WM changes
Pick any two versions below to diff them.
- Next earnings
- Oct 28, 2026 → Oct 27, 2026
- Next earnings is estimate
- Yes → No
- Thesis
- removed: At $206.83, WM trades added: Waste Management is priced the way a removed: little below added: steady compounder usually is, meaning the removed: analysts' intrinsic value. This added: market is not added: pricing in a removed: deep-value situation. It added: big problem. A compounder is removed: the kind of modest discount that shows up on a removed: steady compounder added: company that removed: rarely trades far from what it added: steadily grows earnings over many years. Instead the market is removed: worth. added: pricing in two near-term questions. One is whether WM Healthcare Solutions, built from the 2024 Stericycle purchase, can hit its cost-saving targets after running below plan. The removed: case for closing that gap rests on continued execution: adjusted operating EBITDA added: other is whether two leadership changes close together, a new CFO in late 2025 and removed: free cash flow have grown faster than revenue added: a new CEO taking over in removed: every quarter of 2026 so far, margins keep expanding as added: January 2027, go smoothly. For the removed: Stericycle-based added: gap to close, Healthcare Solutions removed: segment matures, and added: volumes need to stabilize. The roughly $250 million in targeted synergies, savings from combining the removed: board added: two companies, need to show up in the numbers. Incoming CEO John Morris needs to keep the operating momentum management built over the last decade. WM's core waste and recycling business keeps removed: returning most added: growing EBITDA, a measure of removed: that added: operating profit, and free cash added: flow faster than revenue. This gives management room to removed: shareholders, including a 14.5% dividend increase and a new $3 billion buyback authorized for 2026. If that trend holds added: work through added: these transition risks without hurting the removed: leadership handoff to incoming CEO added: dividend or the buyback plan. The next earnings report, due October 27, 2026, should show whether Healthcare Solutions volumes are stabilizing after management trimmed 2026 revenue guidance in July. John Morris removed: in added: takes over as CEO on January removed: 2027, the discount can close. added: 4, 2027. The removed: honest counter-case: because WM already trades close added: following two to removed: intrinsic value, there is little room for error. Slower progress integrating added: four quarters should show whether that handoff and the Healthcare removed: Solutions, weak recycled-commodity prices, or added: Solutions turnaround stay on track. Even a removed: bumpy CEO transition added: small miss on either point could removed: just as easily leave added: keep the stock removed: near today's price instead. added: from moving to a higher valuation.
- Recent events
- Aug 26, 2026: Jim Fish announced he will retire as CEO after more than a decade in the role and over 25 years at WM. The board named President John Morris as his successor, effective January 4, 2027. Jul 28, 2026: WM reported Q2 2026 results. Revenue grew 4.0% to $6.68 billion. Adjusted operating EBITDA grew 5.5% to $2.07 billion, a 30.9% margin. Free cash flow grew 35% to $1.10 billion. Management trimmed full-year revenue guidance slightly, to $26.275-$26.475 billion, on lower volumes, including in WM Healthcare Solutions, but kept its EBITDA and free cash flow guidance unchanged. added: May 12, 2026: WM named Tara Hemmer Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Jan 29, 2026: WM reported Q4 and full-year 2025 results. Full-year revenue was $25.2 billion. Full-year adjusted operating EBITDA grew 13.3% to $7.17 billion, its best-ever margin. Management guided 2026 revenue to $26.4-$26.6 billion and free cash flow to $3.75-$3.85 billion. Dec 15, 2025: WM's board approved a planned 14.5% increase in the 2026 dividend rate, to $3.78 per share per year, the 23rd straight year of increases, and a new $3 billion share buyback authorization, replacing the prior $1.5 billion program. Nov 1, 2025: David Reed became WM's Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Devina Rankin, who retired after nearly 23 years at the company.