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SBAC
FY2025 Q4
In line
SBA Communications Corporation earnings call
Buzzberg read
Expects 4-5% domestic organic growth long-term.
SBA reported Q4 FFO in line with estimates and provided 2026 guidance that was steady, reflecting a 'bottom' in domestic organic growth. Key cross-company signals include a legal fight with tenant Equistar (removed from outlook), Verizon's new MLA driving backlog growth, and a slow grind of US Cellular churn. The management team is positioning for a return to 4-5% annual growth in 2027-2029. Equistar defaulted; SBA terminated the contract, filed suit, and removed $20M+ of future revenue from guidance.
Buzzberg read Expects 4-5% domestic organic growth long-term. SBA reported Q4 FFO in line with estimates and provided 2026 guidance that was steady, reflecting a 'bottom' in domestic organic growth. Key cross-company signals include a legal fight with tenant Equistar (removed from outlook), Verizon's new MLA driving backlog growth, and a slow grind of US Cellular churn. The management team is positioning for a return to 4-5% annual growth in 2027-2029. Equistar defaulted; SBA terminated the contract, filed suit, and removed $20M+ of future revenue from guidance. Read full analysisCollapse analysis
SBA reported Q4 FFO in line with estimates and provided 2026 guidance that was steady, reflecting a 'bottom' in domestic organic growth. Key cross-company signals include a legal fight with tenant Equistar (removed from outlook), Verizon's new MLA driving backlog growth, and a slow grind of US Cellular churn. The management team is positioning for a return to 4-5% annual growth in 2027-2029. Equistar defaulted; SBA terminated the contract, filed suit, and removed $20M+ of future revenue from guidance.
- Verizon's MLA is expected to drive incremental co-location activity starting in 2026, helping offset slower growth from T-Mobile and AT&T's front-loaded agreements.
- US Cellular (USM) churn is expected to be $1-2M in 2026, with less than $20M total to be spread evenly over the next five years.
- Brazil's structural density gap (4 sites/10k people vs 16 in US) supports a longer-term co-location opportunity in the region.
Revenue$0.7196BReported
EPS$3.47Reported
Gross margin30.6%Reported
Operating margin42.78%Reported
6 grounded callouts
What matters now
The highest-signal changes from the call.
Demand
Verizon new MLA provides increased contribution this year.
Buybacks
Removes all future revenue from Equistar in outlook.
Show 3 more callouts
AI
Sees 6G as future growth driver requiring more compute at tower site.
International
Brazil has meaningful densification opportunity with 4 sites per 10,000 people vs 16 in U.S.
Churn
Domestic churn includes $1-2M of T-Mobile/USM churn this year.
Reported period
Actuals
| Metric | Reported | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $0.7196B | Reported |
| EPS | $3.47 | Reported |
| Gross margin | 30.6% | Reported |
| Operating margin | 42.78% | Reported |
| Free cash flow | $0.2413B | Reported |
| Capex | $0.0627B | Reported |
Forward-looking
Forward guidance
| Metric | Period | Range | Midpoint | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RevenueDOMESTIC_NEW_LEASES | FY2026 | $35 | $35 | Maintained |
| RevenueSERVICES | FY2026 | $190–$210 | $200 | Initiated |
| UnitsINTERNATIONAL_NEW_LEASES | FY2026 | $19–$21 | $20 | Initiated |
| UnitsTOTAL_CHURN | FY2026 | $55–$56 | $55.5 | Raised |
AI, capex & demand read
Management read
Confident
Management expressed confidence in the long-term growth drivers, including 6G opportunities, international expansion, and the strength of their balance sheet and capital return profile, despite acknowledging near-term challenges.
Management AI read
Management highlighted AI as a key driver for future network evolution, particularly with the transition to 6G, which will require more compute at the tower site, higher capacity radios, and denser antenna configurations to support AI-driven interactions. They are seeing early preparation for 6G with AI moving from the core to the RAN, and they believe their distributed U.S. portfolio positions th
Investment and capacity
The 2026 outlook assumes no further share repurchases or acquisitions beyond those already in contract, but they anticipate investing in additional assets or buybacks during the year, which could impact the full-year outlook. They also plan to refinance a $1.2 billion ABS maturity in November 2026 with investment-grade bond issuance, and they are ramping up their new build program in Central Ameri
all 9 named companies below
Companiesreturns since call
Customers
Customers
Brendan Cavanaugh
T-Mobile's leasing activity has slowed relative to prior cycles, contributing to a bottom in 2026 domestic organic leasing growth.
Evidence
“we had some pretty heavy leasing activity with one of the other carriers, T-Mobile, and that has slowed those going cycles a little bit more.”
Customers
Brendan Cavanaugh
DISH has ceased all lease-up activity with SBA, and its remaining churn in 2026 is now zero.
Evidence
“we did actually have $2 million of lease-up contribution from DISH last year. So excluding that, which is zero now.”
Partners
Partners
Marc Montagnier
Millicom (MediClub) acquisition fully integrated; long-term master lease agreements with leading carriers are driving predictable cash flow.
Evidence
“our Outlook will effect a full year contribution from the acquisition of sites from MediClub in Central America.”
Supply chain
Supply chain
Brendan Cavanaugh
The shift of AI to the edge and 6G requirements will require more compute at tower sites, opening an opportunity for SBA to partner with companies like AWS.
Evidence
“AI is beginning to move from the core to the RAM... true 6G cannot be done with just software. It will also require physical components.”
Supply chain
Brendan Cavanaugh
Generic commentary on Brazil's demographics, no direct company signal.
Evidence
“It has a population of over 200 million and a younger demographic that drives higher mobile data usage.”
Supply chain
Brendan Cavanaugh
SBA has filed a lawsuit against Equistar and removed all future recurring revenue from the outlook, indicating a hard credit default in the tower industry. — This signals that other tower companies (American Tower, Crown Castle) may need to write off similar receivables and pull forward revenue recognition.
Evidence
“we did actually file a lawsuit just recently. And as part of that, because of their default lack of payment, we did terminate and accelerate the rents that were due under that contract.”
Supply chain
Brendan Cavanaugh
Verizon is shifting capex to small cells, which SBA does not own, and away from macro towers, but the recent MLA with minimum commitments could offset this. — Verizon's strategic shift to small cells for densification could reduce future macro tower demand, making the minimum commitments in the MLA a key buffer.
Evidence
“when they talk about the small sales, they're talking about those upgrades with that spectrum or deploying that spectrum through small sales. And that piece, you know, we have not a lot to do with because we're not a small sale company.”
External signals
Supply-chain alpha · 4returns since call
SBA has filed a lawsuit against Equistar and removed all future recurring revenue from the outlook, indicating a hard credit default in the tower industry.
The US Cellular churn will be spread over the next five years, with less than $20M in revenue and $1-2M recognized in churn in 2026.
Brazil's wireless network has only 4 sites per 10,000 people vs 16 in the US, implying a significant co-location growth runway as operators rationalize and densify.
Verizon is shifting capex to small cells, which SBA does not own, and away from macro towers, but the recent MLA with minimum commitments could offset this.
Methodology & coverage
Management-only analysis. All 9 validated company mentions are shown. Reported actuals and forward guidance are kept separate. Public evidence is limited to eight short attributed quotes. AI-generated analysis can be incomplete or wrong; verify important claims against the original source.