Crown Castle Maintains Buy Rec
We maintain our Buy rating and the same valuation target for Crown Castle, Inc. (CCI - Analyst Report), a leading operator of wireless communications towers in the U.S. and Australia, following better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter 2009.
The company improved several investment parameters, including site rental revenue, gross margin, adjusted EBITDA and recurring cash flow.
Total revenue for the quarter was $402.9 million, up 8.7% year-over-year and up 2.8% sequentially. Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was $242.4 million, up 15% over the prior-year quarter. Recurring cash flow reached $131.8 million, up 12% compared to the year-ago quarter.
On a GAAP basis, net income during the first quarter was $5.4 million or an income of $0.02 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $18.4 million or a loss of $0.07 per diluted share in the prior-year quarter. However, adjusted EPS (excluding significant items) in the first quarter 2009 was a gain of $0.03 compared to a loss of $0.05 in the year-ago quarter.
Massive growth of mobile data and voice traffic together with prudent cost management solidified impressive performance. Financial results are expected to be driven by substantial demand for more tower space to facilitate high-speed 3G wireless networks.
Our long-term views regarding the wireless tower industry remains positive and we believe Crown Castle is well positioned to successfully grow its business.
|
|
|
Share |
RSS |
Rate Pos |
Rate Neg |
Comment |
|
|
||||||
Loading Stories...Most Popular on Zacks.com
More Zacks Resources
Zacks Rank Home - Evaluate your stocks and use the Zacks Rank to eliminate the losers and keep the winners.
Mutual Fund Rank Home - Evaluate your funds with the Mutual Fund Rank for both your personal and retirement funds.
Stock/Mutual Fund Screening - Find better stocks and mutual funds. The ones most likely to beat the market and provide a positive return.
My Portfolio - Track your Portfolio and find out where your stocks/mutual funds stack up with the Zacks Rank.
More Zacks Links
| Market Summary | Nov 08, 2009 04:45 am ET |
Sponsored Links


Sponsored Links 
1.98 %

[CLICK TO CLOSE X]