Waste Management reported Q4 earnings of $1.93 per share, falling short of the Zacks Consensus estimate of $1.95 and up from $1.70 a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter rose 7.1% year-over-year to $6.31 billion, driven by 6.3% core price gains in Collection and Disposal and a 3.8% yield improvement. Operating EBITDA reached $1.925 billion, up 22.5% versus Q4 2024, but missed analysts’ forecasts by $50 million on an adjusted basis. The Legacy Business delivered $1.838 billion of EBITDA at a 32.3% margin, while Healthcare Solutions contributed $87 million at a 14.1% margin.

For the full year ended December 31, 2025, Waste Management achieved revenue of $25.20 billion, a 14.2% increase from 2024. Adjusted operating EBITDA grew 15.5% to $7.58 billion, yielding a record full-year margin of 30.1%. Net income rose 10.1% on an adjusted basis to $3.03 billion, and free cash flow increased 26.8% to $2.94 billion, supported by $6.04 billion of operating cash flow. The Company invested $400 million in solid waste and recycling acquisitions and completed seven renewable natural gas facilities and nine recycling automation projects.

Management forecasts 2026 revenue of $26.43 billion to $26.63 billion, reflecting growth of approximately 5.2%, and adjusted operating EBITDA of $8.15 billion to $8.25 billion, a 6.2% increase on a comparable basis. Core pricing is expected between 5.4% and 5.8%, yield of 3.2% to 3.6%, and volume growth of 0.2% to 0.6%. Free cash flow is projected to grow nearly 30% to $3.75 billion–$3.85 billion. The Board intends to return roughly $3.5 billion to shareholders through dividends and repurchases, while targeting a net leverage ratio of 2.5x–3.0x by year end.