WCN
Waste Connections, Inc.
WCN's fundamentals are strong: its operating margin rose 6 points to 18% and earnings per share grew 86%. At 43x earnings, it's trading below its usual 53x. Analysts expect earnings growth, though they disagree widely on how much.
WCN Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure |
WCN's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure.
WCN PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 33x | $194 | — |
| Cheap | 42x | $186 | -4.2% |
| Current | 43x | $194 | — |
| Fair | 53x | $236 | +22% |
| Expensive | 79x | $354 | +82% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WCN's PE is in its cheap range at 43x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 33x next year's earnings.
WCN Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for WCN, with profitability improving. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
WCN Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.95 | +33% |
| Q3 2026 | $4.47 | +86% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.15 | +67% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.10 | +69% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.17 | +74% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.40 | -34% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.48 | -26% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.43 | -21% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.39 | -19% |
WCN earned $4.47 per share over the past year, up 86% from the year before.
WCN Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.6B | +7.3% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.6B | +6.4% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.4B | +6.4% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.4B | +5% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.5B | +5.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.4B | +7.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.2B | +7.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.3B | +11% |
WCN's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $2.6B last quarter, up 7.3% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 21% | +2.7 points |
| Q2 2026 | 17% | -2 points |
| Q1 2026 | 15% | -2.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 18% | +27 points |
| Q3 2025 | 18% | -2.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | 19% | +0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 18% | -0.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | -8.8% | -20 points |
WCN's operating margin was 21% last quarter, up 2.7 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
WCN Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $397.1M | +4.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $430.9M | +22% |
| Q1 2026 | $249M | -24% |
| Q4 2025 | $172.6M | +0.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $380.3M | +33% |
| Q2 2025 | $352.9M | -10% |
| Q1 2025 | $329.1M | +2.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $172.2M | -27% |
WCN's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $1.2B over the past year, up 1.2% from the year before.
WCN Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.8% | -2M shares |
| 1 year | -2.2% | -5.7M shares |
| 3 years | -2.5% | -6.4M shares |
| 5 years | -3.6% | -9.3M shares |
| Available history | -4.8% | -12.7M shares |
WCN has 252M diluted shares, down 2.2% from a year ago, with $1B in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $329.9M |
| Q2 2026 | $330.5M |
| Q1 2026 | $284M |
| Q4 2025 | $63.3M |
| Q3 2025 | $441.8M |
| Q4 2022 | — |
| Q3 2022 | — |
| Q2 2022 | — |
WCN spent $1B buying back its own shares over the past year.
WCN Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 3.0x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 3.7x | Elevated |
| Q2 2025 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q1 2025 | 3.6x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 3.6x | Elevated |
WCN's net debt is about 3.0 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 3.7 years a year ago.
WCN Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 69.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 90.8 | Overbought |
WCN's weekly RSI is 70 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 91 (overbought).
WCN PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | WCN | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 43x | 24x | 81% above |
| PE % | 30 | 58 | 28 pts below |
WCN is trading at 43x earnings, a 81% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
WCN Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $173.0 | 12% above |
| 20 week MA | $169.0 | 15% above |
| 50 week MA | $166.1 | 17% above |
| 100 week MA | $174.7 | 11% above |
| 200 week MA | $165.1 | 17% above |
WCN is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 17% above its 200-week average.
WCN Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $90.9 | $101.5 | +12% |
| 2021 | $101.5 | $132.2 | +30% |
| 2022 | $132.2 | $133.4 | +0.9% |
| 2023 | $133.4 | $149.3 | +12% |
| 2024 | $149.3 | $171.3 | +15% |
| 2025 | $171.3 | $178.1 | +4% |
| 2026 YTD | $178.1 | $193.9 | +8.9% |
WCN has finished every year since 2020 higher, and it's up 8.9% so far in 2026.