SBAC SBA Communications
$186.57
▲ 1.6%Updated Oct 16, 2:25 PM ET
Report Card
SBAC at a glance — five pillars scored 0–100 from real filed financials.
How the 0–100 rating is calculatedOverall: Neutral · 57/100. A wider, greener shape means more pillars look healthy. Dividends scores 0 when a company pays none — that is a choice, not a flaw.
Price — Past Year
▼ Down 18.2% in the year to Jul 6, 2026
Key Metrics
Market Cap
$19.57B
P/E
19.44x
Forward P/E (est.)
15.45x
ROE
-1.7%
Revenue Growth
6.3%
EPS Growth
25.9%
Profit Margin
35.7%
FCF Yield
5.1%
Debt / Equity
16.46x
ROIC
13.0%
Interest Coverage
6.84x
Current Ratio
0.17x
Dividend Yield
2.6%
Implied Growth (rev. DCF)
3.4%
Rating Score
57/100
Business Overview
SBA Communications (SBAC) is a large-cap company in the Telecom Tower REITs industry, part of the Real Estate sector of the S&P 500, with a market value around $19.57B.
In its latest reported year it generated about $2.82B in revenue and $1.05B in net profit.
Our model rates SBAC Neutral (57/100) on growth, profitability, financial health, and valuation. The summary below is built from its filed financials and current ratios and refreshes automatically.
Economic Moat
Evidence of durable competitive advantage in the filed financials (10 years of history).
Profit margins and economic moats, explainedThe filed history looks like a business competitors struggle to attack: high and steady margins, revenue that grows through cycles, and strong returns on capital.
77.1% average over the last 3 years
±1.4 pts around 75.8% across 10 years
grew in 8 of the last 9 year-over-year periods
positive in 10 of 10 years
13.0% latest fiscal year
A moat can't be proven by numbers alone — this scores the evidence a durable advantage leaves behind (pricing power, consistency, returns on capital), computed the same way for every stock. Pair it with the business overview before concluding anything.
Technical Analysis (Educational)
Technical analysis reads price and volume to judge momentum and timing. It complements the fundamentals above — it does not replace them. Here is what SBAC's chart says today, with each tool explained.
Trend — moving averages. A moving average is the average closing price over a window, which smooths out daily noise. SBAC trades near $186.57, below its 50-day average ($203.26) and 200-day average ($195.56). Price below both averages is a downtrend — momentum is against buyers for now.
Momentum — RSI. The Relative Strength Index runs 0–100 and measures how strong recent gains are versus losses. Above 70 is "overbought", below 30 "oversold". At 30 it is in neutral territory — neither stretched nor washed out.
MACD. MACD compares two moving averages to flag shifts in momentum. Its histogram is currently negative — short-term momentum is fading.
Volatility — ATR. Average True Range is the typical daily move. SBAC's is $6.10 (~3.3% of price), so swings of about that size each day are normal — handy for setting a stop that isn't too tight.
Support & resistance. In the month to Jul 6, 2026, SBAC found buyers near $174.16 (support) and sellers near $210.88 (resistance); its 52-week range then was $162.41–$243.16. A decisive break beyond either edge often marks the next move.
Volume. The latest session traded 1.4× the 20-day average — heavier than usual, which adds conviction to the move. Rising volume on up-days suggests real buying; on down-days, real selling.
Educational information to help you read a chart — not a recommendation or a forecast. The indicators were last computed on Jul 6, 2026; the price is current.
Revenue Growth
4Y CAGR
5.1%
Revenue moved from $1.63B in 2016 to $2.82B in 2025, a 6.2% compound annual growth rate. The most recent year grew a steady 6.3% year over year. Slower, mature growth is common for established businesses.
Profitability
Gross Margin
75.5%
Operating Margin
47.7%
Net Margin
37.4%
ROE
-1.7%
SBA Communications keeps about 35.7% of each sales dollar as net profit, with a 75.5% gross margin and 47.7% operating margin. Return on equity is -1.7% and return on invested capital about 13.0%. Margins this wide usually signal pricing power or a cost advantage.
Debt Analysis
Total Debt
$12.73B
Net Debt
$12.40B
Net Debt / EBITDA
9.24x
Debt / Equity
16.46x
Leverage: debt-to-equity is 16.5x, and operating profit covers interest about 6.8x, with a current ratio of 0.2x. That is elevated leverage, which raises risk if earnings or rates move against it. It carries roughly $12.73B of total debt against $327.05M of cash.
Cash Flow Analysis
Operating CF
$1.29B
Free Cash Flow
$1.07B
FCF Margin
37.9%
In the latest year SBA Communications produced about $1.29B of operating cash flow and $1.07B of free cash flow after capital spending. That is a free-cash-flow yield of about 5.1% on today's price. Strong cash generation funds dividends, buybacks, and reinvestment.
Dividend Safety
Can the payout survive a bad year? Scored from filed cash flow, earnings coverage, and the raise/cut record.
What to look for in a dividend stockThe payout is comfortably covered by cash the business actually generates, with a raise habit behind it.
Dividend yield
2.6%
Total paid (latest FY)
$479.01M
History on record
7 years
dividend uses 45% of free cash flow
45% of net income paid out
total dividends increased 6 years in a row
no cuts in the last 7 years on record
Coverage uses the latest fiscal year as filed with the SEC; the streak counts total dollars paid (per-share figures can carry split artifacts). Educational information, not income advice.
Valuation Analysis
P/E
19.44x
P/S
7.37x
P/B
30.8x
EV / EBITDA
—
SBAC trades at 19.4x trailing earnings (about 15.4x on estimated forward earnings), 7.4x sales, and 30.8x book value. Reverse-engineering today's price implies the market expects roughly 3.4% long-term free-cash-flow growth. That is a fairly typical valuation for a profitable company.
DCF Fair Value (Educational)
A two-stage discounted cash flow on real SEC-filed free cash flow — the intrinsic-value anchor professional analysts triangulate from.
How this DCF estimate is calculatedDCF fair value / share
$196.17
Current price
$186.57
Starting FCF (latest 10-K)
$1.07B
Growth, years 1–5
6.3%
Fade to terminal, years 6–10
2.5%
Discount rate
9.0%
Cash flows grow at the stage-1 rate (trailing revenue growth, capped at 20%) for five years, fade to 2.5% by year 10, and continue at that rate forever (Gordon terminal value), all discounted at 9.0%. Small changes in assumptions move the result a lot — treat this as one reference point, not a target price. Educational only, not investment advice.
Metrics vs. Sector Range
Where SBAC sits versus the Real Estate companies we cover.
Bands show the middle half (25th–75th percentile) of the 33 Real Estate companies in our coverage that have fundamentals data — the peer-relative anchor professional comps analysis uses. Context only — not investment advice.
Sector Peer Comparison
How SBAC stacks up against its Real Estate peers — valuation, profitability, and growth versus the sector median.
Among the 33 rated Real Estate companies we cover, SBAC ranks #12 by our overall rating. It trades at a discount versus the sector on earnings (19.4x P/E vs. 29.9x median) with a lower return on equity (-1.7% vs. 8.0%) and faster revenue growth (6.3% vs. 5.3%).
P/E vs sector
19.4x
median 29.9x
ROE vs sector
-1.7%
median 8.0%
Growth vs sector
6.3%
median 5.3%
Sector rank
#12
of 33 rated
Valuation vs. quality map
The sweet spot is upper-left: more profitable (higher ROE) for a lower P/E. Dashed lines mark the sector median.
Peers are the closest Real Estate companies by sub-industry and size, preferring ones with full data. Sector medians and rank use the 33 rated companies among the 41 Real Estate stocks we cover. Educational, not a recommendation.
5-Year Projection Model
Project revenue → earnings → price. Edit the assumptions to build your own case.
What drives this projection, and its limits2030 scenario price range (Base Case)
$146.14 – $252.42
vs. $186.57 today · implied CAGR -5% – 6%
| Metric | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.98B | $3.16B | $3.35B | $3.55B | $3.77B |
| Net income | $1.10B | $1.17B | $1.24B | $1.31B | $1.39B |
| EPS | $10.52 | $11.15 | $11.82 | $12.53 | $13.29 |
| Share price (low) | $115.76 | $122.70 | $130.06 | $137.87 | $146.14 |
| Share price (high) | $199.94 | $211.94 | $224.65 | $238.13 | $252.42 |
| CAGR (low–high) | -38% / 7% | -19% / 7% | -11% / 6% | -7% / 6% | -5% / 6% |
Educational scenario model, not a forecast or investment advice. It starts from the latest annual revenue in SEC filings. By default, growth is trailing revenue growth (held between 3% and 45% a year), the net margin is the latest one (held between 3% and 50%, so a loss-making company is modeled with a small profit), and the Base case P/E runs from 60% to 100% of today's. Carrying recent growth forward five years can miss badly in either direction. Outputs are only as good as the assumptions.
Bull Case
The case for SBAC:
- High net margins (35.7%) point to pricing power or efficiency.
- Healthy free-cash-flow yield (~5.1%) funds buybacks and dividends.
- Pays a 2.6% dividend on top of any price gains.
Bear Case
The case against SBAC:
- Elevated leverage (debt/equity 16.5x) adds financial risk.
- Like any single stock, it is exposed to competition, the economic cycle, and shifts in its end markets.
Key Risks
Balance-sheet risk — debt/equity of 16.5x magnifies the impact of higher rates or weaker earnings.
Market risk — sector rotation, the economic cycle, and broad sentiment move the stock regardless of fundamentals.
Investment Thesis
On balance, the picture is mixed: SBA Communications is a large-cap real estate business growing at a mature pace, with solid profitability, and a heavier debt load to watch. It trades at 19.4x earnings, which our model scores Neutral (57/100). Weigh this against your own goals and time horizon — this is educational information, not a recommendation.
Analyst Ratings
What 27 Wall Street analysts covering SBAC recommend (September 2026). Consensus is a useful sanity check — not a substitute for your own homework.
Analysts have turned more positive over the last three months (+4 pts of buy ratings).
Latest SEC Filings
SBAC's most recent filings, straight from SEC EDGAR. Annual and quarterly reports are the deep dives; 8-Ks flag material events the moment they happen. How to read a 10-K
In the Idea Lab
SBAC — frequently asked questions
Is SBAC a good stock to buy?
We don't give buy or sell advice. Our model rates SBA Communications Neutral (57/100) based on its growth, profitability, financial health, and valuation — use that as a research starting point and make your own decision.
What is SBAC's rating on The Stocks School?
SBA Communications currently scores 57/100 (Neutral) on our transparent model, which weighs real fundamentals: growth, margins, returns on capital, balance-sheet strength, and valuation.
How our ratings work →Where does SBAC's data come from?
Live price data plus real fundamentals and 5-year financials pulled directly from SBA Communications's SEC filings — refreshed automatically, not hand-entered.
How is the 5-year projection for SBAC calculated?
It's a scenario model. It starts from the latest annual revenue and net margin in SEC filings, grows revenue at an assumed rate (trailing revenue growth by default), and applies a P/E range built around today's multiple to show the resulting share-price range. When a stock has no growth or P/E data, the starting values are placeholders. It's a tool for thinking, not a prediction.
Is this SBAC analysis financial advice?
No. Everything on this page is educational research, not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell SBAC. Always do your own research and consider a licensed professional.
Data notice. Fundamentals and financial statements are sourced from company filings (SEC EDGAR) and market-data providers; prices and market caps refresh on trading days and may be delayed. Ratings, projections, technical signals, and written summaries are model- or rule-generated for education and may simplify or lag the latest filings.
Not advice. Nothing on this page is investment advice or a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial professional before investing.