Crown Castle Inc. (CCI) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

Crown Castle's P/E of 46.9 is above its own 5-year median of 36.5.

P/E above the industry

Crown Castle's P/E of 46.9 is above the Miscellaneous Investing median of 26.3.

EV/EBITDA below its 5-year median

Crown Castle's EV/EBITDA of 21.2 is below its 5-year median of 23.0.

P/S above the industry

Crown Castle's price-to-sales of 9.28 is above the Miscellaneous Investing median of 4.14 (book value is negative, so we use sales).

Trading above fair value

The share price of $89.06 is above our fair value estimate of $63.85.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 39.5% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew -15.2% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing under 10% a year

Diluted EPS grew -36.0% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings acceleration

Needs positive net income now, a year ago and five years ago.

Growing slower than the industry

Revenue grew -5.3% over the last twelve months; the Miscellaneous Investing median is 4.6%.

Guidance raised

Crown Castle raised its Full Year 2026 Site rental revenues outlook on Oct 21, 2026.

Gross margin improving

Gross margin was 97.9% over the last twelve months, against 97.4% a year earlier.

Return on equity

Needs positive equity and five years of results.

Return on invested capital

Needs operating income and invested capital.

Return on equity against the industry

Needs positive equity.

Earnings over 5 years

Needs positive net income five years ago and in the latest year.

Net margin against its history

Needs five years of revenue and net income.

Net margin above the industry

Crown Castle's net margin of 20.1% is above the Miscellaneous Investing median of 10.3%.

Debt level

Needs debt and equity figures.

Debt trend

Needs a balance sheet from five years ago with positive equity.

Debt not well covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 11.0% of total debt; we look for at least 20%.

Interest not well covered

Operating income covers interest expense 2.2 times; we look for at least 5.

Short-term assets don't cover short-term debts

Current assets are 0.23 times current liabilities.

Elevated bankruptcy risk

The Altman Z-score is -0.11; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

Crown Castle paid dividends worth 4.8% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield above Treasuries

The 4.8% yield is above the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield in the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.8% or more; Crown Castle yields 4.8%.

Dividend was cut

The dividend per share fell by more than 10% at least once in the last 10 fiscal years.

Not covered by earnings

The company lost money, so earnings do not cover the dividend.

Not covered by free cash flow

Free cash flow was negative, so the dividend was paid from other sources.