Crown Castle raised its 2026 outlook after a quarter in which lower interest expense helped lift total AFFO, while a smaller share count boosted AFFO per share.
The U.S. tower operator reported net revenues of $995 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026, down from $1.072 billion a year earlier. Site rental revenue was $966 million, down 5%, while services and other revenue contributed $29 million. Net income fell to $283 million from $323 million, and diluted earnings per share declined to 67 cents from 74 cents. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 6% to $673 million from $718 million.
Crown Castle increased its 2026 midpoint outlook for Adjusted EBITDA to $2.715 billion from $2.690 billion and for adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) to $1.980 billion from $1.975 billion. The site rental revenue midpoint rose to $3.875 billion from $3.855 billion. The company projects core leasing activity closer to the $60 million end of its $60 million to $70 million range. It also lowered its site rental operating-cost midpoint by $5 million, citing ground lease buyouts and efficiencies. Discretionary capital expenditure guidance increased by $40 million, to a range of $190 million to $290 million, as ground lease buyout activity rose.
Quarterly AFFO increased 8% to $530 million, or $1.24 per share, from $490 million, or $1.12 per share. Crown Castle said lower interest expense supported AFFO, while fewer outstanding shares boosted AFFO per share; revenue changes partly offset the improvement. The company applied proceeds from its business sales toward these benefits.
Crown Castle completed the sale of its Fiber Solutions business to Zayo Group Holdings Inc. and its Small Cell business to Arium Networks, an EQT company, on May 1, 2026. The stated purchase price was $8.5 billion, or about $8.4 billion after preliminary adjustments. The company reported $35 million in third-quarter organic contribution to site rental billings, alongside adverse impacts of $61 million from DISH terminations and $5 million from Sprint cancellations.
MT Newswires reported that Crown Castle’s quarterly net revenues were below a FactSet estimate of $1.01 billion; the company’s release did not include an analyst estimate. Crown Castle’s U.S. portfolio includes about 40,000 cell towers. It classifies AFFO and Adjusted EBITDA as non-GAAP measures and cautions that similarly named measures at other companies may not be comparable.
