Crown Castle Inc Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Michael Rollins - Citigroup Inc - Analyst : Thanks, and good afternoon. And Chris, congratulations on becoming CEO of Crown Castle.

Question: Michael Rollins - Citigroup Inc - Analyst : So a couple questions. First, Chris, it'd be great to get your perspective. You shared some of it, of course, already in terms of some of your priorities and your initial takes. But as you look at the growth opportunities for Crown, can you frame maybe in more detail what are the opportunities to grow further with your existing customers and how that opportunity rates relative to the efficiency gains by digesting the Fiber operations and just looking for more opportunities to be more efficient and effective? And then just a second topic, if I could, just curious for an update on the relationship with EchoStar. Have you received any feedback in terms of what their approach to the network may be and how you look at collecting the rest of the contractual commitments that you have with that customer? Thanks.

Question: Michael Rollins - Citigroup Inc - Analyst : Thanks very much.

Question: Michael Funk - BofA Securities Inc - Analyst : Yes, hi. Good evening. Thank you again for the question. And Chris, congratulations on your new role.

Question: Michael Funk - BofA Securities Inc - Analyst : Yes, so a couple if I could. Following on the last one, we've heard carriers talk about less densification due to spectrum that they're acquiring. And just wondering if that's filtered through to your conversations with them, either maybe pulling back on plans that they had or discussions that they were having, or if it's too early and you wouldn't necessarily already had those conversations around densification.

Question: Michael Funk - BofA Securities Inc - Analyst : Great. And then, Sunit, a lot of discussion about efficiency efforts. Where would you say we are in that process today, if you had to put it in any?

Question: Michael Funk - BofA Securities Inc - Analyst : Great. Thank you, Chris and Sunit. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 22, 2025 / 8:30PM, CCI.N - Q3 2025 Crown Castle Inc Earnings Call

Question: Ric Prentiss - Raymond James & Associates Inc - Analyst : Thanks. Good afternoon, everyone. And Chris, yes, always nice to start on a beat-and-raise quarter, so good talking to you again.

Question: Ric Prentiss - Raymond James & Associates Inc - Analyst : It is. I want to follow Mike's question earlier. On the DISH MLA, clearly, you've got a contract. It's written well. You expect to get paid. Putting the spectrum on the towers was really critical to make sure they kept the spectrum rights and be able to sell it. My question was to go at it. If we look at your '24 actuals and your '25 guidance, I know you've said in the past your DISH Boost contract had some step-ups in it. How should we think about how much was in the '24 actual and the '25 guidance that was kind of related to DISH activity that we should be thinking about that's continuing to grow while the contract's in place in '26, '27. Any kind of framework can give us, even rough basis points, what it might have been?

Question: Ric Prentiss - Raymond James & Associates Inc - Analyst : Sure, okay. I figured I'd try. When you think about dealing with Charlie Ergen and Hamid and the EchoStar Boost folks, are you willing and open to saying, well, let's look at maybe an NPV basis? Let's look at -- here's what you owe me. Can we have some kind of discussion? And I guess the extra piece of the question would be, help us understand what decommissioning costs ballpark might be, because I think the contracts also include that they're supposed to return the towers and remove the equipment.

Question: Ric Prentiss - Raymond James & Associates Inc - Analyst : Okay. And last one for me, you touched on it briefly to Funk's question, that famous slide 7 from the fourth-quarter deck where you laid out kind of that pro forma second half '26, first half '27. There's that one stack bar in there that talks about SG&A standalone. You'd mentioned, I think, previously that you'll update that slide. Are we still waiting for the deal to close, or how should we think about when do we get more granularity on that, I'll call it my famous slide 7 from your 4Q deck?

Question: Ric Prentiss - Raymond James & Associates Inc - Analyst : That'd be great. Okay, thanks, guys. And again, welcome, Chris.

Question: James Schneider - Goldman Sachs & Co LLC - Analyst : Good evening. Thanks for taking my question. Chris, I was just wondering if you could maybe give us a sense of, given your prior experiences, how do those inform your role at Crown Castle? You've been very clear about the strategic goals of the company. But on the margin, are there any areas where you might look to slightly shift those goals, whether they be at the operational level, at the capital allocation level, or otherwise, relative to what's already been laid out there? LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 22, 2025 / 8:30PM, CCI.N - Q3 2025 Crown Castle Inc Earnings Call

Question: James Schneider - Goldman Sachs & Co LLC - Analyst : Great. And then just a quick follow up. Can you maybe just comment on the impact of the T-Mobile's acquisition of US Cellular on the business over the next several quarters and years? Thank you.

Question: James Schneider - Goldman Sachs & Co LLC - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Nick Del Deo - Moffettnathanson LLC - Analyst : Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. I want to echo others and congratulate Chris on your appointment. I guess, Chris, you described improving Crown Castle systems and information availability as your number-one priority in your prepared remarks. How would you describe the state of the company's systems today relative to those of some of the other firms that you've led and what you think best-in-class systems can offer?

Question: Nick Del Deo - Moffettnathanson LLC - Analyst : Okay, great. That's very, very encouraging. Can I ask one more kind of high-level philosophical question maybe? Most of your business today is contracted under holistic master lease agreements. Some of those may roll off over the coming years. Just wondering how you think about MLAs and the puts and takes or what you find important, just so we understand how you might think through that as deals potentially roll off over time.

Question: Nick Del Deo - Moffettnathanson LLC - Analyst : Okay, great. Thank you, Chris.

Question: Richard Choe - JPMorgan Chase & Co - Analyst : Hi. I wanted to see if we can get a little more color on application volumes, kind of what are you seeing. And then also just wanted to clarify, do you expect X to the $5 million that the second half of the year is going to be the same as the first half of the year in new core leasing, or should it be higher?

Question: Richard Choe - JPMorgan Chase & Co - Analyst : Got it. Thank you.

Question: Batya Levi - UBS AG - Analyst : Great. Thank you. Can you provide a little bit more color on how we should think about the 5% organic growth tracking into next year, maybe kind of the pieces in terms of the amendments and leasing mix? And then how do you think about your scale in the Tier 2, 3 markets where incremental activity seems to be going right now? How would you approach maybe adding to your footprint, either organically or through M&A? And finally, one clarification question. The new leasing activity of about $115 million this year, does that include any take-or-pay contributions from EchoStar?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS AG - Analyst : Just to follow up on that, I think there is a bit of a confusion if EchoStar's contribution is in the base, or is it also in the growth in the core leasing piece, $115 million? Is there some part of the contract that's embedded in there from EchoStar?

Question: Batya Levi - UBS AG - Analyst : Okay. Thank you. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. OCTOBER 22, 2025 / 8:30PM, CCI.N - Q3 2025 Crown Castle Inc Earnings Call

Question: Brendan Lynch - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst : Great. Thank you for taking my question. And congrats, Chris. I look forward to working with you. In terms of -- you've laid out kind of the bull scenario where CTI data is supportive of growth, spectrum auctions, and acquisitions of spectrum continue to be supportive. Maybe you could just help us frame some of the risks that exist in the industry related to additional spectrum swaps or efficiency gains via technology or spectral efficiency. It seems there's a lot of negative sentiment in the industry and maybe you can tackle some of these risks head on and inform us how we should think about them.

Question: Brendan Lynch - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst : Great. Thanks. That's helpful. Maybe another question. You sound very committed to the pure-play US tower business as being your core. Can you talk about any ancillary services that would fall within the realm of tower exposure that you would be willing to or interested in scaling more? I know that Crown Castle has scaled back on services. Maybe there's an opportunity to expand that in the future or build-to-suits or anything that would kind of be within that realm.

Question: Brendan Lynch - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst : Great. Thank you. That's helpful.

Question: Eric Luebchow - Wells Fargo Securities LLC - Analyst : Appreciate it. And Chris, great to connect over the phone. So I just wanted to check again on the cost efficiency program. I know it's in your pro forma AFFO guide you put for us into next year. But if you could talk about opportunities beyond what you've guided to. As we look at your margins relative to your two tower peers in the public market, is there any reason why you can't get SG&A efficiency or gross margins to kind of similar levels? I know there's some structural differences given some of the sale-leasebacks you have, but just wanted to get your perspective on how much runway you have on the cost side the next few years.

Question: Eric Luebchow - Wells Fargo Securities LLC - Analyst : Got you. And I guess I know it's a little early for 2026 guide, but just wondering if you see anything that kind of takes you off the expectation that you've talked about where you can grow kind of 4% to 5% organically pretty consistently, even if we assume the EchoStar contribution continues to wane just based on everything they've announced. Do you think that's still a reasonable assumption based on all the activity you have in your pipeline? And I guess related to that, is there any kind of mix shifting you're seeing between new colos and amendments as you look out into Q4 and into next year? Thank you.

Question: Brandon Nispel - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc - Analyst : Yes. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the question. I think the efficiency one has been asked and answered multiple times, so I'll refrain from that. I wanted to just maybe ask on the discretionary CapEx guide decrease this year. why was that? And really, why is the right number? I think, Chris, you said $150 million to $250 million. So I guess, yes, why decrease this year, and then why so much going forward? Thanks.

Question: Brandon Nispel - KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc - Analyst : Got it. Thank you.