Crown Castle International Corp vs Charter Communications Inc — how do they compare? Crown Castle International Corp trades at $74.34 (market cap $31.33B), while Charter Communications Inc trades at $150.17 (market cap $18.81B). The key difference: Crown Castle International Corp is the larger of the two by market cap, and Crown Castle International Corp pays a 5.77% dividend while Charter Communications Inc pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CCI | CHTR | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $31.33B | $18.81B |
Sector | Real Estate | Media |
52-Week High | $103.79 | $282.74 |
52-Week Low | $73.61 | $123.31 |
Enterprise Value | $53.69B | $115.01B |
Dividend Yield | 5.77% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Crown Castle (CCI) trades at $73.61, down 2.62% on the day and near 52-week lows. The technical picture is bearish with mixed fundamentals - strong profitability margins (73.7% gross margin) but negative shareholder equity and high debt levels. Recent Q2 2026 earnings beat expectations with AFFO of $1.13 per share, while the company transitions to a pure-play U.S. tower operator following asset sales.
The stock presents a contrarian opportunity with 50% analyst buy ratings and a $95.29 price target suggesting 29% upside, but faces significant debt burden and execution risks from strategic shifts. The 5.5% dividend yield provides income support while investors await operational improvements.
Charter Communications (CHTR) trades at $153.29, up 0.47% today, near its pivot point of $152. The stock shows mixed technical signals with a bullish moving average trend but bearish oscillators. Fundamentally, it trades at low valuation multiples (P/E 4.1, P/S 0.37) with solid profitability (ROE 29.7%, net margin 9.05%), though Q1 2026 earnings missed expectations. Recent news highlights debt refinancing activities and competitive pressures in broadband.
Outlook: CHTR presents a value opportunity with deep discount to historical multiples, supported by strong cash flow and buybacks, but faces headwinds from subscriber losses and high debt load. Risks include fiber competition and revenue declines, while analyst consensus leans bullish with a $166.18 price target.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Crown Castle International owns and leases roughly 40,000 cell towers in the United States. It also owns more than 85,000 route miles of fiber. It leases space on its towers to wireless service providers, which install equipment on the towers to support their wireless networks. The company's fiber is primarily leased by wireless service providers to set up small-cell network infrastructure and by enterprises for their internal connection needs. Crown Castle's towers and fiber are predominantly located in the largest U.S. cities. The company has a very concentrated customer base, with more than 70% of its revenue coming from the big three U.S. mobile carriers. Crown Castle operates as a real estate investment trust.
Read more on CCI →Charter is the product of the 2016 merger of three cable companies, each with a decades-long history in the business: Legacy Charter, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. The firm now holds networks capable of providing television, internet access, and phone services to roughly 54 million U.S. homes and businesses, around 40% of the country. Across this footprint, Charter serves 29 million residential and 2 million commercial customer accounts under the Spectrum brand, making it the second-largest U.S. cable company behind Comcast. The firm also owns, in whole or in part, sports and news networks, including Spectrum SportsNet (long-term local rights to Los Angeles Lakers games), SportsNet LA (Los Angeles Dodgers), SportsNet New York (New York Mets), and Spectrum News NY1.
Read more on CHTR →