Crown Castle (CCI)
Real Estate · $38.0B market cap · SEC CIK 0001051470
ahead of 18% of the S&P 500 · #23 of 30 in Real Estate
Next reports on Feb 2, 2027, after the close, with analysts expecting $0.73 in earnings per share.
52-week range $65.32 to $95.07. 6% below its 52-week high and 37% above its low.
The case for CCI
- Generated $2.9B of free cash flow in FY2025, 67% of revenue.
- 20% of revenue drops through to net profit.
- Free cash flow of 7.6% of its market value a year: a lot of cash for the price.
- Pays a 6.0% dividend while you wait.
- Gross margin of 74% absorbs cost shocks.
The case against
- Expensive for its growth: 46.2× earnings, where 0% a year of growth would justify about 8×.
- Revenue fell 15.6% year over year.
- Long-term debt of $24.3B would take 8 years of operating cash flow to repay.
- Operating profit covers its interest bill only 2.2 times.
- Priced at 9.3× sales with revenue falling 15.6%.
- Revenue has shrunk 6.1% a year over five years.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Real Estate companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. The score is where that blend places it in the S&P 500. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings and cash, against the growth you get | 28 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 8 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 69 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 70 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 36 |
- Shareholder equity is negative, so return on equity, price-to-book and debt-to-equity are left out.
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 30 Real Estate companies.
The financials
Revenue growth
Is the business growing? No, shrinking
| Last 12 months | −15.6% |
|---|---|
| Over 5 years | −6.1% a year |
| FY2025 revenue | $4.3B (−4%) |
Free cash flow
Is it generating real cash? Yes, plenty
| FY2025 free cash flow | $2.9B |
|---|---|
| Of revenue | 67% |
| Of profit | 648% |
Profit margins
Is profitability improving? Yes, improving
| Gross margin | 74% |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 48% |
| Net margin, FY24 → FY25 → now | −87.5% → 10.4% → 20.1% |
Debt vs. cash
Is the balance sheet healthy? Stretched
| Cash | $99.0M |
|---|---|
| Long-term debt | $24.3B |
| Net debt | $24.2B |
| Years to repay | 8.0 yrs |
Valuation
Is the stock price reasonable? No, expensive
| P/E | 46.2× |
|---|---|
| Fair P/E for its growth | 8× |
| Price / operating cash flow | 12.4× |
| Forward P/E | 32.6× |
| EV / EBITDA | 21.1× |
At 46.2× earnings it trades well above the 8× that 0% a year of growth would justify. At 12.4× operating cash flow it trades above that same mark; for a REIT that counts for more than earnings, since depreciation makes its P/E look worse than the business is.
The financials, five years deep
Pulled from Crown Castle's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are worked out from the others.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | |||||
| Revenue | $4.3B | $4.5B | $4.7B | $7.0B | $6.3B |
| Change on the year | −4% | −6% | −32% | +10% | — |
| Free cash flow | |||||
| Free cash flow | $2.9B | $2.8B | $2.9B | $1.6B | $1.6B |
| Of revenue | 67% | 62% | 61% | 22% | 25% |
| Profit margins | |||||
| Operating margin | 48.7% | 47.5% | 44.3% | 34.7% | 31.6% |
| Net margin | 10.4% | −87.5% | 31.7% | 24.0% | 17.3% |
| Debt vs. cash | |||||
| Cash | $99.0M | $100M | $105M | $156M | $292M |
| Long-term debt | $24.3B | $24.1B | $22.9B | $21.7B | $20.6B |
| Net cash (debt) | −$24.2B | −$24.0B | −$22.8B | −$21.6B | −$20.3B |
What Crown Castle says it does
Overview We own, operate and lease shared communications infrastructure that is geographically dispersed throughout the U.S., including (1) more than 40,000 towers and other structures, such as rooftops (collectively, "towers"), (2) approximately 105,000 small cell nodes either currently generating revenue or under contract and (3) approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber primarily supporting small cells and fiber solutions. We refer to our towers, small cells and fiber assets collectively as "communications infrastructure," and, at times, to our customers on our communications infrastructure as "tenants." Our operating segments historically consisted of (1) Towers and (2) Fiber, which includes both small cells and fiber solutions. On March 13, 2025, management signed a definitive agreement ("Strategic Fiber Agreement") to sell our Fiber segment, together with certain supporting assets and personnel ("Fiber Business"), with Zayo Group…