ABN Amro Investment Solutions reduced its stake in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI – Free Report) by 57.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 27,473 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions’ holdings in Crown Castle were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Andra AP fonden boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 163.5% during the first quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 79,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,492,000 after buying an additional 49,543 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,325,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $514,320,000 after acquiring an additional 144,538 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Crown Castle by 17.5% in the first quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 41,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,395,000 after purchasing an additional 6,231 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Crown Castle by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 103,007 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,375,000 after buying an additional 9,338 shares during the period. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in shares of Crown Castle during the 1st quarter worth about $7,272,000. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of research firms have weighed in on CCI. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Crown Castle from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $94.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Crown Castle in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.92.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Crown Castle
Crown Castle Stock Up 0.5% Shares of NYSE:CCI opened at $74.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.95. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.75 and a 12-month high of $113.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.74.
Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.55. Crown Castle had a net margin of 20.71% and a negative return on equity of 51.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.
Crown Castle Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $1.0625 per share. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is presently 175.62%.
Crown Castle News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Crown Castle this week:
Positive Sentiment: Crown Castle beat Q2 expectations on key measures, including FFO and revenue, helped by lower interest expense. The company also updated full-year 2026 outlook, which suggests management sees improved operating momentum and progress from asset sales, debt repayment, and land investments. Crown Castle Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results and Updates Outlook for Full Year 2026 Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain generally constructive despite trimming targets: Citigroup kept a buy rating, Citizens JMP kept market outperform, TD Cowen kept buy, and RBC kept outperform. Even with lower targets, the firms still see meaningful upside from current levels, signaling that expectations for CCI remain relatively favorable. Analyst price target updates Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analysts lowered price targets after the earnings release, including Citigroup to $98 from $106, Citizens JMP to $120 from $125, JPMorgan to $85 from $95, TD Cowen to $92 from $94, and RBC to $90 from $92. The cuts reflect a more cautious valuation stance, but not a bearish shift in ratings overall. Analyst price target updates Neutral Sentiment: Other coverage highlighted that Q2 results beat estimates even as site-rental revenue was affected by certain items, suggesting the quarter was solid but still showed some business mix or timing pressure. Crown Castle Q2 earnings beat even as site rental revenue impacted by items Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, the stock remains well below its recent highs, and the repeated target cuts may indicate analysts are resetting expectations for slower growth or a lower valuation multiple going forward. Analyst price target updates About Crown Castle (Free Report)
Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.
Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.
Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Crown Castle AMD and Cerbras Create A New Blueprint For Hardware Intel Earnings Reveal Whether the Chip Selloff Created a Buy CrowdStrike’s Cerebras Deal Puts Its AI Security Strategy to the Test Plugging In: How Kinder Morgan Powers Up Profits Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CCI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI – Free Report).
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Crown Castle (CCI) is becoming an interesting investment as a confluence of improved organic growth, reduced headwinds, and attractive valuation makes it potentially the most opportunistic it has been in a decade. However, there is simultaneously a massive unknown in the form of the terrestrial versus satellite debate. Scenario outcomes of this debate range from obsolescence of towers to getting a 4th major tower customer, making it the pivotal factor for the future of CCI.
We shall begin by discussing:
CCI’s strong 2Q26. Positive growth inflection. Opportunistic valuation. Then we will show that the market does not care about any of these factors as the satellite harbinger looms overhead.
If and when one can get a clear idea of where the satellite versus terrestrial debate will conclude, there could be tremendous opportunity in CCI stock.
CCI's Strong Quarter And Growth CCI had a strong quarter with upped AFFO guidance and an upward inflection in organic growth. A central point of their conference call was that 2026 was the trough of organic growth and that they see strong acceleration in the short, mid, and long term. Factors creating the upward inflection in growth are:
MLAs with visibility into near-term contractual growth. AT&T 600 megahertz spectrum closing. Mobile data usage is expected to double over 5 years. As more spectrum gets deployed and data usage increases, tower tenants will want more equipment installed on towers, which will come with increased rent to CCI.
Analyst consensus estimates show a very strong outlook for Crown Castle with AFFO/share expected to rise from $4.36 in 2025 to $6.05 in 2030.
S&P Global Market Intelligence
That growth rate is quite opportunistic relative to what is now a fairly cheap valuation.
CCI is trading at 16.7X 2026 AFFO.
Tower REITs have traditionally traded at AFFO multiples in the mid-20s and occasionally in the 30s.
We believe the now cheap valuation is the result of fear related to satellites as a potential competitor to macro towers. This can be clearly seen in the CCI trading action since the Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX) IPO.
CCI is down 18% even though the CCI-specific news has been positive in this period.
SA
SpaceX’s Starlink was already a potential threat to towers; the IPO merely made it front of mind for investors. In perception, it went from a potential future threat to being a highly visible part of one of the largest companies in the world.
On July 21st, SPCX launched an additional 24 satellites into its mega-constellation already consisting of over 10,000 low earth orbit satellites.
Starlink is unequivocally huge and powerful, but its impact on towers remains completely unknown.
The Pivotal Unknown I am not an engineer and do not have a full grasp on the subtleties in transmission that make satellites better or worse than a tower network. Thus, I can merely relay what I have heard from others who are more directly in the field.
The basic framework seems to be that satellites are great at covering massive areas inexpensively and reliably but perhaps less effective in highly congested areas.
Bears on the tower REITs worry that Starlink could be effective enough to disrupt the traditional cell carriers, which make up CCI’s tenant base.
Bulls believe Starlink or peer satellite companies could become a 4th major carrier and that they would use macro towers to supplement their satellites. Specifically, they would put equipment on macro towers in major population centers where towers tend to outperform and use satellites in rural areas. Thus, Starlink or peers could actually benefit the tower REIT industry in the form of an additional revenue source.
Christian Hillabrant is knowledgeable on the subject but also biased due to his role as CEO of CCI. He discussed satellites versus terrestrial networks at length on the 2Q26 call:
“Let me summarize the key reasons why we believe that terrestrial networks will continue to be an essential for mobile phone service based on reports available on the WIA website and analysis from sell-side research. First, satellite services generally require a clear line of sight to the sky and provide weaker indoor coverage, which is significant given approximately 90% of mobile usage occurs indoors or in vehicles. Because satellite signals travel hundreds of miles farther than the terrestrial connections, their signal strength is approximately 10,000x weaker, challenging performance in dense environments where buildings, obstructions and interference can further degrade the signal. To compensate for the weaker signal, phones must operate at higher transmit power levels, increasing battery consumption. Second, satellite operators have access to significantly less spectrum. Direct-to-device satellite services generally have access to only tens of megahertz of spectrum, while each major U.S. wireless carrier controls hundreds of megahertz. Third, a typical satellite beam covers approximately 100 square miles to 600 square miles versus roughly 3 square miles to 20 square miles for a terrestrial cell site, requiring substantially more users to share the same spectrum resources. This means that for every megahertz of spectrum, terrestrial cell sites can support 30x more users. More importantly, as satellite operators seek to improve capacity, mobility and indoor performance, we believe terrestrial infrastructure will become an increasingly important complement to satellite networks.”
I think there is merit to his analysis that satellites could be complementary to macro towers rather than a substitute. However, it remains a major unknown.
The return outlook of CCI as an investment is heavily impacted by what happens in this debate. We see 3 main branches of scenarios to consider:
Satellites do not materially enter the cell carrier business. Satellites compete and at least partially replace demand for towers. Satellites become carriers and use macro towers to complement their network. CCI is opportunistic in scenarios 1 and 3 but would likely underperform in scenario 2.
Scenario 1 would just be business as usual for tower REITs. This seems to be what the consensus AFFO estimates out to 2030 are penciling in. CCI’s 16.7X AFFO multiple is just too cheap relative to the AFFO/share growth rate, which would make it a strong investment.
Scenario 2 risks major damage in the form of CCI losing one or more of their 3 major tenants. If Starlink competes as a cell carrier and captures substantial market share, there is potential for Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile to go out of business, and CCI could lose massive amounts of rental revenue.
Scenario 3 would be Starlink or a peer competing in a more balanced way, taking some market share but not killing the existing ecosystem. A potential 4th tenant in this scenario would potentially add back the revenues that were previously lost when Sprint got absorbed.
I’m not going to pretend to know how this will all shake out. Instead, I’ll be focusing on data points that could serve as early indicators. Here is what we will be watching to potentially happen:
Starlink or peers signing leases with macro towers (good sign for CCI). The extent to which Starlink attempts to become a major cell carrier. Financial health of Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile deteriorating. Customer adoption of satellite-based cell service. Customer reviews of the quality of satellite-based cell service. How We Are Playing It Tower REITs are potentially quite opportunistic given high-growth relative to valuation, but given the unknown, they are also risky. We currently are underweight relative to the REIT index but hold a small position in American Tower (AMT). AMT and CCI are similar investments, but we give a slight edge to AMT for its ownership of CoreSite, through which it has access to strong data center growth.
As more information rolls in and we get greater clarity on the satellite versus terrestrial debate, we will be watching and trading accordingly.
Second-Quarter Organic Growth: 3.9% or $38 million, excluding Sprint cancellations and DISH terminations.Adjusted Funds From Operations (AFFO): Benefited from
Crown Castle Inc. (CCI) Q2 2026 Earnings Call July 22, 2026 5:00 PM EDT
Company Participants
Hamilton West - VP of Corporate Finance and Treasurer
Christian Hillabrant - CEO, President & Director
Sunit Patel - Executive VP & CFO
Conference Call Participants
Michael Rollins - Citigroup Inc., Research Division
Michael Ng - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Ric Prentiss - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division
Michael Funk - BofA Securities, Research Division
Cameron McVeigh - Morgan Stanley, Research Division
Jonathan Atkin - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division
Richard Choe - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division
Nicholas Del Deo - MoffettNathanson LLC
Eric Luebchow - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division
Aryeh Klein - BMO Capital Markets Equity Research
Madison Rezaei - Bernstein Institutional Services LLC, Research Division
Matthew Niknam - Truist Securities, Inc., Research Division
Brendan Lynch - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Batya Levi - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
David Barden - New Street Research LLP
Presentation
Operator
Good day, and welcome to the Q2 2026 Crown Castle Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Hamilton West, Vice President of Corporate Finance and Treasurer. Please go ahead.
Hamilton West
VP of Corporate Finance and Treasurer
Thank you, Nick, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today as we discuss our second quarter 2026 results. With me on the call this afternoon are Chris Hillabrant, Crown Castle's President and Chief Executive Officer; and Sunit Patel, Crown Castle's Chief Financial Officer. To aid the discussion, we have posted supplemental materials in the Investors section of our website at crowncastle.com that will be referenced throughout the call.
This conference call will contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may vary materially from those expected. Information about potential factors which could
Crown Castle (CCI - Free Report) came out with quarterly funds from operations (FFO) of $1.13 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1 per share. This compares to FFO of $1.02 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an FFO surprise of +13.00%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this operator of wireless communications towers would post FFO of $1.01 per share when it actually produced FFO of $1.02, delivering a surprise of +0.99%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus FFO estimates four times.
Crown Castle, which belongs to the Zacks REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry, posted revenues of $1.01 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.52%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.06 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future FFO expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.
Crown Castle shares have lost about 14.3% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 9.7%.
What's Next for Crown Castle?While Crown Castle has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's FFO outlook. Not only does this include current consensus FFO expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Crown Castle was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus FFO estimate is $1.20 on $1.02 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $4.43 on $4.13 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, REIT and Equity Trust - Other is currently in the top 24% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
One other stock from the same industry, Easterly Government Properties (DEA - Free Report) , is yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 3.
This property management company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.79 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +6.8%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days.
Easterly Government Properties' revenues are expected to be $91.34 million, up 8.4% from the year-ago quarter.
Crown Castle (CCI - Free Report) reported $1.01 billion in revenue for the quarter ended June 2026, representing a year-over-year decline of 4.9%. EPS of $1.13 for the same period compares to $0.61 a year ago.
The reported revenue represents a surprise of +1.52% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $992.89 million. With the consensus EPS estimate being $1.00, the EPS surprise was +13%.
While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.
As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately.
Here is how Crown Castle performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:
Revenues- Services and other: $41 million versus $53.17 million estimated by three analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -21.2% change.Revenues- Site rental: $967 million versus $937.27 million estimated by three analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -4.1% change.Net Earnings Per Share (Diluted): $0.22 versus the three-analyst average estimate of $0.23.Services and other- Gross margin: $22 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $25.67 million.Site rental- Gross margin: $718 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $687.46 million.View all Key Company Metrics for Crown Castle here>>>
Shares of Crown Castle have returned -9.6% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.3% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.
Tap Into 2026 AI Infrastructure Gains With This High-Growth ETFCrown Castle NYSE: CCI said it delivered “solid” second-quarter 2026 results, raised its full-year AFFO outlook and completed its transition into a pure-play U.S. tower operator following the sale of its small cell and fiber businesses.
President and CEO Chris Hillabrant said the company closed the sale of those businesses on May 1, calling it “an important milestone” that made Crown Castle “the only publicly traded pure-play U.S. tower operator.” He said the company is now focused on becoming a “best-in-class U.S. tower operator” through cost savings, operational efficiency and improved customer service.
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3 AI ETFs Tapping Into the Heart of the AI Revolution“We now expect to drive additional cost savings this year as we continue to drive operational excellence,” Hillabrant said.
Guidance raised on higher revenue and lower interest expense Chief Financial Officer Sunit Patel said second-quarter organic growth, excluding Sprint cancellations and DISH terminations, was 3.9%, or $38 million, including a $5 million increase in other billings. Excluding the increase in other billings, organic growth was 3.6%. Organic growth would have been 4.2% if DISH revenues were excluded from prior-year site rental billings.
Top 3 REIT Picks for 2025: High Yields and Rising Earnings AheadThose gains were more than offset in site rental revenue by $5 million of Sprint cancellations, $49 million of DISH terminations and a $25 million decline in non-cash straight-line revenue and amortization of prepaid rent.
Crown Castle raised its full-year 2026 outlook for site rental revenue by $5 million at the midpoint and increased its AFFO outlook by $5 million. Patel said the AFFO increase reflects a $5 million reduction in expected interest expense. The company maintained its adjusted EBITDA outlook, as higher revenue and $15 million of expected cost reductions are expected to be offset by a $20 million decrease in services contribution, primarily in the third quarter.
The company now expects full-year 2026 organic growth of 3.4%, excluding Sprint cancellations and DISH terminations, up from its prior guidance of 3.3%. If DISH revenues are excluded from prior-year site rental billings, full-year organic growth is expected to be 3.6%, compared with prior guidance of 3.5%.
Patel said Crown Castle continues to expect 2026 to represent the low point for organic growth. As of the end of the second quarter, more than 90% of its full-year 2026 organic growth, excluding Sprint and DISH impacts, was contracted, up from about 80% at the start of the year.
Sale proceeds used for debt repayment and buybacks Crown Castle received $8.4 billion in net proceeds from the sale of its small cell and fiber businesses. Patel said the company used those proceeds to repurchase $1 billion of shares and repay more than $7 billion of debt, consistent with its capital allocation framework.
The company completed the $1 billion share repurchase program during the second quarter at an average price of $88.66 per share, retiring more than 11 million shares and reducing its annual dividend obligation by $47 million.
Since the prior quarter, Crown Castle repaid approximately $7.2 billion in debt, including about $5 billion of floating-rate debt across its commercial paper program, revolving credit facility and term loan. The company also repurchased $500 million of debt in the open market and repaid $750 million of unsecured notes due June 15 and $1 billion of unsecured notes due July 15.
Crown Castle ended the quarter with leverage of 6.3 times net debt to EBITDA, within its target investment-grade range of 6.0 to 6.5 times. The company also reduced the capacity of its revolving credit facility from $7 billion to $4.5 billion following the sale transaction.
DISH bankruptcy and escrow account remain key issues Hillabrant said Crown Castle made progress during the quarter toward recovering payments owed under its original DISH agreement. In May, the Federal Communications Commission approved EchoStar spectrum sale transactions with AT&T and SpaceX, but made the transactions contingent on the creation of a $2.4 billion escrow account for vendors.
Hillabrant said Crown Castle will pursue its $3.5 billion contractual claim in bankruptcy court after DISH Wireless filed for bankruptcy. He said the escrow account is intended to satisfy network-related obligations, including certain infrastructure claims, and is not subject to the normal bankruptcy estate waterfall.
During the question-and-answer portion of the call, Hillabrant said the escrow funding is tied to the closing of the AT&T transaction. He said it is too early to estimate Crown Castle’s potential recovery because the number of claimants and the resolution process remain uncertain.
Asked about DISH equipment on Crown Castle towers, Hillabrant said ownership will be addressed as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. “As far as we’ve seen, they’ve abandoned it and although we’ve requested for them to take it down, have not acted to this point,” he said.
Management points to edge computing, data growth and spectrum Hillabrant said Crown Castle sees multiple long-term demand drivers, including edge compute infrastructure, mobile data growth and new spectrum availability. He said the company has initiated several trials with edge data center providers and is seeing interest in using its tower portfolio for distributed compute deployments.
He said Crown Castle’s sites have existing power and broadband connectivity and can support “move-in-ready” deployments requiring less than 0.2 megawatts. The company is seeing interest from businesses looking to support inference workloads and applications such as cybersecurity, fraud detection and real-time data processing.
Hillabrant also cited Ericsson projections that U.S. mobile data consumption per smartphone will more than double over the next five years, from 25 gigabits to 52 gigabits per month. He said growth will be driven in part by AI-enabled applications and increased uplink traffic from devices transmitting video, sensor and telemetry data to the cloud.
The company also pointed to additional spectrum coming to market. Hillabrant said the FCC has described a pipeline of at least 800 megahertz of additional spectrum expected to be made available for commercial wireless use over the coming years, with plans to auction at least 165 megahertz between 2026 and 2027.
Services activity weakens, but leasing guidance unchanged In response to analyst questions, Hillabrant said lower services activity does not translate directly into lower leasing activity. Crown Castle maintained its leasing guidance range of $60 million to $70 million.
Hillabrant said the services slowdown reflects broader industry conditions, including leadership and strategy changes among wireless customers and slower decision-making. He said the company is not looking to exit the services business and continues to evaluate whether it should expand certain offerings again, including construction-related services, if the economics make sense.
Management also discussed Crown Castle’s ongoing transformation effort, including ground lease buyouts, systems investments, automation and process improvements. Patel said the company expects to expand EBITDA margins by a couple hundred basis points over the next year, driven by structural cost reductions and productivity improvements.
Hillabrant said the company remains focused on operational changes that improve cycle times and customer experience, adding that Crown Castle aims to “win 100% of the jump balls” with customers.
About Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI)Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company's assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.
Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
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Wall Street analysts forecast that Crown Castle (CCI - Free Report) will report quarterly earnings of $1.00 per share in its upcoming release, pointing to a year-over-year decline of 2%. It is anticipated that revenues will amount to $992.89 million, exhibiting a decrease of 6.3% compared to the year-ago quarter.
Over the last 30 days, there has been no revision in the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter. This signifies the covering analysts' collective reconsideration of their initial forecasts over the course of this timeframe.
Before a company announces its earnings, it is essential to take into account any changes made to earnings estimates. This is a valuable factor in predicting the potential reactions of investors toward the stock. Empirical research has consistently shown a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and the short-term price performance of a stock.
While investors typically use consensus earnings and revenue estimates as indicators of quarterly business performance, exploring analysts' projections for specific key metrics can offer valuable insights.
With that in mind, let's delve into the average projections of some Crown Castle metrics that are commonly tracked and projected by analysts on Wall Street.
The consensus estimate for 'Revenues- Services and other' stands at $53.17 million. The estimate points to a change of +2.3% from the year-ago quarter.
The combined assessment of analysts suggests that 'Revenues- Site rental' will likely reach $937.27 million. The estimate points to a change of -7% from the year-ago quarter.
The average prediction of analysts places 'Services and other- Gross margin' at $25.67 million. Compared to the current estimate, the company reported $25.00 million in the same quarter of the previous year.
Analysts forecast 'Site rental- Gross margin' to reach $687.46 million. The estimate compares to the year-ago value of $757.00 million.
Based on the collective assessment of analysts, 'Depreciation, amortization and accretion' should arrive at $170.79 million.
The consensus among analysts is that 'Costs of operations- Services and other' will reach $27.50 million.
Analysts predict that the 'Costs of operations- Site rental' will reach $249.82 million.
View all Key Company Metrics for Crown Castle here>>>
Shares of Crown Castle have demonstrated returns of -3.5% over the past month compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.6% change. With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), CCI is expected to mirror the overall market performance in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>> .
California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI – Free Report) by 24.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 837,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 273,658 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.19% of Crown Castle worth $68,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CCI. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 672,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,086,000 after acquiring an additional 60,497 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in Crown Castle by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,930,797 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,460,000 after purchasing an additional 511,763 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC increased its stake in Crown Castle by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 262,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,288,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Crown Castle by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,052,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,551,000 after purchasing an additional 128,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,506,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $489,370,000 after purchasing an additional 54,078 shares during the period. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Crown Castle Stock Up 0.1% CCI stock opened at $79.24 on Monday. Crown Castle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.75 and a fifty-two week high of $115.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.16. The stock has a market cap of $34.59 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.95.
Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.55. Crown Castle had a net margin of 25.13% and a negative return on equity of 64.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $995.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Crown Castle’s revenue was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Crown Castle has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.380-4.490 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Crown Castle Inc. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Crown Castle Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $4.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Crown Castle’s payout ratio is currently 175.62%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades CCI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Crown Castle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Crown Castle in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.52.
Read Our Latest Analysis on CCI
About Crown Castle (Free Report)
Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.
Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.
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Key Takeaways CCI reports Q2 2026 results on July 22 after the closing bell, following four straight AFFO beats.Crown Castle faces customer concentration risks despite expected growth in wireless data demand. CCI's Q2 revenues is projected at $992.9M, while AFFO per share is expected at $1.00. Crown Castle Inc. (CCI - Free Report) is scheduled to release its second-quarter 2026 results on July 22, after the closing bell. In anticipation of the announcement, industry analysts and investors are eager to assess the company's performance and prospects in the current economic climate.
In the last reported quarter, this Houston, TX-based real estate investment trust’s (REIT) adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.99%. Results reflected a decline in site rental revenues.
Over the preceding four quarters, CCI’s AFFO per share surpassed estimates on all occasions, with the average surprise being 3.84%. This is depicted in the graph below:
Let’s see how things have shaped up before this announcement.
Factors to Consider Ahead of CCI’s ResultsCrown Castle has an unmatched portfolio of wireless communication infrastructure assets in the United States. As wireless data consumption is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, service providers are likely to have continued their network expansion and densification efforts to meet this incremental demand.
However, customer concentration remains a concern. Any loss of its customers or consolidation among them is likely to have impacted the company’s top line. Rapid technology change and uneven carrier build cycles might also have increased revenue variability for site leasing and related services.
CCI’s Projections for Q2The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues is pegged at $992.9 million, indicating a decrease of 6.3% from the year-ago reported number.
Our estimate for quarterly site rental revenues is pinned at $937.3 million, implying a 7% decrease year over year. However, we estimate services and other revenues to increase 2.3% year over year to $53.2 million.
Crown Castle’s activities in the to-be-reported quarter were inadequate to garner analysts’ confidence. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly AFFO per share remained unchanged at $1.00 over the past three months. The estimate indicates a 2% decrease from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.
What Our Quantitative Model Predicts for CCIOur proven model does not conclusively predict a surprise in terms of AFFO per share for Crown Castle this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an AFFO beat, which is not the case here.
Crown Castle currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank of 3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks That Warrant a LookHere are two stocks from the broader REIT industry — SL Green Realty (SLG - Free Report) and BXP, Inc. (BXP - Free Report) — that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to report a surprise this quarter.
SL Green is slated to report quarterly results on July 22. SLG has an Earnings ESP of +7.20% and carries a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
BXP is scheduled to report quarterly results on July 28. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.18% and a Zacks Rank of 3.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
On June 29, 2026, Crown Castle Inc (CCI) shares fell 4.8% to a current price of $78.63. The stock has experienced significant volatility, trading between a 52-w
Crown Castle is reaffirmed as a Buy, with risks looking priced in and a strong, improving business returning to its core US cell tower operations. Q1 2026 saw solid AFFO and revenue beats, with a $1 billion buyback program and $7 billion in debt repayments expected from the fiber sale and a ~4.86% dividend yield. Guidance anticipates a 5% decline in site rental revenue but 1% AFFO growth (+2% per share), with cost reductions and litigation recovery potential supporting long-term value, alongside the industry's investments.
On April 27, 2026, Crown Castle Inc (CCI) shares fell 3.4% to $83.44. Over the past year, the stock has experienced significant volatility, trading between a 52
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arium Networks (the “Company”) today announced its official launch as a standalone company following the completion of EQT Active Core Infrastructure‘s (“EQT”) acquisition of Crown Castle's Small Cell & Venue business.
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On June 04, 2026, Crown Castle Inc CCI shares rose 5.8% to a current price of $93.79. The stock has shown a 52-week range of $75.96 to $115.76, indicating significant volatility over the past year. The recent price increase reflects a positive sentiment in the market, despite the stock's overall performance being slightly negative year-over-year.
GF Value™ verdict: CCI is currently priced at $93.79, which is 4.3% above its GF Value™ estimate of $89.90.GF Score™: 62/100, indicating an above-average ranking based on key performance metrics.Most notable signal: Insiders have bought $0.1M worth of shares in the last three months, signaling confidence in the company's future. Is CCI Overvalued or Undervalued? According to the GF Value™, Crown Castle Inc is currently overvalued. The stock's price of $93.79 exceeds the GF Value™ estimate of $89.90 by 4.3%. This indicates a lack of margin of safety for prospective investors, as the stock is trading above its intrinsic value. The GF Valuation label classifies the stock as “Fairly Valued,” suggesting that while it is not severely overvalued, there are risks associated with its current price level. Investors should consider the potential for price corrections or stagnation in growth as the market adjusts to the valuation metrics.
GF Value™ is GuruFocus' proprietary measure of intrinsic value, calculated from historical trading multiples, past business growth, and future performance estimates. Given the current price in relation to the GF Value™, it is important for investors to weigh the risks of entering a position at this valuation against the potential for future growth.
How Does CCI's Valuation Compare to Its History? Metric Current Historical P/E (TTM) 38.8x 37.8x Forward P/E 42.2x N/A The current P/E ratio of 38.8x is 3% above its 5-year median P/E of 37.8x. Additionally, the forward P/E of 42.2x indicates that analysts expect earnings growth; however, this level also suggests that the stock is trading at a premium compared to its historical valuation metrics. This P/E analysis aligns with the GF Value™ verdict, reinforcing the notion that CCI is presently overvalued.
What Does CCI's GF Score™ Tell Us? Metric Rating GF Score™ 62 Financial Strength 2/10 Profitability 7/10 Growth 1/10 Valuation 9/10 Momentum 5/10 The GF Score™ of 62/100 indicates that Crown Castle Inc is positioned above average in terms of potential long-term returns. However, the company exhibits weaknesses in Financial Strength and Growth, with ratings of 2/10 and 1/10 respectively. On the other hand, it shows strong profitability with a rating of 7/10 and a robust Valuation score of 9/10. This mixed performance suggests that while CCI has favorable valuation metrics, its financial stability and growth prospects may raise concerns for long-term investors.
What Are Insiders Doing with CCI Stock? In recent months, insider activity has shown a positive trend as insiders have purchased $0.1 million worth of Crown Castle Inc shares without any selling activity reported. This pattern of buying can often be interpreted as a signal of confidence from those with intimate knowledge of the company’s operations and prospects. Such insider purchases may indicate that they believe the stock is undervalued at current levels and expect future price appreciation.
What This Means for Investors Based on the GF Value™ assessment, Crown Castle Inc is currently overvalued. With its price exceeding the intrinsic value estimate by 4.3%, potential investors should approach with caution, considering both the market's sentiment and the company's financial standing.
For the complete analysis, visit the Crown Castle Inc CCI stock page. You can also explore the GF Value™ page for detailed valuation methodology, or use the GuruFocus Stock Screener to find similar opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions What is CCI's GF Score™?
CCI's GF Score™ is 62/100, indicating an above-average ranking based on financial strength, profitability, growth, valuation, and momentum, which suggests it may generate higher long-term returns.
Is CCI overvalued or undervalued?
CCI is currently overvalued according to the GF Value™, with its price of $93.79 exceeding the GF Value™ estimate of $89.90 by 4.3%.
What is CCI's P/E ratio?
CCI's P/E (TTM) ratio is 38.8x, which is 3% above its 5-year median P/E of 37.8x, suggesting that the stock is trading at a premium compared to its historical valuation.
This stock alert was generated using automated technology and GuruFocus financial data to provide readers with timely and accurate market reporting. This content was reviewed by GuruFocus editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
Crown Castle (CCI) was a big mover last session on higher-than-average trading volume. The latest trend in FFO estimate revisions might not help the stock continue moving higher in the near term.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 10, 2026) - Canadian Copper Inc. (CSE: CCI) ("Canadian Copper" or the "Company") today announced that a court hearing in Vancouver, Canada is scheduled on June 29th, 2026, at 10AM (PST) to approve the Caribou Complex transaction. Next Steps After Court Hearing The Company, as buyer, and FTI Consulting Canada Inc. the court appointed Receiver of Trevali Mining New Brunswick Ltd.
