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Research · S&P 500 · Real Estate

CCI · Crown Castle

The numbers, the scorecard and what analysts say, with the source for each. Information, not advice.

Price · last 3 months · daily close

CCI price

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Daily closing prices via yfinance. Quotes are delayed. Past prices are not a guarantee of future results.

Value Scorecard · run 2026-10-19

13 value checks: 12 scored 1 to 5 where the data allows, plus moat evidence

22/55
low-moderate value score11 of 12 checks scored

The REIT version isn't used for this company: its 10-K filings have no Nareit FFO line. Its checks are the standard ones, which don't fully fit how a REIT works.

11 of the 12 checks that carry a score were scored from the data available. 1 could not be scored (ROE Trend) and was left out, so the score is out of 55 instead of 60. The label uses the same share of the available points as for a full scorecard. The moat is shown as evidence from the filings, without a score.

Earnings & returns

EPS Trend

1/5

Diluted EPS: $3.86 (2022), $3.46 (2023), -$8.98 (2024), $1.01 (2025). The latest figure is half the 2022 figure or less; the framework scores that as 1.

ROE Trend

Not scored

Shareholder equity is negative in 2024, 2025, so ROE has no meaningful value and is not scored.

ROIC

2/5

ROIC of 7.7%: operating income of $2.08B divided by $27.04B of capital (total assets $31.52B minus current liabilities $4.48B), fiscal year to Dec 31, 2025, as filed in the 10-K (SEC EDGAR). The framework scores 5-10% as 2.

Profit Margins

5/5

Net margin of 20.7%; the framework scores above 20% as 5; gross margin 73.7%, operating margin 46.8%.

Balance sheet & cash

Debt-to-Equity

1/5

Shareholder equity is negative, so debt-to-equity has no meaningful value (total debt $23.40B, total cash $1.04B). The framework scores negative equity as 1. Calculated from the balance sheet in yfinance (at Jun 30, 2026) because yfinance's summary figure was not available.

Free Cash Flow

4/5

Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capital expenditure): $1.57B (2022), $2.88B (2023), $2.77B (2024), $2.88B (2025). It rose every year but one and ended above 2022; the framework scores that as 4.

Retained Earnings

1/5

Retained earnings, as filed in the 10-Ks (SEC EDGAR): -$10.67B (2022), -$11.89B (2023), -$18.52B (2024), -$20.16B (2025). The latest balance is negative (an accumulated deficit); the framework scores that as 1. REITs are required to pay out most of their taxable income, which commonly leaves this balance negative.

Valuation models

Graham IV

1/5

IV = EPS x (8.5 + 2g) x (4.4 / Y) = $2.46 x (8.5 + 2 x 0.0) x (4.4 / 4.5) = $20.45 (EPS CAGR -46.0% floored at 0%; the formula returns a negative value below -4.25% growth). Current price $81.06; price is 296.5% above the model value.

DCF Value

1/5

FCF/share = $2.436, stage 1 growth = 0.0% (revenue CAGR -5.1% floored at 0%; the company is valued as if it does not grow rather than extrapolating the decline) for 5 years, terminal growth = 3%, discount rate = 10%. Stage 1 PV = $9.23, PV of terminal value = $22.25, DCF value = $31.49. Current price $81.06; price is 157.4% above the model value.

Margin of Safety

1/5

Graham value $20.45 (price is 296.5% above the model value); DCF value $31.49 (price is 157.4% above the model value).

Price-to-Book

1/5

Book value is negative; the framework scores negative book value as 1.

Business quality

Moat Evidence

Not scored

A moat (a brand, a network, switching costs, patents, scale, a licence) is not a number in the filings, so Valerius doesn’t score it. Below are the figures and the words moat analysis starts from, from the company’s own 10-K filings. The conclusion is yours.

Return on capital, each year

Above 15% in 0 of 10 years (2016-2025); lowest 3.1%, highest 7.7%.

2016: 4.4%, 2017: 3.1%, 2018: 4.4%, 2019: 4.3%, 2020: 5.1%, 2021: 5.4%, 2022: 6.7%, 2023: 5.8%, 2024: 6.9%, 2025: 7.7%

Gross margin, each year

Between 13.8% and 47.4% over 10 years (a range of 33.6 points).

2016: 39.4%, 2017: 23.4%, 2018: 24.4%, 2019: 21.8%, 2020: 13.8%, 2021: 29.3%, 2022: 33.1%, 2023: 27.8%, 2024: 44.3%, 2025: 47.4%

Competition, in the company’s own words · 10-K filed Feb 23, 2026

We face competition for site rental tenants from various sources, including (1) other independent tower owners or operators, including competitors that own, operate, or manage towers, rooftops, broadcast or transmission towers, (2) owners or operators of small cells, including the operators of our small cell assets following the closure of our Strategic Fiber Transaction, (3) tenants who own or operate their own

The opening of the company’s “Competition” section in its 10-K, quoted word for word, not summarized or edited. It is the company’s own description, not Valerius’s view, and may include the company’s expectations. Open the filing.

Return on capital = operating income / (total assets − current liabilities), the ROIC row’s definition; 15% is the framework’s return threshold. Gross margin = gross profit / revenue. Both from each year’s 10-K via SEC EDGAR. Moat analysis commonly looks at whether returns and margins held up over many years. These figures don’t say whether the company has an advantage, what it is, or whether it will last.

Capital Allocation

4/5

Capital allocation, 2022-2025: dividends or buybacks paid in every year (pass); $10.29B paid out against $10.09B of free cash flow (fail: paid out more than free cash flow); total debt $27.96B to $29.57B, up 5.7%, 10.8x EBITDA (pass: not up more than 10%); shares outstanding 0.43B to 0.44B, up 0.6% (pass). 3 of 4 tests passed; the framework scores that as 4.

Filings

Company notices to the SEC

Not scored

Three kinds of event the company reported to the SEC in the last 5 years, from its filings on SEC EDGAR.

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These are events the company reported to the SEC. An auditor change or a late filing can have many causes; each date links to the filing, where the company explains it. Valerius does not score these.

How the Graham and DCF values were calculated
  Graham Formula:
    IV = EPS x (8.5 + 2g) x (4.4 / Y)
    EPS = $2.46, g = 0.0%, Y = 4.5
    g floored at 0.0% (3-year EPS CAGR was -46.0%; below -4.25% the formula returns a negative value)
    IV = $20.45
    Current price $81.06 vs Graham value $20.45 — price is 296.5% above the model value.

  DCF:
    FCF/share = $2.436
    Stage 1 growth = 0.0% for 5 years | terminal growth = 3.0% | discount rate = 10.0%
    Stage 1 g floored at 0.0% (3-year revenue CAGR was -5.1%; the company is valued as if it does not grow rather than extrapolating the decline)
      Y1: $2.436 → PV $2.214
      Y2: $2.436 → PV $2.013
      Y3: $2.436 → PV $1.830
      Y4: $2.436 → PV $1.664
      Y5: $2.436 → PV $1.512
    Stage 1 PV sum = $9.23
    Terminal value at end of Y5 = $35.84
    PV of terminal value = $22.25
    DCF value = $31.49
    Current price $81.06 vs DCF value $31.49 — price is 157.4% above the model value.

Data from yfinance summary figures and financial statements, and from the company’s 10-K filings via SEC EDGAR; computed at a price of $81.06. Every score is calculated from the figures by the framework’s fixed rules, and the explanation beside it is generated from the same figures: Graham value, DCF value, margin of safety, ROIC, profit margins, debt-to-equity, price-to-book, EPS trend, ROE trend, free cash flow, retained earnings and capital allocation. No AI is involved in this scorecard. The moat is shown as evidence, without a score. Read each score with the figures beside it. A check that cannot be scored from the available data is shown as not scored and left out of the composite score. Intrinsic value calculations are model outputs based on stated assumptions, not predictions.

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In the news

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The 8 newest headlines whose title names the company, shown automatically and never chosen by Valerius. From third-party publishers via Yahoo Finance, linked to the source. Valerius doesn't write or endorse them. Not investment advice.