Crown Castle Inc

**Solid Operating and Financial Performance**: Crown Castle reported solid third-quarter results for 2024, reaffirming its full year outlook for key metrics: adjusted EBITDA and AFFO, despite the challenges faced in the small cell business. The company expects consolidated organic revenue growth of approximately 5% for 2024, broken down as 4.5% growth in towers, 10% in small cells, and 2% in fiber solutions.

**Cancellation of High-Cost Small Cell Nodes**: Crown Castle mutually agreed with customers to cancel approximately 7,000 contracted small cell nodes, which was a strategic move to eliminate low-yielding projects. This decision is expected to save about $800 million in future capital expenditures and indicates a shift to focus on existing and near-term opportunities, enhancing the cost structure of its remaining backlog.

**Revised Return Thresholds**: The company has increased its return threshold for small cell projects, now set higher than the previous 6% to 7%. Most of the remaining small cell projects in its backlog meet this new threshold, with colocation nodes expected to yield approximately 20% incremental returns based on current proposals.