CluenexCrown Castle CCI
Crown Castle scores average on business quality (5.2 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Crown Castle does
Crown Castle owns and operates cell towers and fiber infrastructure, leasing space to wireless carriers who pay recurring rent to power their mobile networks. The company is preparing for its third quarter 2026 earnings conference call amidst ongoing portfolio adjustments.
- What it does best
Crown Castle secures an operating margin of 48.3%, standing above peer SBAC at 54.0% but maintaining dense asset placement. This scale creates localized switching barriers that make carrier relocation cost-prohibitive.
- The main risk
With net debt sitting at $24.2 billion and interest coverage at 2.1x, higher borrowing costs severely squeeze net earnings when debt needs refinancing.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margin of 48.3% and an FCF margin in the top decile of its sector show elite cash conversion, though profitability faces headwinds from top-line contraction.
Operating margin in the top decile of its sector locks in major carriers through entrenched site locations that rivals cannot easily replicate.
Revenue contracted at a rate of 4.4% over the latest period, continuing a downward trend from prior annual figures.
Total debt of $24.3B creates heavy interest burdens, though free cash flow reached $2.4B, pointing to softening financial footing.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
1 sold $114K outside pre-planned sales.
Our sealed record on CCI
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Crown Castle scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.2 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is strong, moat fair, growth slow and financial health fair.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 1 sold $114K outside pre-planned sales.
Oct 21, 2026.
See CCI today
- Today's verdict on CCI, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Crown Castle (CCI)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/cci/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.