Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

05 Feb 2026, 00:00 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI – Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 95.37% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Crown Castle updated its FY 2026 guidance to 4.380-4.490 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Crown Castle’s conference call:

Crown Castle remains on track to close the sale of its small cell and fiber businesses in H1 2026, with the DOJ HSR review cleared and the $8.5 billion purchase price unchanged; management intends to use proceeds to pay down ~$7 billion of debt and allocate ~$1 billion to share repurchases, simplifying the company into a U.S.-only tower operator.
Crown terminated its contract with DISH after a default and is seeking in excess of $3.5 billion in remaining payments, while excluding DISH from 2026 guidance causes an expected $220 million revenue churn and introduces legal/collection uncertainty.
The company announced an accelerated restructuring to realign the standalone tower business, reducing continuing-operations headcount by ~20% to ~1,250 FTEs and targeting $65 million of annualized operating cost savings (≈$55 million impact in 2026).
Management reaffirmed its capital allocation framework — maintain the dividend at $4.25 annualized until a 75%–80% AFFO payout ratio is reached, target leverage of 6.0–6.5x, discretionary capex of $150–250 million, and mid-2026 guidance (site rental revenues ~$3.9B, adjusted EBITDA ~$2.7B, AFFO ~$1.9B) with organic growth expected to be ~3.5% at the midpoint and described as a near-term trough.

Crown Castle Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE:CCI traded up $1.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $86.19. 3,607,784 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,036,108. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.01 and its 200-day moving average is $94.27. Crown Castle has a twelve month low of $83.21 and a twelve month high of $115.76. The firm has a market cap of $37.53 billion, a PE ratio of -8.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.96.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Crown Castle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Crown Castle by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,444 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 87,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,000,000 after acquiring an additional 5,630 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 10,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,603 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CCI. New Street Research downgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $93.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $114.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Crown Castle from $112.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Crown Castle in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.38.

Check Out Our Latest Report on CCI

Key Headlines Impacting Crown Castle

Here are the key news stories impacting Crown Castle this week:

Positive Sentiment: Company issued FY‑2026 EPS guidance of $4.380–$4.490, which is above the prior consensus (~$3.74); that lifted hopes for full‑year earnings recovery and supported the stock. GlobeNewswire Release
Positive Sentiment: Management guided to modest growth in AFFO per share (AFFO/sh $4.43 midpoint) and higher net income at the midpoint, which provides a constructive cash‑flow outlook for 2026. GlobeNewswire Release
Neutral Sentiment: Q4 revenue came in roughly in line with expectations (~$1.07B vs. ~$1.06B estimate), reducing surprise on the top line even as other metrics diverged. Press Release / Slides
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and investor commentary is mixed — some pieces argue valuation already discounts cash‑flow risk while others point to a constructive “tower‑first” strategy; this keeps sentiment bifurcated. Yahoo Valuation Article
Negative Sentiment: Q4 EPS missed materially: $0.67 reported vs. $1.07 consensus — the earnings shortfall was the primary near‑term negative catalyst that pressured the stock in after‑hours trade. Benzinga: Q4 Reaction
Negative Sentiment: Key operating metrics showed pressure: site rental revenues and adjusted EBITDA are down year‑over‑year in the company outlook, signaling near‑term demand/lease mix headwinds. GlobeNewswire Release
Negative Sentiment: Jefferies trimmed its price target from $90 to $84 (still a Buy), a modest analyst downgrade that may cap near‑term upside until fundamentals clearly reaccelerate. Benzinga: Jefferies Note

About Crown Castle

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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.