WM
Waste Management, Inc.
WM's fundamentals are strong: free cash flow grew 56% and it turned 14% of its revenue into free cash flow. At 32x earnings, it's trading right at its usual valuation. Analysts expect earnings growth.
WM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Stable |
WM's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue and balance sheet are stable.
WM PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 28x | $244 | — |
| Cheap | 29x | $224 | -8.4% |
| Current | 32x | $244 | — |
| Fair | 33x | $251 | +2.8% |
| Expensive | 36x | $277 | +13% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WM's PE is in its fair range at 32x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 28x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
WM Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for WM, with profitability holding steady.
WM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $8.62 | +13% |
| Q3 2026 | $7.62 | +20% |
| Q2 2026 | $7.06 | +4.6% |
| Q1 2026 | $6.91 | +4.1% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.70 | -1.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.36 | -2.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.75 | +7.3% |
| Q1 2025 | $6.64 | +8.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.81 | +20% |
WM earned $7.62 per share over the past year, up 20% from the year before.
WM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $6.8B | +6.3% |
| Q2 2026 | $6.7B | +4% |
| Q1 2026 | $6.2B | +3.5% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.3B | +7.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.4B | +15% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.4B | +19% |
| Q1 2025 | $6B | +17% |
| Q4 2024 | $5.9B | +13% |
WM's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $6.8B last quarter, up 6.3% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 19% | +3.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 19% | +0.9 points |
| Q1 2026 | 18% | +1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 18% | +2.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | 15% | -4.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | 18% | -0.8 points |
| Q1 2025 | 17% | -2.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 16% | +0.5 points |
WM's operating margin was 19% last quarter, up 3.3 points from the same quarter a year ago.
WM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $983M | +20% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.1B | +35% |
| Q1 2026 | $851M | +126% |
| Q4 2025 | $810M | +105% |
| Q3 2025 | $816M | +41% |
| Q2 2025 | $813M | +67% |
| Q1 2025 | $377M | -46% |
| Q4 2024 | $396M | +16% |
WM's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $3.7B over the past year, up 56% from the year before.
WM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.6% | -2.6M shares |
| 1 year | -1.1% | -4.5M shares |
| 3 years | -1.5% | -6.1M shares |
| 5 years | -5.3% | -22.2M shares |
| Available history | -6.5% | -27.7M shares |
WM has 400M diluted shares, down 1.1% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $580M |
| Q2 2026 | $659M |
| Q1 2026 | $344M |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | $12M |
| Q1 2024 | $250M |
| Q4 2023 | $312M |
WM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 3.0x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 3.2x | Elevated |
| Q3 2025 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q2 2025 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q1 2025 | 3.7x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 3.7x | Elevated |
WM's net debt is about 2.9 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 3.4 years a year ago.
WM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 62.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 81.9 | Overbought |
WM's weekly RSI is 63 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 82 (overbought).
WM PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | WM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 32x | 24x | 33% above |
| PE % | 41 | 58 | 17 pts below |
WM is trading at 32x earnings, a 33% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
WM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $225.0 | 8.5% above |
| 20 week MA | $225.4 | 8.3% above |
| 50 week MA | $225.0 | 8.5% above |
| 100 week MA | $224.0 | 9% above |
| 200 week MA | $204.4 | 19% above |
WM is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 19% above its 200-week average.
WM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $113.9 | $117.0 | +2.7% |
| 2021 | $117.0 | $161.9 | +38% |
| 2022 | $161.9 | $159.2 | -1.7% |
| 2023 | $159.2 | $179.1 | +12% |
| 2024 | $179.1 | $204.0 | +14% |
| 2025 | $204.0 | $221.1 | +8.4% |
| 2026 YTD | $221.1 | $244.1 | +10% |
WM has finished higher in five of the last six years. It's up 10% so far in 2026.