Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) executives used the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call to outline a year of significant transition, highlighting progress toward selling its small cell and fiber businesses, steps taken after DISH’s payment default, and a refreshed 2026 outlook that excludes DISH contributions and reflects planned cost reductions and anticipated debt repayment.
2025 performance and a simplified go-forward strategy
Chief Executive Officer Chris Hillabrant said Crown Castle delivered its full-year 2025 guidance and exceeded the midpoint across key metrics, citing operational execution across the portfolio. Chief Financial Officer Sunit Patel added that 2025 results included 4.9% organic growth excluding Sprint churn, with outperformance in site rental revenue and higher-than-expected services contribution helping adjusted EBITDA and FFO exceed the high end of the company’s guidance range.
Small cell and fiber sale: timeline and regulatory update
Hillabrant reiterated that the company remains on track to close the sale of the small cell and fiber businesses in the first half of 2026. Patel said Crown Castle’s 2026 outlook assumes the transaction closes on June 30, 2026, and reminded listeners that due to the agreement to sell the fiber segment, those results are reported as discontinued operations and are excluded from 2026 guidance except as otherwise noted.
On the regulatory front, Hillabrant said the Department of Justice has closed its Hart-Scott-Rodino review and is not requiring any action related to the transaction. He described “a handful of approvals remaining at the state and federal level,” adding that progress has been steady and nothing unexpected has emerged. In response to an analyst question, management said there was no change to the previously announced $8.5 billion purchase price, aside from normal transaction costs and closing adjustments.
DISH default: contract termination and recovery efforts
A central theme of the call was Crown Castle’s response to DISH’s payment default. Hillabrant said DISH defaulted in January, prompting Crown Castle to exercise its right to terminate the agreement. He said the company is seeking to recover “in excess of $3.5 billion” in remaining payments under the contract, describing the termination as the contractual remedy following a default and saying the company is “vigorously enforcing” its rights.
Management also addressed the potential timeline for legal proceedings. Hillabrant said Crown Castle has filed suit and is taking additional steps to defend shareholder interests, but cautioned that court resolution “could be anywhere from a year or longer.” When asked about the operational implications of a customer not paying, Hillabrant said that under the terms of the contract, once terminated it is the customer’s obligation to remove equipment in a timely manner, though he declined to discuss specific provisions beyond that.
Hillabrant added that Crown Castle supports putting spectrum “into active use,” citing support for AT&T and SpaceX obtaining certain DISH spectrum bands, but emphasized the company will continue to enforce its contract rights with DISH.
Restructuring plan and cost reductions
In response to DISH’s default and as part of the company’s transition to a standalone tower model, Hillabrant announced a restructuring plan. He said Crown Castle is reducing its tower and corporate workforce in continuing operations by approximately 20%, ending at about 1,250 full-time employees, and expects a $65 million reduction in annualized run-rate operating costs. The majority of staffing reductions are expected to take effect in the first quarter of 2026, while non-labor reductions will be phased in following the anticipated sale close.
Patel said the $65 million run-rate savings will have a $55 million impact in 2026 and a $10 million incremental impact in 2027 due to timing. He later detailed where the in-year savings are expected to appear:
- Roughly $45 million in SG&A
- About $5 million in site rental cost of sales
- About $5 million in services costs
2026 outlook and capital allocation priorities
Patel said that at the midpoint for 2026, Crown Castle expects site rental revenues of $3.9 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $2.7 billion, and AFFO of $1.9 billion. He said the outlook is “meaningfully impacted” by three factors: exclusion of DISH revenue following the contract termination (resulting in $220 million of churn in 2026), the assumption of a June 30 close for the asset sale, and the impact of cost reductions.
At the midpoint, the company’s 2026 organic growth outlook is 3.3% excluding Sprint and DISH impacts. Patel said organic growth would be 3.5% if DISH revenues are excluded from prior-year site rental billings, compared with 3.8% for full-year 2025 on a comparable basis. Management said it expects 2026 to mark a low point for organic growth, pointing to continued mobile data demand, spectrum acquired by the major U.S. mobile network operators, and expected future FCC spectrum auctions as potential tailwinds. Patel also said about 80% of the company’s organic growth is contracted.
Patel said that while site rental billings are expected to decline due to Sprint cancellations, DISH churn, and lower straight-line revenues and amortization of prepaid rent, several factors are expected to offset that pressure—most notably a projected $120 million decrease in interest expense driven largely by anticipated debt repayment after the sale closes. Hillabrant said the company plans to use sale proceeds to repay approximately $7 billion of debt and allocate approximately $1 billion to share repurchases, consistent with maintaining a target leverage range of 6.0x to 6.5x and preserving an investment-grade credit profile.
On dividends, Hillabrant reaffirmed Crown Castle’s plan to maintain an annualized dividend of $4.25 per share until the company reaches its target payout ratio of 75% to 80% of AFFO, excluding the impact of amortization of prepaid rent, and then grow the dividend in line with AFFO under the same adjustment.
Separately, Hillabrant reiterated plans to invest $150 million to $250 million of annual net capital expenditures for tower additions and modifications, land purchases under towers, and technology investments to enhance and automate systems. Management also discussed being selective on potential new tower builds, noting higher construction costs since COVID and an emphasis on pursuing opportunities with attractive economics, including scenarios where at least two tenants are committed.
About Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI)
Crown Castle is a U.S.-focused communications infrastructure company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, operates and leases shared wireless infrastructure. Its primary business consists of providing tower-based site leases, small cell networks and fiber solutions that support mobile voice and data transmission for wireless carriers, cable companies and other enterprise customers. The company’s assets are positioned to enable network coverage and capacity, including the densification projects associated with 4G LTE and 5G deployments.
Its product and service offerings include ground-based tower sites that host multiple wireless operators, distributed small cell nodes and associated fiber backhaul used to connect sites into carrier networks, and site development and maintenance services.
