Sep 30, 2023

Crown Castle Q3 2023 Earnings Report

Reported third quarter results and provided outlook for full year 2024.

Key Takeaways

Crown Castle reported a 1% increase in site rental revenues, reaching $1,577 million, and a net income of $265 million for Q3 2023. The company's full year 2023 outlook remains consistent with expectations of 5% tower organic revenue growth and deployment of 10,000 small cell nodes. The company expects full year 2024 organic growth excluding the impact of Sprint Cancellations of 4.5% from towers, 13% from small cells, based on plans to deliver approximately 14,000 small cell nodes, and 3% from fiber solutions to generate consolidated organic revenue growth of 5%.

Site rental revenues grew by 1% to $1,577 million in Q3 2023, driven by a $53 million Organic Contribution to Site Rental Billings.

Net income for Q3 2023 was $265 million, which included $72 million in restructuring charges.

Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 2023 was $1.05 billion, a decrease compared to $1.08 billion for Q3 2022, primarily due to lower services contribution.

Crown Castle paid common stock dividends of approximately $680 million during the quarter, an increase of 6.5% on a per share basis compared to the same period a year ago.

Total Revenue
$1.67B
Previous year: $1.75B
-4.5%
EPS
$1.77
Previous year: $1.85
-4.3%
Total Towers
40K
Previous year: 40K
+0.0%
Route Miles of Fiber
85K
Previous year: 85K
+0.0%
Gross Profit
$1.18B
Previous year: $1.22B
-3.4%
Cash and Equivalents
$284M
Previous year: $174M
+63.2%
Free Cash Flow
$186M
Total Assets
$38.7B
Previous year: $38.9B
-0.4%

Crown Castle

Crown Castle

Crown Castle Revenue by Segment

Forward Guidance

Crown Castle expects full year 2024 organic growth excluding the impact of Sprint Cancellations of 4.5% from towers, 13% from small cells, based on plans to deliver approximately 14,000 small cell nodes, and 3% from fiber solutions to generate consolidated organic revenue growth of 5%. The company plans to deploy discretionary capital, net of prepaid rent additions of $430 million, totaling approximately $1.2 billion which the company expects to fund without issuing equity in 2024.

Positive Outlook

  • Expects full year 2024 organic growth excluding the impact of Sprint Cancellations of 4.5% from towers.
  • Expects full year 2024 organic growth excluding the impact of Sprint Cancellations of 13% from small cells, based on plans to deliver approximately 14,000 small cell nodes.
  • Expects full year 2024 organic growth excluding the impact of Sprint Cancellations of 3% from fiber solutions
  • Expects to generate consolidated organic revenue growth of 5%.
  • Plans to deploy discretionary capital, net of prepaid rent additions of $430 million, totaling approximately $1.2 billion which the company expects to fund without issuing equity in 2024.

Challenges Ahead

  • Expects full year 2024 site rental revenues between $6,347 million and $6,392 million, down from $6,488 million to $6,533 million in the current full year 2023 outlook.
  • Expects full year 2024 net income (loss) between $1,213 million and $1,293 million, down from $1,429 million to $1,509 million in the current full year 2023 outlook.
  • Expects full year 2024 Adjusted EBITDA between $4,138 million and $4,188 million, down from $4,399 million to $4,444 million in the current full year 2023 outlook.
  • Expects full year 2024 AFFO between $2,980 million and $3,030 million, down from $3,261 million to $3,296 million in the current full year 2023 outlook.
  • Expects full year 2024 AFFO per share between $6.85 and $6.97, down from $7.50 to $7.58 in the current full year 2023 outlook.

Revenue & Expenses

Visualization of income flow from segment revenue to net income