Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.23 EPS

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by ($0.23), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $909.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $884.82 million. Uniti Group had a negative return on equity of 133.07% and a net margin of 28.68%.

Here are the key takeaways from Uniti Group’s conference call:

• Fiber infrastructure demand reached record levels, with bookings MRR of approximately $2.2 million, up nearly 30% from the prior record. Demand was broad-based across hyperscalers, neoclouds, superscalers, and other customer segments, with waves and lit capacity representing more than half of quarterly bookings.
• Kinetic achieved record fiber expansion and subscriber growth, passing 141,000 additional homes and adding 38,000 net fiber subscribers in the quarter. The company raised its 2026 target to 475,000–525,000 new fiber homes constructed and now expects 675,000–700,000 fiber subscribers by year-end.
• Uniti raised its 2026 Fiber Infrastructure revenue outlook to approximately $1 billion at the midpoint, reflecting stronger hyperscale and AI-related activity. Management also highlighted attractive build economics, including blended anchor lease-up cash yields of 37% and a potential approximately $500 million of recurring revenue from new infrastructure.
• Kinetic consumer fiber ARPU declined 2.6% year over year and is expected to decrease by a low-single-digit percentage in the third quarter due to competitive promotions, rate-plan timing, and retention initiatives. Management expects ARPU to stabilize and return to low-single-digit growth in the fourth quarter, but noted that fiber material costs may rise from mid-2027 onward.
• Consolidated second-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA declined 5% and 10%, respectively, as legacy copper, TDM, and Uniti Solutions operations continued to contract. Uniti increased 2026 net CapEx guidance by $100 million to approximately $1.525 billion, partly to accelerate fiber construction, while some large Fiber Infrastructure deals could shift from late 2026 into early 2027.

Uniti Group Stock Performance

UNIT traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.72. 4,291,767 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,066,097. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.40. Uniti Group has a 12-month low of $5.30 and a 12-month high of $12.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on UNIT. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Uniti Group from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Uniti Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Uniti Group from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Uniti Group from $9.00 to $11.75 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Uniti Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Uniti Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.92.

More Uniti Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting Uniti Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue exceeded expectations: Uniti reported second-quarter revenue of $909.7 million, above the $884.8 million consensus estimate. The company also delivered $357.1 million in adjusted EBITDA. Uniti Group earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Fiber infrastructure bookings reached a record level: The bookings momentum may signal stronger demand and support Uniti’s long-term growth prospects. Management also reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of approximately $3.6 billion to $3.7 billion. Uniti Group second-quarter 2026 results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinions remain divided: TD Cowen maintained a “buy” rating, while JPMorgan moved to “neutral.” Both firms reduced their price targets from $12 to $11, but the new targets still imply approximately 13% upside from the referenced share price. Benzinga analyst ratings
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly losses were substantially worse than expected: Uniti reported a loss of $0.68 per share, compared with the consensus estimate of a $0.43 loss and a $0.04 loss in the prior-year quarter. The company also reported a $155.9 million net loss, which may be pressuring the stock despite the revenue beat. Uniti Group reports second-quarter loss

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Uniti Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Uniti Group by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Uniti Group in the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Uniti Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in Uniti Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $81,000. 87.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Uniti Group Company Profile

Uniti Group Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and acquires communications infrastructure assets across the United States. Established in September 2015 through a spin-off from Windstream Holdings, Uniti Group focuses on leasing fiber, small cell networks, cell towers and related infrastructure to service providers, wireless carriers and other enterprises requiring high-capacity connectivity. The company’s assets are designed to support the growing data demands of residential, business and governmental customers, with an emphasis on long-term contractual lease arrangements.

Uniti’s portfolio encompasses an extensive fiber network that spans metropolitan and rural markets, as well as a portfolio of wireless towers and small cell nodes that facilitate mobile network densification and help carriers deploy 5G services.