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Valued at a market cap of $92.5 billion, Waste Management, Inc. (WM) provides environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers. The Houston, Texas-based company offers collection, transfer, recycling, resource recovery, and disposal services. It also develops, operates, and owns waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are typically classified as “large-cap stocks,” and WM fits the label perfectly, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the waste management industry. The company’s strengths include a vast landfill network, advanced recycling facilities, and strong sustainability initiatives focused on renewable energy and waste-to-energy conversion. It benefits from long-term contracts, an extensive customer base, and significant investment in automation and technology, ensuring operational efficiency and cost leadership.
This environmental solutions giant is currently trading 2.3% below its 52-week high of $235.81, reached recently on Mar. 3. Shares of WM have risen 2.8% over the past three months, outpacing the broader Nasdaq Composite’s ($NASX) 5.8% decline during the same time frame.
Moreover, on a YTD basis, shares of WM are up 14.2%, considerably outpacing NASX’s 3.9% fall over the same time frame. However, in the longer term, WM has gained 11.4% over the past 52 weeks, lagging behind NASX’s 16.4% return.
To confirm its bullish trend, WM has been trading above its 200-day moving average since the past year, despite some fluctuations, and has remained above its 50-day moving average since late January.
On Jan. 29, WM reported its Q4 results, and despite reporting a mixed performance, its stock surged 6.2% the following day. Its revenue of $5.9 billion improved nearly 13% from the year-ago quarter and marginally surpassed the consensus estimates, thanks to the completed acquisition of Stericycle and higher recycled commodity prices. However, its adjusted EPS of $1.70 declined 2.3% year-over-year and missed Wall Street’s estimates by 5%. Nonetheless, this bottom-line miss was overshadowed by a 9.5% increase in adjusted EBITDA, reflecting the company's successful cost optimization strategies.
Looking ahead, the company expects to achieve a second consecutive year of double-digit growth in adjusted operating EBITDA in 2025. This might have further bolstered investor confidence.
WM has underperformed its rival, Casella Waste Systems, Inc.’s (CWST) 20.9% gain over the past 52 weeks but has outpaced CWST’s 5.5% uptick on a YTD basis.
Given WM’s recent outperformance, analysts remain moderately optimistic about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the 21 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $242.26 suggests a modest 5.2% premium to its current levels.
