Crown Castle Inc. CCI is scheduled to release its second-quarter 2026 results on July 22, after the closing bell. In anticipation of the announcement, industry analysts and investors are eager to assess the company's performance and prospects in the current economic climate.
In the last reported quarter, this Houston, TX-based real estate investment trust’s (REIT) adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.99%. Results reflected a decline in site rental revenues.
Over the preceding four quarters, CCI’s AFFO per share surpassed estimates on all occasions, with the average surprise being 3.84%. This is depicted in the graph below:
Crown Castle Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Crown Castle Inc. price-eps-surprise | Crown Castle Inc. Quote
Let’s see how things have shaped up before this announcement.
Factors to Consider Ahead of CCI’s Results
Crown Castle has an unmatched portfolio of wireless communication infrastructure assets in the United States. As wireless data consumption is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, service providers are likely to have continued their network expansion and densification efforts to meet this incremental demand.
However, customer concentration remains a concern. Any loss of its customers or consolidation among them is likely to have impacted the company’s top line. Rapid technology change and uneven carrier build cycles might also have increased revenue variability for site leasing and related services.
CCI’s Projections for Q2
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues is pegged at $992.9 million, indicating a decrease of 6.3% from the year-ago reported number.
Our estimate for quarterly site rental revenues is pinned at $937.3 million, implying a 7% decrease year over year. However, we estimate services and other revenues to increase 2.3% year over year to $53.2 million.
Crown Castle’s activities in the to-be-reported quarter were inadequate to garner analysts’ confidence. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly AFFO per share remained unchanged at $1.00 over the past three months. The estimate indicates a 2% decrease from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.
What Our Quantitative Model Predicts for CCI
Our proven model does not conclusively predict a surprise in terms of AFFO per share for Crown Castle this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an AFFO beat, which is not the case here.
Crown Castle currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank of 3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks That Warrant a Look
Here are two stocks from the broader REIT industry — SL Green Realty SLG and BXP, Inc. BXP — that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to report a surprise this quarter.
SL Green is slated to report quarterly results on July 22. SLG has an Earnings ESP of +7.20% and carries a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
BXP is scheduled to report quarterly results on July 28. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.18% and a Zacks Rank of 3.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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Crown Castle Inc. (CCI): Free Stock Analysis Report
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SL Green Realty Corporation (SLG): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).