'Crown Castle International Suddenly Fires CEO Steven Moskowitz' - Seeking Alpha
- Kai Amode
- Mar 28
- 2 min read
Crown Castle International (CCI) announced last night that the board terminated president and CEO Steven Moskowitz.
The press release contained the typical boilerplate language about the termination:
“Mr. Moskowitz’s termination was not a result of any disagreement regarding Crown Castle’s policies or financial performance and was not made for cause or related to any ethical or compliance concern.”
Of course, the firing probably was not random. If we really wanted to read between the lines while assuming those statements are honest, we might conjecture that it is the result of a disagreement unrelated to Crown Castle’s policies or financial performance.
Reaffirming Guidance
Guidance was provided in the Q4 2024 earnings release less than two weeks ago. Crown Castle International officially reaffirmed the major announcements from the outlook provided in Q4 2024 earnings:
“Crown Castle reaffirms all recently announced financial guidance, capital allocation policies and details regarding the sale of the fiber segment to EQT and Zayo.”
Market Reaction
Remember that the entire move in the stock price is not attributable to just one factor. The entire equity REIT sector is down about 0.9% on average.
Therefore, the market is taking it a bit negatively. Given the sudden nature of the announcement, it is not surprising to see CCI performing a bit worse than peers on the day. On the other hand, it is a bit strange to see the equity REIT sector and tower REITs in general dipping on a day when Treasury yields are declining modestly. Lower Treasury yields are generally positive for the sector.
Conclusion
I don’t see a reason to read too deeply into this. The board reiterated guidance. The abrupt termination is strange and could be seen negatively. However, the decisive action from the board looks favorable compared to how long they allowed the capital allocation to fiber to persist. Presently, it seems like a mixed bag. On the other hand, frequent executive turnover is rarely a positive sign.
Is it good? Is it bad? It’s hard to say, given the limited information. I’ll treat it as slightly negative since frequent executive turnover isn’t great. Reaffirming guidance was important. The net impact to targets will be small. The biggest factor will probably be multi-year AFFO projections, which will require a new model to adjust for CCI disposing of the fiber assets.
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