale, Refocuses on Towers
Positive
May 1, 2026
On May 1, 2026, Crown Castle completed the $8.5 billion sale of its fiber solutions business to Zayo and small cell business to Arium Networks, netting about $8.4 billion after preliminary adjustments and transforming itself into the only large, U...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial DisclosuresM&A Transactions
Crown Castle Posts Q1 Results, Affirms 2026 Outlook
Positive
Apr 22, 2026
On April 22, 2026, Crown Castle reported first-quarter 2026 results showing site rental revenues of $961 million, down 4.9% year over year, and adjusted EBITDA of $675 million, down 7%, while AFFO fell 7% to $446 million and AFFO per share decline...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.