GFL vs CWST Stock Comparison

GFL Environmental and Casella Waste Systems Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GFL GFL Environmental Inc.
$45.68 +8.1% 1M +0.2% 1Y
Market cap
$16.95B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$7.00B
Div. yield
0.18%
Solid Waste Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

GFL Environmental leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (GFL Environmental 6, Casella Waste Systems 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGFLCWSTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.95B $6.02B GFL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -337.0x 1,072x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 73.7x 74.5x GFL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +13.6% CWST
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -0.7% 0.3% CWST
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.6% 1.5% GFL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.0x 3.4x GFL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.18% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.2% +8.7% CWST
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.8%/yr +3.0%/yr CWST
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.1% 37.0% GFL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 41/100 GFL

Percentile Scorecard

GFLCWST

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisGFLCWST
Valuation 69 #103 of 325 41 #191 of 325
Growth 43 #147 of 257 43 #148 of 257
Profitability 52 #118 of 244 53 #116 of 244
Financial Health 27 #282 of 384 29 #275 of 384
Shareholder Returns 21 #123 of 155 –
Overall 42 41
  • GFL ranked among 389 companies in Industrials
  • CWST ranked among 389 companies in Industrials

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodGFLCWSTSPY
1 month +8.1%+16.9% -0.8%
3 months +17.2%+7.7% +3.5%
6 months +15.1%+25.3% +7.0%
Year to date +6.4%-1.8% +12.2%
1 year +0.2%+8.7% +13.0%
3 years +62.0%+30.8% +86.3%
3 years, per year +17.5%+9.4% +23.1%
5 years +14.7%+16.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +2.8%+3.0% +11.0%
10 years —+756.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+24.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureGFLCWSTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.1%37.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.1%34.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.250.10 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.010.23 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -42.9%-37.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.8%-10.4% -1.8%
52-week high $46.51$107.34 $779.14
52-week low $33.54$74.97 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleGFLCWST
P/E now vs peer median -337.0xmedian 18.0x 1,072xmedian 18.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.4x 3.1xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.4xmedian 11.1x 18.7xmedian 11.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 6.2xmedian 14.4x 57.0xmedian 14.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.2x 3.8xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -12.15median 0.92 -21.06median 0.92

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsGFLCWST
Revenue $7.00B $1.96B
Gross profit $1.47B $653.52M
Operating income $1.71B $66.07M
Net income -$249.50M $5.70M
Free cash flow $2.72B $105.67M
EPS (diluted) $-0.13 $0.09
Cash & equivalents $192.10M $25.54M
Total debt $19.12B $1.36B
Shares (diluted) 378.69M 63.69M
Enterprise value $15.24B $5.14B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricGFLCWST
P/E -337.0x 1,072x
P/FCF 6.2x 57.0x
P/Operating cash flow 11.2x 17.2x
P/S 2.4x 3.1x
P/B 2.2x 3.8x
P/Tangible book 3.2x 4.9x
EV/EBITDA 8.4x 18.7x
EV/EBIT 15.4x 111.4x
EV/Revenue 3.8x 3.8x
EV/FCF 9.7x 69.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.5x 21.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -12.15 -21.06

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGFLCWST
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 13.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.8% 20.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.5% 12.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 20.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.4% 1.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.8% -8.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -107.0% -48.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.6% -47.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -101.4% -48.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 27.7% -50.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.9% 2.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -8.3% 19.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 7.7% 16.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -2.6% 8.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGFLCWST
Gross margin 20.9% 33.4%
EBITDA margin 44.5% 20.1%
Operating margin 24.4% 3.4%
Pretax margin -3.8% 0.5%
Net margin -0.7% 0.3%
FCF margin 38.9% 5.4%
Operating cash flow margin 21.6% 18.0%
Return on equity -3.3% 0.4%
Return on assets -1.2% 0.2%
Return on invested capital 7.6% 1.5%
Return on capital employed 8.9% 2.1%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -6.1x 61.6x
Stock comp / revenue 2.0% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGFLCWST
Debt / assets 44.6% 38.3%
Debt / equity 1.3x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.0x 3.4x
Debt / FCF 3.5x 12.9x
Liabilities / assets 65.0% 55.6%
Equity / assets 35.0% 44.4%
Interest coverage 3.0x 1.0x
Current ratio 0.8x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.27 2.39

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGFLCWST
Dividend yield 0.2% –
Net buyback yield – –
Shareholder yield 0.2% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusGFLCWST
Forward P/E 73.7xFY2026 74.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.62FY2026 $1.29FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +12.7%FY2026 +1.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +25.8% +17.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.08BFY2026 $2.05BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +26.1%FY2026 +11.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +22.5% +7.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGFLCWST
Held by institutions 74.8% 100.0%
Institutions holding 323 415
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.3% +4.2%
Institutions buying 185 231
Institutions selling 101 127
Buyers to sellers 1.83 1.82

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

GFLCWST
GFL 1.00 0.39
CWST 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GFL and CWST?

GFL Environmental (GFL) is the largest by market capitalisation: GFL Environmental (GFL) $16.95B, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) $6.02B.

Which company is growing faster?

Casella Waste Systems (CWST) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: GFL Environmental (GFL) +9.7%, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +13.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Casella Waste Systems (CWST) has the highest net margin (GFL Environmental (GFL) -0.7%, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 0.3%). On return on invested capital, GFL Environmental (GFL) leads (GFL Environmental (GFL) 7.6%, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 1.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Casella Waste Systems (CWST) returned the most: GFL Environmental (GFL) +0.2%, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +8.7%. Over five years, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) compounded fastest (GFL Environmental (GFL) +2.8%/yr, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) +3.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: GFL Environmental (GFL) 0.18%. Casella Waste Systems (CWST) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, GFL Environmental (GFL) has been the steadiest (GFL Environmental (GFL) 29.1%, Casella Waste Systems (CWST) 37.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do GFL and CWST move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.39, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, GFL and CWST?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, GFL Environmental (GFL) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.