SBAC vs CCI Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
SBAC vs CCI compares two cell tower REITs that took different strategic paths. SBA Communications retains a diversified international tower portfolio for incremental growth, while Crown Castle completed a major 2026 restructuring to become a simplified, pure-play US tower operator focused on deleveraging and buybacks.
SBA Communications suits investors who want tower REIT exposure with an added layer of international growth potential, accepting more currency and emerging-market risk in exchange. Crown Castle suits investors who prefer a simplified, domestically focused tower business following its 2026 fiber divestiture, betting that reduced leverage and buybacks will drive shareholder returns even without the international growth lever.
SBAC holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. SBAC leads on both 1-year return (-10.18%) and forward P/E quality (23.08x vs 26.37x for CCI), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. SBAC leads on both revenue growth (2.30%) and operating margin (52.16%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for CCI (+24.86%) than for SBAC (+19.51%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want tower REIT exposure with international growth diversification
- Are comfortable with currency and emerging-market risk in exchange for incremental growth
- Value long-term leases with contractual rent escalators for predictable cash flow
- Prefer a tower operator that hasn't recently undergone major structural change
- Prefer a simplified, pure-play US tower business after the 2026 fiber and small cell sale
- Want to benefit from debt paydown and a large share buyback program funded by divestiture proceeds
- Prioritize reduced currency and emerging-market risk over international growth exposure
- Are comfortable with a domestic-only growth ceiling tied to US carrier capex cycles
| Metric | SBAC | CCI |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 40.3 | 38.7 |
| AI ranki | #1161 | #1328 |
| Latest closei | $178.59 | $73.06 |
| 1M returni | -2.10% | -2.13% |
| 6M returni | -2.02% | -14.12% |
| 1Y returni | -10.18% | -21.41% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | SBAC | CCI |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $8.98K (-10.2%) started 2025-09-18 | $7.86K (-21.4%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $5.58K (-44.2%) started 2021-09-20 | $5.62K (-43.8%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $18.44K (+84.4%) started 2016-09-19 | $17.19K (+71.9%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SBAC | CCI |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $20.1B | $33.27B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 20.44 | 31.08 |
| Forward P/Ei | 23.08 | 26.37 |
| Price/Salesi | 9.03 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 12.21 | 13.16 |
| Analyst targeti | $226.40 | $95.07 |
| Target upsidei | +19.51% | +24.86% |
| Metric | SBAC | CCI |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 2.30% | -4.90% |
| Earnings growthi | -10.50% | -67.50% |
| EPS growthi | -10.50% | -67.50% |
| FCF margini | +26.20% | +24.90% |
| Operating margini | 52.16% | 46.83% |
| Profit margini | 34.51% | 20.72% |
| ROIC proxyi | N/A | -206.68% |
| Return on equityi | N/A | -206.68% |
| Dividend yieldi | 2.64% | 5.58% |
| Payout ratioi | 50.92% | 173.47% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.98 | 0.97 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | N/A |
| Current ratioi | 0.17 | 0.52 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.12 | 0.43 |
Over the past year, SBAC and CCI have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.73), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | SBAC | CCI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -10.18% | -21.41% |
| CAGRi | -10.18% | -21.42% | |
| Volatilityi | 34.12% | 29.70% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.28 | -0.82 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.48 | -1.06 | |
| Max drawdowni | 22.86% | 26.10% | |
| Current drawdowni | 20.18% | 26.10% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 8.73% | 12.72% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 10.91% | 14.63% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.06% | 8.99% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.90% | 10.85% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -46.94% | -53.48% |
| CAGRi | -11.92% | -14.20% | |
| Volatilityi | 30.04% | 27.41% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.42 | -0.59 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.61 | -0.81 | |
| Max drawdowni | 55.50% | 58.59% | |
| Current drawdowni | 51.87% | 58.59% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 35.24% | 37.43% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 37.88% | 40.35% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.81% | 8.99% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 13.61% | 14.32% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +72.57% | +13.14% |
| CAGRi | +5.61% | +1.24% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.32% | 26.42% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.18 | 0.01 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.26 | 0.01 | |
| Max drawdowni | 55.50% | 58.59% | |
| Current drawdowni | 51.87% | 58.59% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 20.59% | 20.98% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 27.35% | 28.82% | |
| Max daily dropi | 8.93% | 12.43% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 18.65% | 17.43% |
| Category | SBAC | CCI |
|---|---|---|
| Company | SBA Communications | Crown Castle |
| Sector | Real Estate | Real Estate |
| Industry | REIT - Specialty | REIT - Specialty |
| Core business | SBA Communications is a real estate investment trust that owns and leases wireless communication towers to carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile under long-term contracts with built-in rent escalators. Unlike some domestic-focused peers, SBA has significant international tower operations across Latin America, Africa, and other emerging markets, giving it a distinct growth profile tied to wireless carrier network buildouts abroad. | Crown Castle owns and leases US wireless towers, and completed the sale of its fiber and small cell businesses in 2026 to refocus as a pure-play, US-only tower operator, similar in structure to peers like American Tower and SBA Communications. Proceeds from the divestiture are being used to reduce leverage and fund a multibillion-dollar share buyback program. |
| Investor focus | International Growth + Tower Leasing | Simplified Pure-Play Towers + Deleveraging |
- Meaningful international tower portfolio provides growth exposure domestic-only peers lack
- Long-term leases with contractual rent escalators provide predictable, growing cash flow
- Tower leasing is a capital-light, high-margin business once towers are built
- 2026 fiber and small cell divestiture simplifies the business into a focused, higher-margin pure-play tower model
- Divestiture proceeds are funding debt reduction and a large share buyback program
- US-only tower portfolio reduces currency and emerging-market risk relative to more internationally exposed peers
- International operations introduce currency risk and emerging-market regulatory exposure
- Higher sensitivity to carrier capital expenditure cycles in the markets where it operates
- REIT structure and dividend obligations require consistent access to capital markets for growth funding
- Loses the long-term growth optionality that its fiber and small cell businesses previously offered
- Domestic-only footprint means growth is more tied to US carrier capex cycles than internationally diversified peers
- Execution risk remains in fully realizing cost savings and leverage targets following the divestiture
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