WM vs GFL vs WCN Stock Comparison

Waste Management, GFL Environmental and Waste Connections Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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WM Waste Management Inc
$238.23 +15.3% 1M +18.7% 1Y
Market cap
$94.74B
P/E
31.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$26.07B
Div. yield
1.53%
Solid Waste Industrials
9 wins
GFL GFL Environmental Inc.
$45.27 +7.1% 1M +3.7% 1Y
Market cap
$16.79B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
0.18%
Solid Waste Industrials
2 wins
WCN Waste Connections, Inc.
$191.94 +24.4% 1M +13.8% 1Y
Market cap
$48.03B
P/E
42.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.94B
Div. yield
0.73%
Solid Waste Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Waste Management leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Waste Management 9, GFL Environmental 2, Waste Connections 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionWMGFLWCNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $94.74B $16.79B $48.03B WM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 31.0x -74.6x 42.6x WM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.5x 73.0x 35.5x WM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.2% — +6.3% WCN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.8% — 11.4% WM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.4% 9.7% 7.9% WM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.0x -0.1x 2.9x GFL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.53% 0.18% 0.73% WM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +18.7% +3.7% +13.8% WM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.3%/yr +2.7%/yr +7.4%/yr WM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 29.4% 25.7% WM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 59/100 56/100 GFL

Percentile Scorecard

WMGFLWCN

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

AxisWMGFLWCN
Valuation 53 #8 of 16 87 #3 of 16 27 #12 of 16
Growth 62 #6 of 14 15 #12 of 14 69 #5 of 14
Profitability 92 #2 of 14 46 #8 of 14 77 #4 of 14
Financial Health 7 #15 of 16 87 #3 of 16 20 #13 of 16
Shareholder Returns 71 #3 of 8 – 86 #2 of 8
Overall 57 59 56
  • WM ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • GFL ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management
  • WCN ranked among 16 companies in Waste Management

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodWMGFLWCNSPY
1 month +15.3%+7.1%+24.4% -1.0%
3 months +6.2%+9.9%+16.7% -0.4%
6 months +8.0%+24.4%+25.1% +4.5%
Year to date +8.4%+5.4%+9.5% +12.4%
1 year +18.7%+3.7%+13.8% +13.6%
3 years +41.7%+51.3%+44.1% +76.4%
3 years, per year +12.3%+14.8%+13.0% +20.8%
5 years +49.0%+14.4%+42.8% +63.7%
5 years, per year +8.3%+2.7%+7.4% +10.4%
10 years +275.9%—+288.7% +267.7%
10 years, per year +14.2%—+14.5% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureWMGFLWCNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%29.4%25.7% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.4%28.4%23.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.400.21-0.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.880.130.54 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -18.7%-42.9%-25.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.4%-2.7%0.0% -1.6%
52-week high $246.51$46.51$191.94 $779.14
52-week low $199.62$33.54$149.02 $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.

MultipleWMGFLWCN
P/E now vs peer median 31.0xmedian 31.0x -74.6xmedian 31.0x 42.6xmedian 31.0x
P/S now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 3.4x 2.3xmedian 3.4x 4.8xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 15.2x 5.1xmedian 15.2x 17.6xmedian 15.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.3xmedian 18.1x 6.4xmedian 18.1x 38.4xmedian 18.1x
P/B now vs peer median 9.6xmedian 2.9x 1.4xmedian 2.9x 6.1xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median 2.95median 2.82 1.05median 2.82 3.59median 2.82

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 monthsWMGFLWCN
Revenue $26.07B – $9.94B
Gross profit $10.53B – $4.24B
Operating income $4.80B $1.72B $1.76B
Net income $3.07B -$385.60M $1.13B
Free cash flow $3.74B $2.64B $1.25B
EPS (diluted) $7.68 $-0.59 $4.50
Cash & equivalents $247.00M $296.50M $95.69M
Total debt $23.37B $14.20M $9.45B
Shares (diluted) 399.80M 378.69M 251.87M
Enterprise value $93.58B $14.98B $47.68B

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
MetricWMGFLWCN
P/E 31.0x -74.6x 42.6x
P/FCF 25.3x 6.4x 38.4x
P/Operating cash flow 14.4x 11.3x 19.0x
P/S 3.6x 2.3x 4.8x
P/B 9.6x 1.4x 6.1x
P/Tangible book 15.0x 1.7x 8.1x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x 5.1x 17.6x
EV/EBIT 24.6x 9.6x 32.5x
EV/Revenue 4.5x – 5.8x
EV/FCF 31.5x 6.2x 45.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.0x 11.1x 22.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.95 1.05 3.59

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWMGFLWCN
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.2% – 6.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.0% – 8.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -21.0% – 7.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.5% – 10.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.9% -0.2% 61.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 10.5% – 10.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 19.7% -110.8% 82.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 10.0% -45.6% 10.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 21.1% -106.3% 86.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 10.5% -70.7% 11.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 12.1% 8.3% 4.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.4% -6.2% 6.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 55.7% 2.5% 1.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 30.8% -2.5% 1.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWMGFLWCN
Gross margin 40.4% – 42.6%
EBITDA margin 29.8% – 32.9%
Operating margin 18.4% – 17.7%
Pretax margin 14.9% – 14.7%
Net margin 11.8% – 11.4%
FCF margin 14.3% – 12.6%
Operating cash flow margin 25.2% – 25.4%
Return on equity 31.0% -4.0% 14.3%
Return on assets 6.6% -1.5% 5.3%
Return on invested capital 11.4% 9.7% 7.9%
Return on capital employed 12.0% 7.6% 9.1%
Asset turnover 0.6x – 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x -3.8x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% – 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWMGFLWCN
Debt / assets 50.2% 0.0% 43.9%
Debt / equity 2.4x 0.0x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.0x -0.1x 2.9x
Debt / FCF 6.2x 0.0x 7.6x
Liabilities / assets 78.8% 59.0% 63.3%
Equity / assets 21.2% 41.0% 36.7%
Interest coverage – 2.8x 4.9x
Current ratio 0.8x 0.9x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.8x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 2.98 – 3.19

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWMGFLWCN
Dividend yield 1.5% 0.2% 0.7%
Net buyback yield 1.6% – 2.1%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 0.2% 2.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 48.0% – 31.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) 39.4% – 28.4%
Dividend growth (1Y) 13.2% – 9.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.6% – 10.7%

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.

ConsensusWMGFLWCN
Forward P/E 27.5xFY2026 73.0xFY2026 35.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.65FY2026 $0.62FY2026 $5.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.3%FY2026 +12.7%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +9.5% +27.4% +18.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $25.84BFY2026 $6.10BFY2026 $10.30BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +26.5%FY2026 +10.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.0% +22.3% 0.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWMGFLWCN
Held by institutions 82.3% 74.8% 85.2%
Institutions holding 2,352 323 832
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +10.3% +1.3%
Institutions buying 1,097 185 413
Institutions selling 902 101 303
Buyers to sellers 1.22 1.83 1.36

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.

WMGFLWCN
WM 1.00 0.44 0.75
GFL 0.44 1.00 0.48
WCN 0.75 0.48 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WM, GFL and WCN?

Waste Management (WM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Waste Management (WM) $94.74B, GFL Environmental (GFL) $16.79B, Waste Connections (WCN) $48.03B.

Which stock is cheaper, WM, GFL and WCN?

Waste Management (WM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Waste Management (WM) 31.0x, GFL Environmental (GFL) -74.6x, Waste Connections (WCN) 42.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Waste Management (WM) is cheapest (Waste Management (WM) 27.5x, GFL Environmental (GFL) 73.0x, Waste Connections (WCN) 35.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Waste Connections (WCN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Waste Management (WM) +5.2%, Waste Connections (WCN) +6.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Waste Management (WM) has the highest net margin (Waste Management (WM) 11.8%, Waste Connections (WCN) 11.4%). On return on invested capital, Waste Management (WM) leads (Waste Management (WM) 11.4%, GFL Environmental (GFL) 9.7%, Waste Connections (WCN) 7.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Waste Management (WM) returned the most: Waste Management (WM) +18.7%, GFL Environmental (GFL) +3.7%, Waste Connections (WCN) +13.8%. Over five years, Waste Management (WM) compounded fastest (Waste Management (WM) +8.3%/yr, GFL Environmental (GFL) +2.7%/yr, Waste Connections (WCN) +7.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Waste Management (WM) has the highest dividend yield: Waste Management (WM) 1.53%, GFL Environmental (GFL) 0.18%, Waste Connections (WCN) 0.73%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Waste Management (WM) has been the steadiest (Waste Management (WM) 21.3%, GFL Environmental (GFL) 29.4%, Waste Connections (WCN) 25.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, WM, GFL and WCN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Waste Management (WM) leads on 9. 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.