Crown Castle (CCI) Q2 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved solid Q2 2026 results, completing the sale of small cell and fiber businesses for $8.4 billion, transforming into a pure-play U.S. tower operator.

• Focused on operational efficiencies, increasing land ownership, investing in automation, and system modernization to enhance customer experience and shareholder returns.

• Q2 2026 site rental revenues were $1,008 million, down year-over-year, while AFFO rose to $488 million, up 10% year-over-year.

• Pursuing a $3.5 billion contractual claim in DISH Wireless bankruptcy, with a $2.4 billion escrow account established for vendor claims.

• Positioned to benefit from edge compute infrastructure demand, mobile data growth, and upcoming spectrum auctions.

Financial highlights

• Q2 2026 site rental revenues were $1,008 million, down from $1,049 million in Q2 2025, with organic growth of 3.9% (4.2% excluding DISH revenues from prior year).

• AFFO for Q2 2026 was $488 million, up $44 million year-over-year, benefiting from a $35 million decrease in interest expense and $14 million increase in interest income.

• Completed $1 billion in share repurchases at $88.66/share, retiring over 11 million shares and reducing annual dividend obligation by $47 million.

• Repaid $7.2 billion in debt, including $5 billion in floating rate debt and $1.75 billion in unsecured notes.

• Q2 2026 net income was $94 million, a 68% decrease from Q2 2025; diluted EPS was $0.22, down from $0.67.

Outlook and guidance

• Raised full-year 2026 AFFO guidance midpoint to $1,975 million, up $5 million from previous outlook and 4% from 2025.

• Full-year 2026 site rental revenues expected at $3,850 million midpoint, up $5 million from prior outlook, but down 5% from 2025 due to tenant churn.

• Adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2026 is $2,690 million midpoint, with a range of $2,665–$2,715 million.

• Organic contribution to site rental billings for 2026 projected at $135 million or 3.4% growth (excluding Sprint/DISH), up from $65 million prior.

• Discretionary CapEx outlook unchanged at $200 million ($160 million net of prepaid rent), with full-year range of $150–$250 million.