SBA Communications key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2025, SBA Communications had an operating margin of 47.7% and a current ratio of 0.29. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2009Dec 2009 | 2010Dec 2010 | 2011Dec 2011 | 2012Dec 2012 | 2013Dec 2013 | 2014Dec 2014 | 2015Dec 2015 | 2016Dec 2016 | 2017Dec 2017 | 2018Dec 2018 | 2019Dec 2019 | 2020Dec 2020 | 2021Dec 2021 | 2022Dec 2022 | 2023Dec 2023 | 2024Dec 2024 | 2025Dec 2025 | LTMJun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 70.7% | 68.7% | 71.9% | 72.9% | 74.2% | 74.2% | 74.9% | 75.5% | 77.1% | 76.4% | 74.6% | 77.4% | 78.3% | 75.5% | 75.2% |
| Operating margin | 9.9% | 11.9% | 15.8% | 15.4% | 17.6% | 22.0% | 19.1% | 23.7% | 26.5% | 29.2% | 29.0% | 30.4% | 33.9% | 35.1% | 34.1% | 53.6% | 47.7% | 47.6% |
| Net margin | −25.4% | −31.1% | −18.1% | −19.0% | −4.3% | −1.6% | −10.7% | 4.7% | 6.0% | 2.5% | 7.3% | 1.2% | 10.3% | 17.5% | 18.5% | 28.0% | 37.4% | 34.5% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 31.7% | 21.5% | 17.5% | 23.9% | 25.2% | 30.3% | 31.4% | 36.9% | 38.9% | 37.6% | 40.5% | 47.9% | 45.7% | 40.7% | 48.2% | 41.3% | 37.9% | 36.1% |
| Return on equity | −23.5% | −42.5% | −82.7% | −56.4% | −11.1% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Return on assets | −4.3% | −5.8% | −3.6% | −3.5% | −0.8% | −0.3% | −2.3% | 1.0% | 1.4% | 0.7% | 1.7% | 0.3% | 2.5% | 4.5% | 4.8% | 6.9% | 9.2% | 8.5% |
| Asset turnover | 0.17 | 0.19 | 0.20 | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.21 | 0.22 | 0.22 | 0.24 | 0.26 | 0.24 | 0.22 | 0.24 | 0.26 | 0.26 | 0.25 | 0.24 | 0.25 |
| Current ratio | 1.49 | 1.12 | 1.02 | 0.45 | 0.46 | 0.99 | 1.08 | 0.37 | 0.93 | 0.31 | 0.32 | 0.77 | 1.00 | 0.69 | 0.36 | 1.10 | 0.29 | 0.17 |
| Debt to equity | 414.9% | 891.6% | — | 820.2% | >999% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | 0.4x | 0.5x | 0.7x | 0.7x | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Effective tax rate | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12.7% | 11.3% | 8.2% | 21.2% | — | 5.9% | 12.6% | 9.3% | 3.1% | 15.1% | 16.6% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 9.5% | 9.3% | 9.0% | 7.6% | 6.6% | 6.8% | 7.0% | 8.8% | 7.6% | 7.6% | 9.6% | 9.3% | 9.5% | 9.9% | 9.9% | 9.7% | 9.9% | 10.0% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 8.4% | 10.6% | 18.2% | 11.9% | 12.9% | 13.8% | 12.7% | 8.6% | 8.5% | 8.0% | 7.7% | 6.2% | 5.8% | 8.1% | 8.7% | 8.5% | 8.0% | 8.6% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 790.3% | 647.8% | >999% | 555.0% | >999% | 444.5% | 232.2% | 260.6% | 147.7% | 101.2% | 104.6% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 56.7% | 861.6% | 106.7% | 66.5% | 73.7% | 56.6% | 45.5% | 51.0% |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | 29.4% | 79.9% | 184.3% | — | — | — | 87.5% | 90.6% | 127.3% | 113.5% | 67.5% | 107.0% | 79.2% | 68.9% | 35.9% | 56.4% | 91.6% | 48.8% |
| Quarter | 2024 Q3Sept 2024 | 2024 Q4Dec 2024 | 2025 Q1Mar 2025 | 2025 Q2Jun 2025 | 2025 Q3Sept 2025 | 2025 Q4Dec 2025 | 2026 Q1Mar 2026 | 2026 Q2Jun 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 77.5% | 78.1% | 76.9% | 75.4% | 74.1% | 75.6% | 75.6% | 75.4% |
| Operating margin | 56.3% | 55.1% | 50.4% | 47.9% | 51.1% | 41.5% | 48.7% | 49.2% |
| Net margin | 38.7% | 25.0% | 33.2% | 32.3% | 32.3% | 51.5% | 26.3% | 27.8% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 4.8% | 36.7% | 38.4% | −39.9% | 33.2% | 33.5% | 29.4% | 48.2% |
| Current ratio | 0.67 | 1.10 | 0.69 | 0.37 | 0.50 | 0.29 | 0.23 | 0.17 |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 9.0% | 9.7% | 10.0% | 10.2% | 9.0% | 10.3% | 10.0% | 10.8% |
Moat
Strong moat
How hard SBA Communications's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 20 / 20
Cash operating profit has been a median 15.7% of total assets over 10 years.
- Pricing power 20 / 20
Gross margin has been a median 75.5%, moving by 1.3 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
- Durability 20 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 33.4%; its worst year was 26.1%.
- Cash conversion 20 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 35.3% of revenue.
- Discipline 17 / 20
The diluted share count fell 5.0% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 3.1% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.
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