Crown Castle: Q3 Earnings Snapshot

HOUSTON (AP) — HOUSTON (AP) — Crown Castle International Corp. (CCI) on Wednesday reported a key measure of profitability in its third quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Houston, said it had funds from operations of $801 million, or $1.84 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $1.80 per share.

Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The company said it had net income of $303 million, or 70 cents per share.

The operator of wireless communications towers, based in Houston, posted revenue of $1.65 billion in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.64 billion.

Crown Castle expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $6.91 to $7.02 per share.

The company's shares have risen 0.5% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has climbed 22%. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $115.78, a rise of 22% in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CCI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CCI