Crown Castle Inc. (CCI), with a market cap of $39 billion, is a leading real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in communications infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company owns and operates a vast portfolio of over 40,000 cell towers, approximately 120,000 small cell nodes, and over 85,000 route miles of fiber optic cable across the United States.
Crown Castle shares have underperformed the broader market over the past year. CCI has plunged 16.2% over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has rallied nearly 22.8%. In 2025, CCI stock is down marginally, compared to SPX’s 3.4% returns on a YTD basis.
Narrowing the focus, CCI has also lagged behind the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) over the past year. The exchange-traded fund has gained 10.5% over the past year and 3.6% in 2025.
Crown Castle shares have lagged the broader market over the past year due to a combination of strategic, operational, and financial concerns. The company’s potential $8 billion sale of its fiber unit to TPG Inc. (TPG) has raised investor skepticism, as it could significantly reduce dividends, which currently yield 6.97%. This uncertainty has contributed to a 15.8% decline in CCI’s stock over the past three months, underperforming its REIT peers and the S&P 500.
On Oct. 16, CCI shares rose over 1% after the release of its Q3 earnings results. Its FFO of $1.84 surpassed Wall Street expectations of $1.80. The company’s revenue was $1.7 billion, exceeding Wall Street forecasts of $1.6 billion. Looking ahead, Crown Castle expects a full-year FFO of $6.91 to $7.02.
Ahead of its fiscal 2024 release by the end of this month, analysts expect CCI to report an FFO decline of 11.7% to $6.67 on a diluted basis. The company’s earnings surprise history is impressive. It has consistently beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters.
Nevertheless, among the 20 analysts covering CCI stock, the consensus rating is a “Hold.” That’s based on five “Strong Buy” ratings, one “Moderate Buy,” 12 “Holds,” and two “Strong Sells.”
This configuration has been stable over the past months.
On Jan. 27, Crown Castle shares surged over 4% after JMP Securities initiated coverage with an “Outperform” rating and set a price target of $115.
The mean price target of $107.42 represents a 19% upswing from CCI’s current price levels. The Street-high price target of $128 suggests an upside potential of 41.8%.
