Yahoo Finance Crown Castle's (CCI) Q1 AFFO Beat, Site-Rental Revenues Fall
Crown Castle Inc.’s CCI first-quarter 2024 adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share of $1.72 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.71. Net revenues of $1.64 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.63 billion.
However, AFFO per share reported a 9.9% decline year over year. Net revenues fell 7.4% year over year.
Crown Castle Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Crown Castle Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Crown Castle Inc. Quote
Site-Rental Revenues Decrease
CCI’s total site-rental revenues fell 2.2% year over year to $1.59 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The figure was higher than our estimate of $1.57 billion. The downside was driven by a decrease in towers and fiber segment site rental revenues.
Site-rental revenues in the towers segment declined 1.2% year over year to $1.07 billion. It was slightly higher than our estimate of $1.06 billion. The year-over-year decrease was due to the slowdown in tower activity related to the early stage of the 5G investment cycle.
Site-rental revenues in the fiber segment fell 4.2% year over year to $520 million. It was higher than our estimate of $507.7 million. The fall was mainly due to the decrease in organic contribution to site rental billings.
Apart from a decline in total site-rental revenues, network services and other revenues came in at $53 million, which plunged 64.4% from the prior-year quarter. It was lower than our estimate of $61 million.
Operating Expenses Fall
CCI’s quarterly site-rental cost of operations increased 3.6% year over year to $430 million. The figure was higher than our estimate of $416.1 million.
The company reported services and other cost of operations of $34 million in the quarter. It decreased 67.3% from the prior-year quarter. It was lower than our estimate of $45.1 million.
Financial Position
Crown Castle exited the first quarter of 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $125 million, up from $105 million reported as of Dec 31, 2023. Moreover, debt and other long-term obligations aggregated $22.56 billion as of Mar 31, 2023, increasing 2.1% sequentially.
2024 Guidance
Crown Castle maintained its guidance for 2024 AFFO per share in the range of $6.85-$6.97. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $6.92, which is within the guided range.
Site rental revenues are expected to be between $6.347 billion and $6.392 billion, while the adjusted EBITDA is estimated to be in the band of $4.138-$4.188 billion.
Crown Castle currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Upcoming Earnings Releases
We now look forward to the earnings releases of other REITs like Alexandria Real Estate Equities ARE and Welltower WELL, slated to report on Apr 22 and Apr 29, respectively. Meanwhile, Ventas VTR is scheduled for May 1.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Alexandria’s first-quarter 2024 FFO per share is pegged at $2.32, implying a 5.9% year-over-year increase. ARE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Welltower’s first-quarter 2024 FFO per share is pegged at 94 cents, suggesting a year-over-year rise of 10.6%. WELL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ventas’ first-quarter 2024 FFO per share stands at 75 cents, indicating a 1.4% rise year over year. VTR currently has a Zacks Rank #3.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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