Start here if you're new
what it is
Crown Castle owns cell towers and fiber lines that carriers rent so your phone keeps working.
how it gets paid
Last year Crown Castle made $215M in revenue.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 12.0% last year. The beat was small at 3.08%. The bigger picture is less fun: EPS was down 54% vs. prior year even with revenue up 170%.
what just happened
EPS came in at $0.67, above the $0.65 estimate, while revenue hit $162M.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
70/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
35.1x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
4.7% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
11.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 49/100 — below average
What they do
Crown Castle owns cell towers and fiber lines that carriers rent so your phone keeps working.
Crown Castle owns more than 40,000 towers and about 90,000 route miles of fiber in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. If your carrier is already on one of those sites, moving gear is expensive, slow, and annoying for you and them. That is why 73% of 2024 site rental revenue came from just AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
How they make money
$215M
annual revenue · their business grew +12.0% last year
total revenue
$215M
+12.0%
The products that matter
leases wireless infrastructure
Tower and Fiber Leases
$0.2B reported revenue
it's the entire revenue line shown on this snapshot, generating $0.2B and growing 4.2% last year. that concentration keeps the story simple: if leasing demand slows, there is nowhere else to hide.
core revenue line
Key numbers
35.1x
trailing p/e
P/E ratio → how many years of current earnings you are paying for → you are paying a growth-stock multiple for a 2.5% earnings-growth outlook.
$21.6B
long-term debt
Long-term debt → money already promised to lenders → a lot of future cash is already spoken for.
4.7%
dividend yield
Dividend yield → cash paid to you each year as a percent of the stock price → income is the main reason many people own this.
11.0%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit produced from the money in the business → decent, but not enough to justify anything-goes valuation math.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 80 / 100
- long-term debt $21.6B (36% of capital)
- net profit margin 30.2% — keeps 30 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 24% — $0.24 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in CCI 3 years ago → it's now worth $7,630.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
EPS came in at $0.67, above the $0.65 estimate, while revenue hit $162M.
The beat was small at 3.08%. The bigger picture is less fun: latest-quarter EPS was down 54% vs. prior year even with revenue up 170%.
$1.4B
revenue
$0.67
eps
74.09%
gross margin
the number that mattered
EPS fell from $3.46 in 2023 to $2.43 in 2024 and only recovered to $2.55 in 2025. That trend matters more than a 2-cent beat.
source: company earnings report, 2026
Get this snapshot in your inbox
This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.
weekly updates
earnings alerts
plain english
no spam
What could go wrong
the #1 risk is carrier leasing demand slowing while $21.6B of debt stays put.
med
carrier spending slowdown
Crown Castle only works if carriers keep leasing space on towers and fiber. if new activity cools, the growth case gets thin fast.
The stock already trades at 35.1x trailing earnings. slower leasing demand makes that premium harder to defend.
med
rate pressure and debt load
$21.6B in long-term debt equals 36% of capital. this is an infrastructure REIT, so financing costs are part of the business model, not background noise.
With a 4.7% dividend yield to support, balance-sheet flexibility matters almost as much as operating growth.
med
fiber and tower execution
The moat is physical footprint, but owning 40,000 towers and 85,000 route miles of fiber only pays off if utilization and pricing stay healthy.
A business earning 9.0% on capital does not have much room for sloppy allocation. one bad capital cycle lingers for years.
combined, these risks sit against a business with 28.1% net margin, $21.6B in long-term debt, and a stock price already 16% above the $75 target midpoint.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
valuation
the $75 midpoint vs. the $89.49 stock
The market is above the published midpoint by 16%. if you want upside from here, you need the fundamentals to change faster than the target does.
balance sheet
$21.6B of long-term debt
For a 4.7% yield story, rates and refinancing do not sit in the footnotes. they are part of the thesis.
ownership
two straight quarters of net selling
481 buyers versus 503 sellers last quarter is not a panic signal. it is a sentiment signal.
earnings
next quarter's $0.71 EPS setup
If revenue lands near $0.1B and growth still looks ordinary, the stock will need yield support more than momentum support.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
below average
momentum score 4 — in human-speak, analysts think this could lag from here.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — you are not buying a bunker, but you are not buying a rollercoaster either.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the chart is not giving you much help right now.
earnings predictability
70 / 100
The business is reasonably forecastable. the stock still gets judged on whether steady is good enough.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 2 consecutive quarters — 481 buyers vs. 503 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.4B shares. net selling for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$48
$102
$89
current price
$75
target midpoint · 16% from current · 3-5yr high: $180 (+100% · 22% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
see plans from $5/moThe deep dive