Crown Castle Q3 AFFO Up 11%, Lifts 2026 EBITDA and AFFO Outlook
CCI sits 16% above its 52-week low of $65.32.
Summary
Crown Castle reported Q3 AFFO per share of $1.24, up 11%, and raised 2026 Adjusted EBITDA guidance by $25M and AFFO by $5M, with revenue down 4.5% on previously disclosed DISH and Sprint churn.
Key Events · Earnings and Guidance · CCI
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Q3 AFFO Beats on Per-Share Growth
AFFO of $530M, or $1.24 per share, rose 8% and 11% respectively from Q3 2025, helped by lower interest expense and a smaller share count after the fiber sale.
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Revenue Down 4.5% on Known Churn
Site rental revenues fell to $966M from $1,012M, driven by $61M of DISH terminations and $5M of Sprint cancellations; organic growth excluding those was 3.8%.
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2026 Guidance Raised
Adjusted EBITDA midpoint lifted $25M to $2,715M and AFFO midpoint $5M to $1,980M ($4.60/share), on ground lease buyouts, cost efficiencies and a customer agreement.
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Capex Outlook Up $40M
Discretionary capital expenditures guidance rose to $190M-$290M from $150M-$250M, tracking the higher ground lease buyout activity that also lifted EBITDA.
Analysis · CCI · Real Estate & Construction
For a REIT, the cash-flow line is what counts, and Crown Castle beat there while raising full-year guidance: AFFO per share of $1.24 rose 11% year over year even as site rental revenue fell 4.5% to $966M. The revenue decline reflects the known DISH termination ($61M) and Sprint churn ($5M), not new deterioration — organic growth excluding those items was 3.8%. Management lifted the 2026 Adjusted EBITDA midpoint by $25M to $2,715M and AFFO by $5M to $1,980M, citing ground lease buyouts, cost efficiencies and a customer agreement. The offset: discretionary capex guidance rose $40M for the same land buyouts, so the AFFO raise is modest relative to the EBITDA raise. The quiet positive is the balance sheet — $17.6B net debt at 6.5x, 97% fixed rate, and ~$4.0B undrawn revolver.
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In the 30 days to Oct 21, 2026, 28.9% of the 1511 measured filings Wiseek scored 7 moved their stock by 5% or more by the next session's close. The median move was -0.54%. These are measured outcomes after filings of this importance, not a forecast for this one.
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At the time of this filing, CCI was trading at $75.57 on NYSE in the Real Estate & Construction sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $33.5B. The 52-week trading range was $65.32 to $100.50. This filing was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10.