Crown Castle 10-Q 2026-03-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2026

OR

For the transition period to

Commission File Number 001-16441

CROWN CASTLE INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

8020 Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas 77024

(Address of principal executives office) (Zip Code)

(713) 570-3000

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

Number of shares of common stock outstanding at May 5, 2026: 436,451,983

CROWN CASTLE INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

INDEX

Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q ("Form 10-Q") contains forward-looking statements that are based on our management's expectations as of the filing date of this report with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Statements that are not historical facts are hereby identified as forward-looking statements. In addition, words such as "estimate," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "intend," "believe," "expect," "likely," "predicted," "positioned," "continue," "target," "seek," "focus" and any variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include our full year 2026 outlook and plans, projections, expectations and estimates regarding (1) our strategy and the value of our business model, (2) demand for our towers, including factors driving such demand, (3) the growth potential of the U.S. market for towers, (4) demand for data and factors driving such demand, (5) tenants' investment to improve network quality and expand capacity, (6) our ability to service our debt and comply with debt covenants, (7) the level of commitment under our debt instruments, (8) our ability to remain qualified as a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), (9) site rental revenues, (10) sources and uses of liquidity, (11) impact from the DISH Terminations (as defined below), (12) drivers of cash flow growth, (13) dividends, (14) discretionary and sustaining capital expenditures, (15) non-renewals, (16) restructuring plans, including the timing and scope thereof, and the benefits, costs and charges associated therewith, (17) the sale of the Fiber Business (as defined below), including the use of proceeds therefrom, (18) our capital allocation framework, (19) potential land acquisitions under our towers and construction of new towers, (20) maintenance of an investment grade credit profile and (21) debt and share repurchases, including repurchase levels and amounts. Dividends remain subject to the approval of our board of directors, which has the discretion to determine whether to declare dividends and the amounts and timing of the dividends.

Such forward-looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including prevailing market conditions, risk factors described in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of this Form 10-Q and the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 ("2025 Form 10-K") and other factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected.

Our filings with the SEC are available through the SEC website at www.sec.gov or through our investor relations website at investor.crowncastle.com. We use our investor relations website to disclose information about us that may be deemed to be material. We encourage investors, the media and others interested in us to visit our investor relations website from time to time to review up-to-date information or to sign up for e-mail alerts to be notified when new or updated information is posted on the site.

Interpretation

As used herein, the term "including," and any variation thereof, means "including without limitation." The use of the word "or" herein is not exclusive. Unless this Form 10-Q indicates otherwise or the context otherwise requires, the terms "we," "our," "our company," "the company" or "us" as used in this Form 10-Q refer to Crown Castle Inc. ("CCI") and its predecessor (organized in 1995), as applicable, each a Delaware corporation, and their subsidiaries. Additionally, unless the context suggests otherwise, references to "U.S." are to the United States of America and Puerto Rico, collectively. Capitalized terms used but not defined in this Form 10-Q have the same meaning given to them in the 2025 Form 10-K.

PART I—FINANCIAL INFORMATION

CROWN CASTLE INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (Unaudited)

(Amounts in millions, except par values)

See notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

CROWN CASTLE INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND

COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) (Unaudited)

(Amounts in millions, except per share amounts)

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The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the response to Part I, Item 1 of this report and the consolidated financial statements of the Company including the related notes and "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" ("MD&A") included in the 2025 Form 10-K.

General Overview

Overview

We own, operate and lease shared communications infrastructure that is geographically dispersed throughout the U.S., including (1) approximately 40,000 towers and other structures, such as rooftops (collectively, "towers"), (2) approximately 105,000 small cell nodes either currently generating revenue or under contract and (3) approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber primarily supporting small cells and fiber solutions. Our towers, small cells and fiber solutions assets are collectively referred to herein as "communications infrastructure," and the Company's customers on its communications infrastructure are referred to herein as "tenants." The Company provides access, including space or capacity, to its communications infrastructure via long-term contracts in various forms, including lease, license, sublease and service agreements (collectively, "tenant contracts").

Our towers have a significant presence in each of the top 100 basic trading areas, and the majority of our small cells and fiber assets are located in major metropolitan areas, including a presence in most major U.S. markets.

On March 13, 2025, management signed a definitive agreement ("Strategic Fiber Agreement") to sell our small cells and fiber solutions businesses, together with certain supporting assets and personnel ("Fiber Business"), with Zayo Group Holdings Inc. ("Zayo") acquiring the fiber solutions business and EQT Active Core Infrastructure fund ("EQT") acquiring the small cells business ("Strategic Fiber Transaction"). The Strategic Fiber Transaction was completed on May 1, 2026. The Company received aggregate cash proceeds of $8.4 billion, representing the gross contractual purchase price of $8.5 billion less the net impact of preliminary purchase price adjustments of $124 million, which are subject to a post-closing settlement process. See note 14 to our condensed consolidated financial statements for a further discussion of the completion of the Strategic Fiber Transaction.

As the Strategic Fiber Transaction represents a material strategic shift for the Company, the Fiber Business' results and net assets are presented herein as discontinued operations for all periods presented. Related to the classification of the Fiber Business as "held for sale", the Company recognized a loss from disposal of discontinued operations of $345 million and $830 million, inclusive of estimated transaction fees, for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively. Through the completion of the Strategic Fiber Transaction on May 1, 2026, we continued to operate the Fiber Business in accordance with the Strategic Fiber Agreement.

Following the classification of the Fiber Business as discontinued operations, the Company has one reportable segment that constitutes consolidated results consisting of its towers operations. Unless otherwise noted, all activities and amounts reported below relate to the continuing operations of the Company and exclude activities and amounts related to discontinued operations. See notes 3 and 11 to our condensed consolidated financial statements for a discussion of discontinued operations and our operating segment.

Site rental revenues represented 95% of our first quarter 2026 consolidated net revenues. The vast majority of our site rental revenues are of a recurring nature and are derived from long-term tenant contracts.

Strategy

As a leading provider of towers in the U.S., our strategy is to create long-term stockholder value via a combination of (1) growing cash flows generated from our existing portfolio of towers, (2) returning a meaningful portion of our cash generated by operating activities to our common stockholders in the form of dividends and (3) investing capital efficiently to grow cash flows and long-term dividends per share. Our strategy is based, in part, on our belief that the U.S. is the most attractive market for tower investment with the greatest long-term growth potential. We measure our efforts to create "long-term stockholder value" by the combined payments of dividends to stockholders and growth in our per-share results. The key elements of our strategy are to:

• Grow cash flows from our existing towers. We are focused on maximizing the recurring site rental cash flows generated from providing our tenants with long-term access to our towers, which we believe is the core driver of

value for our stockholders. Tenant additions or modifications of existing tenant equipment (collectively, "tenant additions") enable our tenants to expand coverage and capacity in order to meet increasing demand for data while generating high incremental returns for our business. We believe our towers provide an efficient and cost-effective solution for our wireless tenants' growing networks that provides an opportunity to generate cash flows and increase stockholder return.

• Return cash generated by operating activities to stockholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. We believe that distributing a meaningful portion of our cash generated by operating activities appropriately provides stockholders with increased certainty for a portion of expected long-term stockholder value while still allowing us to retain sufficient flexibility to invest in our business and deliver growth. We believe this decision reflects the translation of the high-quality, long-term contractual cash flows of our business into stable capital returns to stockholders.

• Invest capital efficiently to grow cash flows and long-term dividends per share. In addition to adding tenants to existing towers, we seek to invest our available capital, including the net cash generated by our operating activities and external financing sources, in a manner that will increase long-term stockholder value on a risk-adjusted basis. These investments include constructing and acquiring new towers that we expect will generate future cash flow growth and attractive long-term returns by adding tenants to those assets over time. Our historical investments have included the following (in no particular order):

◦acquisitions of land interests (which primarily relate to land assets under towers);

◦construction of towers;

◦acquisitions of towers;

◦improvements and structural enhancements to our existing towers;

◦purchases of shares of our common stock from time to time; and

◦purchases, repayments or redemptions of our debt.

Our strategy to create long-term stockholder value is based on our belief that there will be considerable future demand for our towers based on the location of our assets and the rapid and continuing growth in the demand for data. We believe that such demand for our towers will continue, will result in growth of our cash flows due to tenant additions on our existing towers, and will create other growth opportunities for us, such as demand for newly constructed or acquired towers, as described above. Further, we seek to augment the long-term value creation associated with growing our recurring site rental cash flows by offering certain ancillary site development services.

Highlights of Business Fundamentals and Results

• We operate as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes

◦As a REIT, we are generally entitled to a deduction for dividends that we pay and, therefore, are not subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on our net taxable income that is currently distributed to our stockholders.

◦To remain qualified and be taxed as a REIT, we are generally required to annually distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, after the utilization of our net o

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The following section updates "Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" in the 2025 Form 10-K and should be read in conjunction with that report as well as our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Interest Rate Risk.

Our interest rate risk as of March 31, 2026 relates primarily to the impact of interest rate movements on the following:

• our $5.2 billion of floating rate debt as of March 31, 2026, which represented approximately 21% of our total debt as of March 31, 2026; and

• potential future borrowings of incremental debt, including borrowings under our 2016 Credit Facility (and 2026 Credit Facility, which replaced the 2016 Credit Facility as discussed in note 14 to our condensed consolidated financial statements) and issuances under our CP Program.

See also "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in the 2025 Form 10-K for a discussion of risks stemming from interest rate increases.

We currently have no interest rate swaps.

Subsequent to March 31, 2026, we repaid a portion of our outstanding floating rate debt, which was previously held under our 2016 Credit Facility. We intend to repay our remaining floating rate debt, held under our CP Program, as it matures during the second quarter of 2026. Accordingly, our floating‑rate exposure after March 31, 2026 differs from the amounts presented herein, which reflect our debt outstanding as of March 31, 2026. See note 14 to our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Sensitivity Analysis.

We manage our exposure to market interest rates on our existing debt by controlling the mix of fixed and floating rate debt. As of March 31, 2026, we had $5.2 billion of floating rate debt. As a result, a hypothetical unfavorable fluctuation in market interest rates on our existing debt of 1/4 of a percent point over a 12-month period would increase our interest expense by approximately $13 million based on floating-rate debt outstanding as of March 31, 2026.

Future Principal Payments and Interest Rates.

The following table provides information about our market risk related to changes in interest rates. The future principal payments and weighted-average interest rates are presented as of March 31, 2026. These debt maturities reflect final maturity dates and do not consider the impact of the principal payments that commence following the anticipated repayment date of certain debt (see footnotes (b) and (d) hereto). The information presented below regarding the variable rate debt is supplementary to our sensitivity analysis regarding the impact of changes in the interest rates. See notes 5 and 6 to our condensed consolidated financial statements and the 2025 Form 10-K for additional information regarding our debt.

(a)The fair value of our debt is based on indicative quotes, non-binding quotes from brokers that require judgment to interpret market information, including implied credit spreads for similar borrowings on recent trades or bid/ask offers. These fair values are not necessarily indicative of the amount, which could be realized in a current market exchange.

(b)The impact of principal payments that will commence following an anticipated repayment date is not considered (see footnote (d) below). The Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2018-2 have a principal amount of $750 million, with an anticipated repayment date in 2028.

(c)The average interest rate represents the weighted-average stated coupon rate (see footnote (d) below).

(d)If the Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2018-2 are not repaid in full by the anticipated repayment date, the interest rate increases by approximately 5% per annum and monthly principal payments commence using the Excess Cash Flow (as defined in the indenture governing the Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2018-2) of the issuers of the Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2018-2. The Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2018-2 are presented based on their contractual maturity date in 2048 and include the impact of an assumed 5% increase in interest rate that would occur following the anticipated repayment date in July 2028 but exclude the impact of monthly principal payments that would commence using Excess Cash Flow of the issuers of the Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2018-2. The full year 2025 Excess Cash Flow of the issuers of the Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2018-2 was approximately $1.0 billion. We currently expect to refinance or repay these notes on or prior to the anticipated repayment date.

(e)See note 8 to our consolidated financial statements in the 2025 Form 10-K for information regarding potential upward or downward adjustments to the interest rate spread and unused commitment fee percentage on our 2016 Credit Facility if we achieve specified annual sustainability targets or fail to meet annual sustainability metrics. Each period presented assumes the downward adjustments in the interest rate spread and unused commitment fee percentage on our 2016 Credit Facility. The 2026 Credit Facility, which replaced the 2016 Credit Facility, does not have such upward or downward adjustments. See note 14 to our condensed consolidated financial statements.

(f)Predominately consists of outstanding indebtedness under our CP Program. Such amounts may be issued, repaid or re-issued from time to time.

(g)Subsequent to March 31, 2026 and prior to the issuance of these financial statements we repaid all amounts outstanding under the 2016 Credit Facility. We intend to repay all amounts owed under our CP Program in the second quarter of 2026. See note 14 to our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

The Company conducted an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of the Company's management, including the Company's Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), of the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon their evaluation, the CEO and CFO concluded that as of March 31, 2026, the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were effective in alerting them in a timely manner to material information relating to the Company required to be included in the Company's periodic reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in the Company's internal control over financial reporting during the fiscal quarter covered by this Form 10-Q that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

PART II—OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are periodically involved in legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Most of these proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business involve disputes with landlords, vendors, collection matters involving bankrupt tenants, zoning or siting matters, construction, condemnation, tax, employment, or wrongful termination matters. While the outcome of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, management does not expect any pending matters to have a material adverse effect on us.

See the disclosure in note 9 to our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Except as noted below, there are no material changes to the risk factors discussed in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in the 2025 Form 10-K.

On May 1, 2026, we completed the previously announced sale of our Fiber Business. As a result of the completion of this transaction, the risks described under "Risks Relating to Our Pending Sale of the Fiber Business" in our 2025 Form 10-K are no longer applicable.

During the fiscal three months ended March 31, 2026, none of the Company’s directors or officers (as defined in Rule 16a1(f) under the Exchange Act) adopted or terminated any contract, instruction, or written plan for the purchase or sale of the Company's securities intended to satisfy the conditions of the affirmative defense provided by Rule 10b5-1(c) or any "non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement," as defined in Item 408(a) of Regulation S-K.

Exhibit Index

• Filed herewith.

** Certain portions of this exhibit have been omitted in accordance with Item 601(a)(5) and Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K, as applicable. The registrant agrees to furnish supplementally the omitted portions of this exhibit to the Securities and Exchange Commission upon its request.

† Furnished herewith.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.