Waste Management
WM on NYSE. Waste Management sells waste and recycling services to homes, businesses, and governments. Market value $82.6bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to December 2025.
Should I look at this?
Good business, but not cheap right now
Why it could be worth it
See cheaper Industrials stocks on the list
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $4.30 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 23.5 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 11 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 82 of 100. Price score: 55 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$207.88 a share, 7% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $194.11 to $248.13.
Dividend: 1.6% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $17.9bn | $19.7bn | $20.4bn | $22.1bn | $25.2bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 16.5% | 17.1% | 17.5% | 18.4% | 17.1% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 1.88 | 2.19 | 2.35 | 2.90 | 2.29 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.41bn | 0.40bn | 0.40bn | 0.40bn | 0.40bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)8 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt2.29× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 10.6% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 3% fewer since 2021
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $6.7 billion last quarter, up 4% on a year ago.
- Profit: $785 million, up 8% on a year ago.
- It keeps 18 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, about the same as a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $3.6 billion, up from $2.2 billion.
- About the same number of shares as a year ago.
- Debt is $22.8 billion more than cash, down from $23.6 billion a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $5.6bn |
| December 2024 | $5.9bn |
| March 2025 | $6.0bn |
| June 2025 | $6.4bn |
| September 2025 | $6.4bn |
| December 2025 | $6.3bn |
| March 2026 | $6.2bn |
| June 2026 | $6.7bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $760m |
| December 2024 | $598m |
| March 2025 | $637m |
| June 2025 | $726m |
| September 2025 | $603m |
| December 2025 | $742m |
| March 2026 | $723m |
| June 2026 | $785m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 26 October 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 9 February 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 28 October 2026
Who owns it
11 long-term investors we follow own it, up from 10 last quarter. 2,364 funds in all.
- GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli
- Value
- $28m
- Share of fund
- 0.3%
- Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier
- Value
- $329,862
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Beutel GoodmanBeutel Goodman team
- Value
- $178,000
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond Hill Capital ManagementRic Dillon (founder) | $262m | 2.1% | Cut |
| Jensen Investment ManagementEric Schoenstein | $141m | 3.4% | Cut |
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $132m | 1.2% | Added |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $28m | 0.3% | |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $10m | <0.1% | Added |
| First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners | $3m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Boyar Asset ManagementMark Boyar | $1m | 0.7% | Cut |
| Clarkston Capital PartnersJeff Hakala | $843,824 | <0.1% | Cut |
| Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier | $329,862 | <0.1% | |
| Beutel GoodmanBeutel Goodman team | $178,000 | <0.1% | |
| LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok | $45,000 | <0.1% | New |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$6.8bn
- Gates Foundation Trust$6.0bnCut
- Vanguard Capital Management$5.6bn
- State Street$4.0bnAdded
- Capital Research Global Investors$2.3bnAdded
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$2.3bn
- Geode Capital Management$2.0bn
- Ameriprise Financial$1.6bnCut
- Morgan Stanley$1.5bnCut
- Parnassus Investments$1.1bnCut
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
2 investors own more than 5%.
- Gates Foundation TrustPassive investorat least 7.2%(filed with 1 related holder)Since 30 September 2025
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor7.2%Since 31 March 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Gates Foundation Trust Passive investor | at least 7.2% (filed with 1 related holder) | 30 September 2025 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 7.2% | 31 March 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 1 insider bought $392,840 of shares on the open market. 12 sold $24m, $21m of it under preset trading plans.
- Carroll John A.VP & Chief Accounting OfficerSold
- Date
- 4 September 2026
- Shares
- 1,365
- Price
- $219.90
- Value
- $300,164
- Carrasco RafaelSVP of Enterprise StrategySold
- Date
- 5 June 2026
- Shares
- 2,655
- Price
- $220.47
- Value
- $585,348
- Reed David L.EVP & CFOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 9 March 2026
- Shares
- 75
- Price
- $245.26
- Value
- $18,395
- Morris John JPresident & COOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 9 March 2026
- Shares
- 4,211
- Price
- $243.38
- Value
- $1m
- Varkey JohnsonSVP-Chief Information OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 9 March 2026
- Shares
- 121
- Price
- $245.27
- Value
- $29,678
- Carroll John A.VP & Chief Accounting OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 9 March 2026
- Shares
- 47
- Price
- $245.30
- Value
- $11,529
- DeSantis Christopher P.SVP Operations - EastSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 9 March 2026
- Shares
- 61
- Price
- $245.50
- Value
- $14,976
- Morris John JPresident & COOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 6 March 2026
- Shares
- 7,979
- Price
- $245.07
- Value
- $2m
- Varkey JohnsonSVP-Chief Information OfficerSold
- Date
- 3 March 2026
- Shares
- 617
- Price
- $244.13
- Value
- $150,628
- Reed David L.EVP & CFOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 2 March 2026
- Shares
- 21
- Price
- $242.65
- Value
- $5,096
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2026 | Carroll John A. VP & Chief Accounting Officer | Sold | 1,365 | $219.90 | $300,164 |
| 5 June 2026 | Carrasco Rafael SVP of Enterprise Strategy | Sold | 2,655 | $220.47 | $585,348 |
| 9 March 2026 | Reed David L. EVP & CFO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 75 | $245.26 | $18,395 |
| 9 March 2026 | Morris John J President & COO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 4,211 | $243.38 | $1m |
| 9 March 2026 | Varkey Johnson SVP-Chief Information Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 121 | $245.27 | $29,678 |
| 9 March 2026 | Carroll John A. VP & Chief Accounting Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 47 | $245.30 | $11,529 |
| 9 March 2026 | DeSantis Christopher P. SVP Operations - East | Sold under a preset trading plan | 61 | $245.50 | $14,976 |
| 6 March 2026 | Morris John J President & COO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 7,979 | $245.07 | $2m |
| 3 March 2026 | Varkey Johnson SVP-Chief Information Officer | Sold | 617 | $244.13 | $150,628 |
| 2 March 2026 | Reed David L. EVP & CFO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 21 | $242.65 | $5,096 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
What could go wrong
- It carries a lot of debt: 2.3× its equity.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.