What's in Store for Crown Castle Stock This Earnings Season?

Crown Castle Inc. CCI is scheduled to release its second-quarter 2025 results on July 23, after the closing bell. In anticipation of the announcement, industry analysts and investors are eager to assess the company's performance and prospects in the current economic climate.In the last reported quarter, this Houston, TX-based real estate investment trust’s (REIT) adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.8%. Results reflected a rise in services and other revenues year over year. However, a decline in site rental revenues affected the results to some extent.Over the preceding four quarters, CCI’s AFFO per share surpassed estimates on two occasions and missed in the remaining periods, with the average surprise being 1.79%. This is depicted in the graph below: Crown Castle Inc. Price and EPS Surprise Crown Castle Inc. price-eps-surprise | Crown Castle Inc. Quote Let’s see how things have shaped up before this announcement.Factors to Consider Ahead of CCI’s ResultsCrown Castle has an unmatched portfolio of wireless communication infrastructure assets in the United States. As wireless data consumption is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, service providers will likely continue their network expansion and densification efforts to meet this incremental demand.However, customer concentration remains a concern. Any loss of its customers or consolidation among them is likely to have impacted the company’s top line. Also, high interest expenses are likely to have been a spoilsport for CCI during the to-be-reported quarter.Projections for Q2The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues is pegged at $1.04 billion, indicating a decrease of 36.2% from the year-ago reported number.Our estimate for quarterly tower site rental revenues stands at $983.5 million, implying a 7.6% decrease year over year. However, we estimate tower services and other revenues to increase 19.7% year over year to $51.5 million.We expect second-quarter 2025 interest expenses and amortization of deferred financing costs to rise 7.5% year over year.Crown Castle’s activities in the to-be-reported quarter were inadequate to garner analysts’ confidence. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly AFFO per share has been revised a cent downward to $1.00 over the past three months. The figure indicates 38.3% decrease from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.What Our Quantitative Model PredictsOur proven model does not conclusively predict a surprise in terms of AFFO per share for Crown Castle this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an AFFO beat, which is not the case here.Crown Castle currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank of 3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.Stocks That Warrant a LookHere are two stocks from the broader REIT industry — American Tower AMT and Vornado Realty Trust VNO — that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to report a surprise this quarter.AMT, scheduled to report quarterly numbers on July 29, has an Earnings ESP of +1.08% and a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Vornado is slated to report quarterly numbers on Aug. 4. VNO has an Earnings ESP of +2.83% and carries a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.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.One Big Gain, Every Trading DayTo help you take full advantage of this market, you’re invited to access every stock recommendation in all our private portfolios - for just $1.Zacks private portfolio services that closed 256 double and triple-digit winners in 2024 alone. That’s about one big gain every day the market was open. Of course, not all our picks are winners, but members have seen recent gains as high as +627% +1,340%, and +1,708%.Imagine how much you could profit with a steady stream of real-time picks from all our services that cover a number of strategies to suit a variety of investing and trading styles.See Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American Tower Corporation (AMT): Free Stock Analysis Report Crown Castle Inc. (CCI): Free Stock Analysis Report Vornado Realty Trust (VNO): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks