Waste Management (WM)
Industrials · $83.4B market cap · SEC CIK 0000823768
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 26, 2026, after the close, with analysts expecting $2.25 in earnings per share.
The case for WM
- Earns 29% back on shareholder equity.
- Has compounded revenue at 10.6% a year over five years.
- Moves less than the market (beta 0.40).
- Pays a modest 1.7% dividend.
The case against
- A PEG of 6.1: a P/E of 29.2× is a lot to pay for EPS growing 5%.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.91).
- The price trend is weak (35/100): -4.3% over a year, -3.5% over three months, 25% of the way up its 52-week range.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Industrials companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 43 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 60 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 54 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 35 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 69 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 79 Industrials companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 29.2× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 9.02× |
| Price / sales | 3.2× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +7.2% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | +4.8% |
| Gross margin | 41% |
| Operating margin | 18% |
| Net margin | 11% |
| Return on equity | 29% |
| Debt / equity | 2.35× |
| Current ratio | 0.91 |
| Dividend yield | 1.66% |
| Beta | 0.40 |
| 52-week range | $194.11 – $248.13 |
| Position in that range | 25% of the way up |
| 3-month return | -3.5% |
| 1-year return | -4.3% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Waste Management's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $25.2B | $22.1B | $20.4B | $19.7B | $17.9B |
| Operating income | $4.3B | $4.1B | $3.6B | $3.4B | $3.0B |
| Net income | $2.7B | $2.7B | $2.3B | $2.2B | $1.8B |
| Operating cash flow | $6.0B | $5.4B | $4.7B | $4.5B | $4.3B |
| Capital expenditure | $3.2B | $3.2B | $2.9B | $2.8B | $2.0B |
| Total assets | $45.8B | $44.6B | $32.8B | $31.4B | $29.1B |
| Total liabilities | $35.8B | $36.3B | $25.9B | $24.5B | $22.0B |
| Shareholder equity | $10.0B | $8.3B | $6.9B | $6.8B | $7.1B |
| Cash | $201M | $414M | $458M | $351M | $118M |
| Free cash flow | $2.8B | $2.2B | $1.8B | $1.7B | $2.3B |
| Operating margin | 17.1% | 18.4% | 17.5% | 17.1% | 16.5% |
| Net margin | 10.7% | 12.4% | 11.3% | 11.4% | 10.1% |
| Diluted shares | 404M | 403M | 407M | 415M | 423M |
Share count is down 4.4% over 4 years. Buybacks have been shrinking the pie.
What Waste Management says it does
– Regulation – Recent Developments and Focus Areas in Policy and Regulation . We encounter intense competition from governmental, quasi-governmental and private service providers based on pricing, and to a much lesser extent, the nature of service offerings, particularly in the residential line of business. Our industry is directly affected by changes in general economic factors, including increases and decreases in consumer spending, business expansions and construction activity. These factors generally correlate to volumes of waste generated and impact our revenue. Negative economic conditions and other macroeconomic trends can and have caused customers to reduce their service needs. Such negative economic conditions, in addition to competitor actions, can impact our strategy to negotiate, renew, or expand service contracts and grow our business. We also encounter competition for acquisitions and growth opportunities. General…
Risk factors WM lists in its 10-K
- Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
- Business – Regulation – Recent Developments and Focus Areas in Policy and Regulation
- Collection and Disposal Average Yield
- Recycling Processing and Sales and Renewable Energy —
- Energy Surcharge and Mandated Fees —
- Disposal and Franchise Fees and Taxes —
- Critical Accounting Estimates and Assumptions — Landfills
- Landfill and Environmental Remediation Liabilities —
- Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities —
- Net Cash Used in Investing Activities —
- Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Financing Activities —
- Critical Accounting Estimates and Assumptions
- Property and Equipment, Including Landfills and Definite-Lived Intangible Assets —
- Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets, Including Goodwill —