Waste Management (WM) financials

NYSE · Industrials · Waste Management · 60,500 employees · CEO James C. Fish Jr.

Price: $233.45 +1.10%
Market cap: $92.8B
Enterprise value: $116B
Last report: Q3 '26 filed 2026-10-28
Next report: 2027-01-27 EPS est. $2.07

Revenue (TTM)$26.1B+5.2% vs a year agoLast 4 quarters; bars = each quarter

Operating margin (TTM)18.5%+0.9 pp vs a year agoOperating income $4.82B

Net income (TTM)$3.07B+19.7% vs a year agoAfter tax, incl. non-operating gains

Free cash flow (TTM)$3.74B+55.7% vs a year agoCapex $2.83B

Diluted EPS (TTM)$7.62+20.0% vs a year agoSum of the last 4 quarters

Net cash-$23.1B+0.3% vs a year agoCash + short-term investments - debt

Valuation & key figures

Market cap: $92.8B
Revenue: $26.1B
Revenue growth: +5%
Profit margin: 11.8%
P/E: 30.5×
P/S: 3.6×
EV / EBITDA: 14.6×
Free cash flow: $3.74B
Net income: $3.07B
Revenue estimate: $26.5B
Earnings: 2027-01-27
Dividend: $3.66

Key takeaways

Computed from the reported numbers - every statement carries the figure it rests on.

Last report (2026-10-27): revenue in line, EPS missed by 1.4%Revenue $6.85B vs $6.81B expected (+0.5%); EPS $2.15 vs $2.18 (-1.4%).
Revenue growth slowing: 6.3% year on yearQ3 '26 revenue $6.85B, against an average of 7.4% over the four quarters before.
Operating margin 18.5% (TTM), +0.9 pp on a year agoOperating income grew 10.3% while revenue grew 5.2%.
23.8% of pre-tax profit is eaten by non-operating lossesPre-tax income $3.89B vs operating income $4.82B (TTM). Losses on equity stakes and other one-off items cut net income and EPS - operating income is the cleaner measure of the business.
Capex 10.8% of revenue (a year ago 13.9%)$2.83B invested in the last 4 quarters (-18.2% on a year earlier). Free cash flow $3.74B = 121.8% of net income.
Returned $3.06B to shareholders = 81.8% of free cash flowBuybacks $1.58B (a year earlier $0), dividends $1.47B, stock-based pay $41M (TTM).
Diluted share count down 1.1% in a year400M diluted shares in Q3 '26, 404M a year earlier.
Net debt $23.1BCash + short-term investments $247M, debt incl. leases $23.4B; a year ago net debt $23.2B.
Renewable Energy Segment: revenue +45.2%, margin 22.2% (was 18.3%)Fastest-growing reported segment in Q3 '26: operating income $37M on revenue $167M (from the segment note of the filing).

Last quarter: Q3 '26

Quarter ended 2026-09-30. Compared with the same quarter a year earlier and with the analyst consensus before the report.

Quarter vs a year ago

	Q3 '26	Year ago	Change
Revenue	$6.85B	$6.44B	+6.3%
Gross margin	18.7%	29.2%	-10.5 pp
Operating income	$1.28B	$1.22B	+5.2%
Operating margin	18.7%	18.9%	-0.2 pp
Net income	$820M	$603M	+36.0%
Diluted EPS	$2.05	$1.49	+37.6%
Operating cash flow	$1.64B	$1.59B	+3.0%
Capex	$657M	$776M	-15.3%
Free cash flow	$983M	$816M	+20.5%
R&D	$0	$0	–
Stock-based compensation	$41M	$0	–

Reported vs consensus

2026-10-27

	Actual	Consensus	vs consensus
Revenue	$6.85B	$6.81B	+0.5%
EPS (as estimated)	$2.15	$2.18	-1.4%

From the report of 2026-10-27 for Q3 '26: revenue and the EPS analysts estimate (often adjusted), so it can differ from the EPS of the statements above.

EPS vs consensus

last 8 reports

Revenue

Where the money comes from - by business line and by region, quarter by quarter.

Revenue, operating income and growth

quarterly

Revenue by business line

stacked, quarterly

Segment	Q3 '26	y/y	Share	TTM	TTM y/y
Collection and Disposal	$1.74B	–	57.5%	–	–
Landfill	–	–	–	–	–
Commercial	–	–	–	–	–
Industrial	–	–	–	–	–
Transfer	–	–	–	–	–
Other Collection	–	–	–	–	–
Healthcare Solutions	$752M	+19.7%	24.9%	$3.06B	+33.4%
Residential	–	–	–	–	–
Recycling Processing and Sales	$530M	+42.5%	17.6%	$2.03B	+32.2%
Renewable Energy	–	–	–	–	–
Corporate and Other	–	–	–	–	–

Revenue by region

share of total

Segment	Q3 '26	y/y	Share	TTM	TTM y/y	12 quarters
Eastern	$3.09B	–	51.1%	–	–
Western	$2.95B	+5.9%	48.9%	–	–

Segment profits

Operating income per reported segment, read from the segment note of each 10-Q / 10-K (the profit split most data feeds leave out).

Segments in Q3 '26

Segment	Revenue	y/y	Operating income	y/y	Margin	Margin a year ago	TTM operating income
Collection And Disposal	$5.58B	+4.8%	$1.54B	+5.0%	27.6%	27.6%	$6.07B
East Tier	$2.42B	+3.5%	$771M	+4.2%	31.9%	31.7%	–
East Tier Region Areas	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
West Tier Region Areas	$2.35B	+5.7%	$766M	+5.2%	32.5%	32.7%	$3B
All other segments	$808M	+6.7%	$5M	–	0.6%	0.0%	–
Healthcare Solutions	$651M	+3.7%	$20M	+195.2%	3.1%	-3.3%	-$11M
Recycling Processing And Sales	$441M	+18.5%	$36M	+126.3%	8.2%	-36.8%	$106M
Renewable Energy Segment	$167M	+45.2%	$37M	+76.2%	22.2%	18.3%	$189M
Corporate And Other	$8M	+14.3%	-$356M	-4.1%	-4,450.0%	-4,885.7%	-$1.56B

Operating income by segment

quarterly

Segment operating margin

quarterly

Fourth quarters are derived: the 10-K reports the full year, minus the three quarters of the 10-Qs.

Margins & cost structure

How much of each unit of revenue is left at each level - and where the costs go.

Margins

quarterly

Costs as % of revenue

quarterly

Cash flow & capital allocation

Cash generated, what it is spent on, and what reaches shareholders.

Operating cash flow, capex, free cash flow

quarterly

Uses of cash vs operating cash flow

fiscal years

Last 4 quarters

cash flow statement

Operating cash flow: $6.57B
Capex: -$2.83B
Buybacks: -$1.58B
Dividends: -$1.47B
Acquisitions: -$76M
Net debt issued: -$541M
Stock-based compensation: $41M
Free cash flow: $3.74B
Returned to shareholders / FCF: 81.8%

Share count and EPS

quarterly, diluted

Balance sheet

Liquidity, investments and debt at each quarter end.

Cash, investments and debt

quarter ends

Valuation & returns

Today's multiples against the company's own last five fiscal years; analyst targets and ratings.

Multiples and returns

TTM vs 5 fiscal years

	Now	5y average	Where today sits in the 5-year range
P/E (TTM)	30.5×	32.3×	28.9× – 38.6×
EV / EBITDA	14.6×	17.1×	14.6× – 21.9×
EV / Sales	4.4×	4.4×	4.0× – 4.7×
Price / FCF	24.8×	34.2×	28.8× – 39.8×
Price / Book	9.4×	9.7×	8.9× – 10.5×
FCF yield	4.0%	3.0%	2.5% – 3.5%
Return on invested capital	9.1%	9.2%	8.3% – 10.0%
Return on equity	30.9%	30.4%	25.5% – 33.4%

Analysts

Consensus target $257.20 (+10.2%)
range $225.00 – $280.00 · rating Buy

Strong buy0

Buy19

Hold17

Sell0

Strong sell0

Outlook

Analyst consensus for the coming fiscal years and what it implies at today's price.

Consensus estimates

Fiscal year	Revenue	Growth	EPS	Growth	P/E at today's price	Analysts (EPS)
FY2026	$26.5B	+5.0%	$8.06	+20.3%	29.0×	16
FY2027	$27.9B	+5.3%	$8.89	+10.3%	26.3×	17
FY2028	$29.1B	+4.3%	$9.78	+10.0%	23.9×	12
FY2029	$30.9B	+6.4%	$10.86	+11.1%	21.5×	9
FY2030	$32.5B	+5.1%	$11.86	+9.2%	19.7×	5

Financial statements

Every line of the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement - 12 quarters and 10 fiscal years, as values, as % of revenue or as growth.

Income statementRevenue, costs, operating income, net income and EPSOpen Balance sheetCash, investments, assets, debt, liabilities and equityOpen Cash flowOperating cash flow, capex, free cash flow, buybacks and dividendsOpen

Every reported line

All 287 figures Waste Management, Inc. tagged in its recent 10-Q / 10-K filings, with the official SEC label and definition - including the notes (leases, taxes, buybacks, employees, ...).

Line (SEC label)	Latest quarter	Year ago	y/y	Latest FY	Prior FY	y/y
Accounts Payable, Current	$2.01B	$2.08B	-3.3%	$1.87B	$2.05B	-8.7%
Accounts Receivable, after Allowance for Credit Loss, Current	$3.66B	$3.4B	+7.8%	$3.44B	$3.27B	+5.0%
Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss, Current	$85M	$122M	-30.3%	$87M	$165M	-47.3%
Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Credit Loss, Writeoff	–	–	–	$171M	$55M	+210.9%
Accounts Receivable, Credit Loss Expense (Reversal)	–	–	–	$85M	$65M	+30.8%
Accretion Expense, Including Asset Retirement Obligations	$36M2025-12-31	$34M	+5.9%	$142M	$133M	+6.8%
Accrual for Environmental Loss Contingencies	$220M	$215M	+2.3%	$231M	$222M	+4.1%
Accrual for Environmental Loss Contingencies, Revision in Estimates	–	–	–	$61M2010-12-31	-$7M	+971.4%
Accrued Capping, Closure, Post-closure and Environmental Costs	$215M	$218M	-1.4%	$258M	$231M	+11.7%
Accrued Capping, Closure, Post-closure and Environmental Costs, Noncurrent	$3.37B	$3.13B	+7.6%	$3.28B	$3.05B	+7.5%
Accrued Liabilities, Current	$2.07B	$2.08B	-0.3%	$2.21B	$2.18B	+1.4%
Accumulated Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization, Property, Plant, and Equipment	$25.8B	$24.8B	+4.3%	$25.1B	$23.8B	+5.5%
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax	-$90M	-$31M	-190.3%	-$10M	-$115M	+91.3%
Additional Paid in Capital, Common Stock	$5.94B	$5.64B	+5.3%	$5.68B	$5.5B	+3.3%
Allowance for Doubtful Other Receivables, Current	$3M	$3M	0.0%	$3M	$4M	-25.0%
Amortization Method Qualified Affordable Housing Project Investments	$624M2025-12-31	$707M	-11.7%	$624M	$707M	-11.7%
Amortization of Intangible Assets	–	–	–	$421M	$180M	+133.9%
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount	1.2M	1.1M	+9.1%	800K	1.2M	-33.3%
Asset Impairment Charges	–	–	–	$232M	$90M	+157.8%
Asset Retirement Obligation	$3.37B	–	–	$1.27B2010-12-31	$1.27B	-0.1%
Asset Retirement Obligation, Accretion Expense	–	–	–	$103M2020-12-31	$98M	+5.1%
Asset Retirement Obligation, Liabilities Incurred	–	–	–	$47M2010-12-31	$39M	+20.5%
Asset Retirement Obligation, Revision of Estimate	–	–	–	$33M2021-12-31	–	–
Assets	$46.5B	$45.6B	+2.0%	$45.8B	$44.6B	+2.8%
Assets, Current	$5.25B	$4.84B	+8.5%	$4.91B	$4.77B	+2.8%
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure	$783M	–	–	$162M2013-12-31	$190M	-14.7%
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Change in Amount of Contingent Consideration, Liability	–	–	–	-$46M2023-12-31	–	–
Capital Expenditures Incurred but Not yet Paid	–	–	–	$465M	$620M	-25.0%
Capitalized Contract Cost, Amortization	–	–	–	$31M	$28M	+10.7%
Capitalized Contract Cost, Net	$246M	$235M	+4.7%	$237M	$218M	+8.7%
Cash and Cash Equivalents, at Carrying Value	$247M	$175M	+41.1%	$201M	$414M	-51.4%
Cash, Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Restricted Cash Equivalents	$332M	$308M	+7.8%	$297M	$487M	-39.0%
Cash, Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Restricted Cash Equivalents, Period Increase (Decrease), Including Exchange Rate Effect	-$306M	-$244M	-25.4%	-$190M	-$65M	-192.3%
Common Stock, Dividends, Per Share, Cash Paid	–	–	–	$3.30	$3.00	+10.0%
Common Stock, Dividends, Per Share, Declared	$0.95	$0.83	+14.5%	$3.30	$3.00	+10.0%
Common Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share	$0.01	$0.01	0.0%	$0.01	$0.01	0.0%
Common Stock, Shares Authorized	1.5B	1.5B	0.0%	1.5B	1.5B	0.0%
Common Stock, Shares, Issued	630M	630M	0.0%	630M	630M	0.0%
Common Stock, Shares, Outstanding	398M	403M	-1.3%	403M	402M	+0.3%
Common Stock, Value, Issued	$6M	$6M	0.0%	$6M	$6M	0.0%
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	$0	$0	–	$1M	-$1M	+200.0%
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent	$801M	$563M	+42.3%	$2.81B	$2.67B	+5.4%
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	$801M	$563M	+42.3%	$2.81B	$2.67B	+5.5%
Contract with Customer, Liability, Current	$777M	$698M	+11.3%	$735M	$673M	+9.2%
Cost of Goods and Services Sold	$4.09B	$3.8B	+7.8%	$15B	$13.4B	+12.2%
Costs and Expenses	$5.57B	$5.45B	+2.1%	$20.9B	$18B	+16.1%
Current Federal Tax Expense (Benefit)	–	–	–	$193M	$419M	-53.9%
Current Foreign Tax Expense (Benefit)	–	–	–	$40M	$37M	+8.1%
Current Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	–	–	–	$354M	$589M	-39.9%
Current State and Local Tax Expense (Benefit)	–	–	–	$121M	$133M	-9.0%
Debt and Lease Obligation	$23.4B2026-06-30	$24B	-2.8%	$22.9B	$23.9B	-4.2%
Debt Instrument, Fair Value Disclosure	$23.4B2026-06-30	–	–	–	–	–
Debt Instrument, Unamortized Discount (Premium) and Debt Issuance Costs, Net	$147M	$162M	-9.3%	$156M	$179M	-12.8%
Debt, Current	$1.52B	$880M	+73.2%	$711M	$1.36B	-47.7%
Deferred Federal Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	–	–	–	$308M	$98M	+214.3%
Deferred Foreign Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	–	–	–	-$9M	$7M	-228.6%
Deferred Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	$53M	$162M	-67.3%	$363M	$124M	+192.7%
Deferred Income Tax Liabilities, Net	$3.36B	$3.03B	+10.9%	$3.16B	$2.82B	+12.3%
Deferred Sale Inducement Cost	$193M	$173M	+11.6%	–	–	–
Deferred State and Local Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	–	–	–	$64M	$19M	+236.8%

Source: SEC companyfacts (XBRL of every 10-Q / 10-K). Cash-flow quarters are derived from the year-to-date figures the 10-Q tags. Segment breakdowns are tagged with dimensions and are shown in the segment section instead.

Sources

Statements, segment revenue, metrics, estimates: Financial Modeling Prep. Segment profits and every reported line: SEC EDGAR (XBRL). Filings read: 10-Q 2026-09-30, 10-Q 2026-06-30, 10-Q 2026-03-31, 10-K 2025-12-31, 10-Q 2025-09-30, 10-Q 2025-06-30, 10-Q 2025-03-31, 10-K 2024-12-31, 10-Q 2024-09-30

Data as of 2026-11-01