WM
Waste Management
Hybrid Industrial
★ Quality 41/100Price today
$218.99
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See what it is worthcharlieapp.co
A monopoly position
This company has a competitive advantage so strong that its rivals find it practically impossible to replicate.
What this business is made of
The business
Owner of the land where no one else can bury trash.
Waste Management collects, hauls, and buries North America's garbage. It charges recurring contracts to households, businesses, and municipalities — $25.2B in revenue in 2025. The real business is in the landfills: scarce land, permits impossible to obtain, and a toll on every ton that comes in.
Landfills can't be replicated: no one approves a new one near their house. WM controls the largest network of sanitary landfills on the continent, and its vertical integration —collection, transport, and its own disposal— gives it costs a rival can't match. Route density plus irreplaceable assets equals prices that climb every year.
Revenue history
From $17.9B to $25.2B in 4 years. The business grows steadily.
Where each $100 of sales goes
Revenue $25.2B · FY2025
Of every $100 in sales, $89 goes to costs and operations; $11 is left as net profit (11% margin).
Catalysts and risks
Stericycle integration (closed Nov-2024) adds medical waste and ~$250M in annual synergies by 2027.
18 renewable natural gas plants underway — capacity aimed at 2.5x RNG revenue by 2027.
Sustained above-inflation price hikes: the collection business grew double digits in 2025.
$22.2B in debt against $0.2B in cash — a leveraged balance sheet that suffers if rates rise.
Environmental regulation on landfills and methane emissions could make operations more expensive.
Volume tied to the industrial and construction cycle: in a recession, less trash is generated.
Charlie's note
“Paying 22x for a toll on trash with irreplicable landfills and 40% gross margin is no steal, though 9% growth asks the price to do its part. Excellent business; time to wait for the multiple to breathe.”
Analysis · June 2026
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