Waste Management reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.93 per share, slightly below the consensus estimate of $1.95, yet up 13.5% from $1.70 in the year-ago period. Revenue for the quarter reached $6.313 billion, a 7.1% increase from $5.893 billion a year earlier. The top-line growth was driven by a 6.3% core price increase in Collection and Disposal services and a 0.3% workday-adjusted volume gain, including incremental wildfire cleanup volumes. These results compare to Wall Street’s expectations and illustrate continued pricing power in the solid waste business despite modest volume headwinds.

Operating EBITDA in Q4 rose to $1.925 billion, up 22.5% from $1.571 billion a year ago, delivering a 30.5% margin on an as-reported basis (31.3% adjusted). For the full year, operating EBITDA grew 13.3% to $7.171 billion, with adjusted EBITDA of $7.582 billion marking a record 30.1% margin. The Legacy Business delivered $1.838 billion in Q4 adjusted EBITDA (32.8% margin) and $6.833 billion for the year (31.5% margin), reflecting disciplined cost management, mix optimization and sustainability investments. Healthcare Solutions accelerated profitability, improving full-year margin to 16.9% from 1.0% in 2024.

The company generated $6.04 billion of operating cash flow in 2025 (up 12.1%), producing free cash flow of $2.94 billion (up 26.8%). It invested approximately $400 million in strategic solid waste and recycling acquisitions and completed seven renewable natural gas facilities plus nine recycling automation projects. For 2026, management forecasts revenue of $26.425–$26.625 billion (5.2% growth), adjusted operating EBITDA of $8.15–$8.25 billion (6.2% growth) and 30.8–31.0% margin. Free cash flow is expected to reach $3.75–$3.85 billion (29.4% growth). The company plans approximately $2.45–$2.55 billion of capital expenditures, $200 million in sustainability investments, and intends to return about $3.5 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases while targeting a leverage ratio of 2.5×–3.0×.