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SBA Communications Corporation (SBAC)

Real Estate High quality

SBA Communications is a property landlord that owns and manages the tall steel towers used by mobile phone companies to beam signals to your devices.

$180.98

Is SBA Communications Corporation a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: SBA Communications is a property landlord that owns and manages the tall steel towers used by mobile phone companies to beam signals to your devices.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-20.3%
Priced in USD - as a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, on top of the share price itself.
52-week range-26% past year
$180.98
Low $162.41High $234.64
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put $1,000 into SBA Communications Corporation
$797-20%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$19.20B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
956.94K
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$176.75 – $181.57
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$162.41 – $234.64
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
19.2
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
2.8%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
1.00
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 1.00
Calm
Wild
Roughly in step with the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▼ -5% past week · ▼ -26% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Widespread adoption of new wireless technologies requiring dense tower networks

The bear case

New satellite technologies making ground-based towers less essential

What does SBA Communications Corporation do?

Think of SBA Communications as a digital landlord; they build and own thousands of mobile towers and then rent space on them to major mobile network operators. They make their money through long-term lease agreements, which provide a steady stream of income similar to a traditional property business. Demand for space on these towers turns on how much mobile companies are willing to spend on upgrading their networks to 5G.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on quality and income, and weakest on growth.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 42Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 90Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 24Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 26Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 60
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Quality screens high (90/100)
  • High profit margins suggest a very efficient business model
  • Long-term contracts provide predictable and stable revenue
  • Essential infrastructure role in the modern digital economy
What to watch
  • Growth screens low (24/100)
  • Momentum screens low (26/100)
  • Technological changes like satellite internet could reduce the need for physical towers
  • Mobile carriers merging could lead to fewer tenants and lower rental income
  • Rising interest rates make the debt used to build towers more expensive to service

What do SBA Communications Corporation's numbers mean?

P/E
19.7
This shows how much you are paying for every pound of the company's annual profit; a lower number can sometimes suggest a bargain, but it depends on future growth.
Gross margin
74.2%
This indicates that for every pound of revenue, the company keeps over 74 pence after paying the direct costs of maintaining their towers.
Dividend yield
2.6%
This is the annual cash payout to shareholders as a percentage of the share price, acting as a small thank you for holding the stock.
Beta
1.0
A beta of 1.0 means the share price tends to move in perfect lockstep with the wider stock market.

How much money does SBA Communications Corporation make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$183.08M$366.16M$549.25M$732.33MQ1 25Q2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26
Gross margin
74.2%
Net margin
35.7%

Does SBA Communications Corporation pay a dividend?

Yes - SBA Communications Corporation currently pays a dividend of about 2.8% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

When does SBA Communications Corporation report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

SBA Communications Corporation is next scheduled to report on about 2026-08-03 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-04-29$1.74$1.74In line
2026-02-26$4.05$3.47Missed -14%
2025-11-03$2.16$2.20Beat +2%
2025-08-04$2.26$2.09Missed -8%
2025-04-28$2.32$1.77Missed -24%
2025-02-24$2.31$2.33In line

Across the last 6 quarters here, SBA Communications Corporation came in ahead of what analysts expected 1 time. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

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What are the scenarios for SBA Communications Corporation?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

$223$181$158today · $181▲ Bull · $195• Base · $181▼ Bear · $167in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +10%Increased demand for 5G infrastructure upgrades
Base
-2% to +2%Stable lease renewals with existing mobile carriers
Bear
-5% to -10%Higher interest rates increasing borrowing costs

What are the pros and cons of SBA Communications Corporation?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • High profit margins suggest a very efficient business model
  • Long-term contracts provide predictable and stable revenue
  • Essential infrastructure role in the modern digital economy
The catch3
  • Recent earnings growth has been negative
  • The business relies heavily on a small number of large mobile network customers
  • High levels of debt are common in this industry, which can be costly when interest rates rise
Key risks3
  • Technological changes like satellite internet could reduce the need for physical towers
  • Mobile carriers merging could lead to fewer tenants and lower rental income
  • Rising interest rates make the debt used to build towers more expensive to service
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: roe · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.