Is Crown Castle International’s Stock a Buy Now?

With shares of Crown Castle International (NYSE:CCI) trading at around $75.13, is CCI an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let’s analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

C = Catalyst for the Stock’s Movement

Site rental revenues are up 12% to $570 million, Q4 revenue increased 30 percent to $674 million from $519 million from the same period a year ago, FY2012 EPS came in at $0.64 versus $0.52 in 2011, FY2012 revenue came in at $2.12 billion versus $2.03 billion in 2011, and the 2013 outlook was raised to EPS between $0.20 and $0.53. This is all good news, but it’s not the only news.

Q4 EPS came in at -$0.07, which is a big drop from $0.16 in the same quarter last year. Q1 EPS is expected to come in between -$0.06 and $0.08. No matter how you spin it, that’s a drop compared to last year’s Q1 EPS of $0.17. However, Q1 revenue is expected to come in at $605 million to $610 million, which would be a significant improvement over last year’s Q1 revenue of $551.74 million.

Crown Castle International has solid margins, good cash flow, and the company has decreased the average cost of debt. Crown Castle International has also recently closed on approximately $4 billion in acquisitions, which will help increase market share in the future. Crown Castle International will now have exclusive rights to 7,100 T-Mobile U.S. towers. Other acquisitions include NextG Networks and 2,300 ground lease related assets from Capital Partners.

Everything looks good so far. Now let’s take a look at some important numbers.