Where it trades today
trading 31% of the way up its 52-week range
How the price has moved
What to weigh before acting
What Matters Now
- Order-book quality, backlog conversion, and operating leverage usually tell you more than a single quarter of revenue growth.
- WM trades at 29.9x earnings, well above the industrials average of 18.5x, so the market is already pricing in above-consensus execution.
- Recent realized volatility sits near 15.4%, below the sector norm of 22.0%, which supports a steadier role inside a diversified portfolio.
- WM remains in a bearish short-term trend and sits 14.9% below its high, which raises the bar for any thesis that depends on fast multiple expansion.
Portfolio Use Case
- WM is more useful for investors comparing conviction names inside industrials than for someone looking for a passive “set and forget” holding.
- The beta profile suggests it can fit a quality or lower-volatility sleeve more naturally than a high-octane tactical basket.
- This page is most useful for deciding whether the stock deserves a permanent slot in the portfolio or just a place on the watchlist.
What Would Change the View
- A reset in earnings expectations or a faster peer catch-up could compress the premium valuation currently embedded in WM.
- A recovery in price alone would not be enough to improve the view; the thesis needs confirmation from improving business or valuation signals.
- The view would need revisiting if peers such as CAT, HON start winning the marginal flow or posting cleaner operating momentum.
Methodology
- Price, market cap, beta, yield, and liquidity fields for WM come from Yahoo Finance quote and summary data.
- 30-day volatility is calculated from recent daily returns and annualized using a 252-trading-day convention.
- Sector context uses stored benchmark averages for Industrials so each page compares the ticker against a stable peer baseline rather than against the whole market.
- Peer comparisons use the Portfolio Terminal coverage set and highlight nearby listed alternatives such as CAT, HON.
Sources
- Yahoo Finance quote dataopen →
Live quote, valuation, beta, yield, and volume fields used for WM. Last refresh: Sep 18, 2026, 10:56 PM.
- Portfolio Terminal methodologyopen →
Explains how analytics, refresh cadence, and portfolio interpretation work across the product.
- Peer set and coverage context
Comparative context for this page is anchored around nearby tracked names such as CAT, HON.
What Waste Management does
Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and internationally. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, recovery facility, or disposal site; owns and operates transfer stations; and owns, develops, and operates landfill gas-to-energy facilities that produce renewable electricity and renewable natural gas. It also operates materials processing and commodities recycling services, including cardboard, paper, glass, metals, plastics,…
What analysts expect
WM carries a buy consensus from 25 analysts, with an average price target of $259.92 versus $211.10 today (+23.1%). Targets are estimates and can move quickly after earnings.
Consensus aggregated by Yahoo Finance. Targets are estimates, not forecasts.
How the business is doing
WM generated $25.67B in trailing revenue (4.0% year over year), with a 11.1% net margin, and $2.35B of free cash flow, against $22.80B of net debt.
The numbers, year by year
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Gross profit | Operating income | Net income | EPS | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $25.20B | $10.19B | $4.61B | $2.71B | $6.72 | $2.82B |
| 2024 | $22.06B | $8.68B | $4.15B | $2.75B | $6.84 | $2.16B |
| 2023 | $20.43B | $7.82B | $3.82B | $2.30B | $5.69 | $1.82B |
| 2022 | $19.70B | $7.40B | $3.43B | $2.24B | $5.42 | $1.95B |
When it reports next
Estimates aggregated by Yahoo Finance. Dates move and estimates change until the report lands.
How it sits in industrials
Manufacturing, aerospace, defense, and infrastructure companies.
The companies it competes with
WM beside the industrials names it is usually measured against.
What the chart is saying
Waste Management trades at $211.10, 14.9% below its 52-week high. With a beta of 0.43, it shows less sensitivity to what the wider market does.
Questions people ask about it
Is WM a good buy right now?
Waste Management trades at 29.9x earnings. This is near market average. Current risk level is Medium based on 15.4% volatility.
Does WM pay dividends?
Yes, Waste Management offers a dividend yield of 1.77%. That is roughly $3.74 per share a year.
How volatile is WM?
With 30-day annualized volatility of 15.4% and beta of 0.43, WM is classified as Medium risk. The stock tends to be more stable than the market average.
What is the analyst price target for WM?
The average analyst price target for Waste Management (WM) is $259.92 based on 25 analyst estimates, about 23.1% above the current price of $211.10. The published range runs from $220.00 to $277.00.
How much revenue does WM generate?
Waste Management reported $25.67B in trailing twelve-month revenue. Revenue growth is running at 4.0% year over year. Net margin sits at 11.1%. Figures are aggregated from company filings by Yahoo Finance and refresh on an hourly cadence.