Crown Castle Shifts $157 Million Payment Into Operating Cash Flow, Cutting Nine-Month Total To $1,096 Million
An amended filing moves the third-quarter payment out of investing activities; total assets and the income statement are unchanged.
Crown Castle, which owns and leases about 40,000 towers across the U.S., has now disclosed in an amended filing that a $157 million payment made in the third quarter belongs in operating activities, not investing. The company said it made the change to match the quarterly report on Form 10-Q.
Where the $157 million went
The amendment to the October 21 earnings report pulls the $157 million out of "Other intangible assets, net" on the balance sheet. Of that, $90 million now sits in operating lease right-of-use assets and $67 million in other assets, net.
The related cash outflow moves with it, from investing activities to operating activities in the cash flow statement. The company said the reclassification has no effect on total assets or the statement of operations.
Net cash from operating activities for the first nine months of 2026 now reads $1,096 million, against $2,187 million for the same period a year earlier. Net cash from investing activities for the nine months is $7,907 million, a figure that includes $8.4 billion of net proceeds from the sale of the Fiber Business.
Earnings figures stand
Third-quarter results are untouched. Net income was $283 million, and adjusted funds from operations, or AFFO, was $530 million, both as originally reported. Crown Castle's full-year 2026 outlook, issued October 21, is also unchanged in the amended release.
The supplemental information package was also amended, with a new version posted on the company's website on November 4. The reclassification changes two measures there, consolidated return on invested capital and cash yield on invested capital.
A tower company after the fiber sale
Crown Castle leases space on its towers to wireless carriers under long-term contracts. It completed the sale of its small cells and fiber businesses on May 1, 2026, receiving net cash proceeds of $8.4 billion on a gross price of $8.5 billion, after $124 million of preliminary purchase price adjustments that remain subject to a post-closing settlement.
The new exhibits replace those in the original 8-K in their entirety.
The amended release leaves the company's 2026 outlook for AFFO at a midpoint of $1,980 million, as issued October 21.
Sources
- 8-K/A Filing (Amendment) — CROWN CASTLE INC. (CCI) — SEC EDGAR
- Original 8-K — CROWN CASTLE INC. (filed 2026-10-21) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit q32026earningsrelease8-ka.htm — CROWN CASTLE INC. 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit q32026supplement8-ka.htm — CROWN CASTLE INC. 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
