Crown Castle Inc.
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 cel…
$78.65
-$2.49 (-3.07%)
Price from 2 days ago
48.66% operating margin is above average. ROIC at 6.58%. Note that capital returns lag the margin, the business may be capital-intensive despite high margins.
Revenue declined 4.4% YoY. The question is whether this is cyclical or a structural shift.
At 40x earnings, the current multiple leaves limited room for execution misses or growth deceleration. Net debt of $32.25B represents 11.2x FCF, leverage limits flexibility.
39.9x earnings, 13.9x FCF. Not cheap, the quality is already reflected in the price. Upside from here requires either margin expansion or growth re-acceleration, not just continuation.
Price History
Valuation & Multiples
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$4.16B
▼ -4.4% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
$862M
▲ +111.4% YoY
Op. Margin
47.66%
▲ +1.2pp YoY
ROIC
6.83%
▲ +0.2pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
$2.41B
▲ +3.9% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$2.62B
▲ +3.9% YoY
Net Debt
$22.36B
Cash & Equiv.
$1.04B
5Y CAGR: -6.1%
5Y CAGR: +15.0%
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SourceComputed from the 10-Q filed 3 Aug 2026, covering the period ending 30 Jun 2026, as reported to the SEC. Data last refreshed 3 Oct 2026. How this is calculated.
Price from market data, last close as of 21 Oct 2026. Fiscal year ends Dec. Sector medians are approximate S&P 500 benchmarks and update periodically.
Is Crown Castle (CCI) overvalued?
At a P/E of 39.9 and a price-to-free-cash-flow of 13.9, Crown Castle (CCI) trades around a two-stage DCF intrinsic value of about $95.93 per share, so at $78.65 the stock looks around fair value (22.0% below estimated intrinsic value). A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in how to tell if a stock is overvalued.
On quality, Crown Castle scores 26/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a lower-quality business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. It currently yields about 6.9%; see dividend safety for coverage and history. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology, or see how the market compares in our US profitability statistics. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Frequently asked
What is Crown Castle's fair value?+
Intrinsiqq's two-stage DCF estimates an intrinsic value of about $95.93 per share for CCI, projecting its recent free cash flow forward with a growth rate that fades toward a long-run rate and discounting it back to today. Applying a 25% margin of safety gives a more conservative fair-value entry around $71.95. At today's $78.65, that puts the stock about 22.0% below estimated intrinsic value. The result is sensitive to the growth and discount-rate inputs, so it is best to run conservative, base and optimistic cases. You can adjust all of them yourself with the sliders on the DCF tab.
Is Crown Castle a high-quality business?+
Crown Castle scores 26 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 8 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a lower-quality business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a 47.7% operating margin and a 6.8% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Does Crown Castle (CCI) pay a dividend, and how much?+
Yes, Crown Castle pays a regular dividend of about $5.30 per share per year (typically in quarterly installments), a yield of roughly 6.9% at the current price. That is a payout ratio of about 266.9% of earnings, so the dividend is stretched at this level. A low headline yield is not the same as a weak dividend: what matters is how well earnings and free cash flow cover the payout and whether it is growing, not the percentage alone. For CCI's full payout history, growth streak and dividend-safety score, see the dividends tab.
Is Crown Castle a good stock to buy right now?+
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. CCI currently trades around its estimated intrinsic value and scores 26/100 on quality (lower-quality). It also yields about 6.9%. A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.
Related stocks: Real Estate Investment Trusts
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR filings and third-party price providers. Scores, valuations, and metrics are algorithmic estimates. This is not investment advice. See our Terms and Methodology.
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