Houston, Texas-based Crown Castle Inc. (CCI) owns, operates, and leases shared communications infrastructure that is geographically dispersed throughout the United States. With a market cap of $52.1 billion, Crown Castle operates through Towers, Fiber, and Other segments.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks," Crown Castle fits right into that category, with its market cap exceeding this threshold, reflecting its substantial size, influence, and dominance in the specialty REIT industry. It manages over 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber-supporting small cells and fiber solutions across the U.S.
Crown Castle hit its 52-week high of $120.31 in yesterday’s trading session before slightly pulling back. CCI has gained 19.8% over the past three months, outpacing the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 3.3% gains during the same time frame.
Over the longer term, CCI has underperformed SPX. CCI gained 21.9% over the past 52 weeks and 4.3% in 2024, lagging behind SPX’s 23.8% gains over the past year and 16.4% returns on a YTD basis.
To confirm the recent bullish trend, CCI has been consistently trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since mid-July.
Shares of Crown Castle saw a marginal decline in the trading session after the release of its Q2 earnings on Jul. 17. The company has been grappling with several operational challenges, resulting in a notable decline in both revenues and net income. Crown Castle reported a 12.9% year over year decrease in net revenues to $1.6 billion, while its net income saw an even steeper drop of 44.8%, falling to $251 million.
Furthermore, its full-year site rental revenue guidance of $6.3 billion indicates a 2.9% decline compared to the previous year. And its adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) are projected to decrease by 7.7% to $6.97, heightening investor concerns.
Crown Castle’s competitor, American Tower Corporation (AMT), has outperformed CCI. AMT has gained 32.6% over the past year and 10.7% in 2024.
Among the 19 analysts covering CCI stock, the consensus rating is a “Hold.” Although CCI is trading above its mean price target of $110.56, the Street-high target of $127 represents a potential upside of 5.7% from current price levels.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
