American Tower vs Crown Castle
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put American Tower and Crown Castle side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- American Tower is the larger business, with $10.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.3B for Crown Castle, about 2.5 times as much.
- American Tower grew revenue faster (5.1%, against −4.4%).
- Crown Castle kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (48.7% operating margin, against 45.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Crown Castle’s earnings: a P/E of 44.4x against 25.9x for American Tower.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 8 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
American Tower
AMT
6/8
Revenue growth5-year growthNet marginReturn on capitalNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Crown Castle
CCI
1/8
Operating margin
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | AMT FY25 | CCI FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $87.8B | $38.0B |
| Revenue | $10.6B | $4.3B |
| Free cash flow | $3.8B | — |
| Net income | $2.6B | $444M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 5.1% | −4.4% |
| 5-year growth | 5.8% | −6.1% |
| Share count change | 0.1% | 0.7% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 45.5% | 48.7% |
| Net margin | 24.7% | 10.4% |
| FCF margin | 35.5% | — |
| Return on capital | 9.3% | 8.8% |
| Return on equity | 74.7% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $35.7B | $24.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.2x | 8.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $3.5B | $2.1B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 25.9x | 44.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 5 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.