WM vs WCN Stock Comparison

Waste Management and Waste Connections Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
WM Waste Management Inc
$239.38 +15.1% 1M +10.8% 1Y
Market cap
$96.60B
P/E
33.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$25.67B
Div. yield
0.01%
Solid Waste Industrials
10 wins
WCN Waste Connections, Inc.
$186.57 +20.0% 1M +5.5% 1Y
Market cap
$47.28B
P/E
44.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.76B
Div. yield
0.01%
Solid Waste Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Waste Management leads on 10 of the 12 questions below (Waste Management 10, Waste Connections 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionWMWCNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $96.60B $47.28B WM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.9x 44.6x WM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.7x 34.9x WM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.2% +5.7% WM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.1% 10.9% WM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.7% 7.4% WM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.0x 2.9x WCN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.01% WM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +10.8% +5.5% WM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.8%/yr +6.8%/yr WM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 25.7% WM
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 57/100 WCN

Percentile Scorecard

WMWCN

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

AxisWMWCN
Valuation 47 #9 of 16 27 #12 of 16
Growth 77 #4 of 14 69 #5 of 14
Profitability 92 #2 of 14 85 #3 of 14
Financial Health 13 #14 of 16 20 #13 of 16
Shareholder Returns 43 #5 of 8 86 #2 of 8
Overall 54 57
  • WM 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

PeriodWMWCNSPY
1 month +15.1%+20.0% -1.0%
3 months +0.2%+10.0% +2.9%
6 months +4.3%+12.3% +6.4%
Year to date +9.0%+6.4% +11.4%
1 year +10.8%+5.5% +13.1%
3 years +54.8%+38.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +15.7%+11.6% +21.5%
5 years +45.6%+39.0% +67.7%
5 years, per year +7.8%+6.8% +10.9%
10 years +284.8%+276.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +14.4%+14.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureWMWCNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%25.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.5%23.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.42-0.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.510.22 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -18.7%-25.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.9%0.0% -2.5%
52-week high $246.51$186.57 $779.14
52-week low $196.77$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.

MultipleWMWCN
P/E now vs peer median 33.7xmedian 33.8x 44.6xmedian 33.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 3.4x 4.8xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.8xmedian 15.8x 17.9xmedian 15.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.8xmedian 18.4x 38.2xmedian 18.4x
P/B now vs peer median 9.6xmedian 3.1x 5.9xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 4.14median 4.14 5.09median 4.14

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 monthsWMWCN
Revenue $25.67B $9.76B
Gross profit $10.49B $4.15B
Operating income $4.51B $1.66B
Net income $2.85B $1.06B
Free cash flow $3.57B $1.23B
EPS (diluted) $7.09 $4.18
Cash & equivalents $557.00M $98.18M
Total debt $93.65B $9.32B
Shares (diluted) 402.40M 253.86M
Enterprise value $95.51B $46.91B

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
MetricWMWCN
P/E 33.7x 44.6x
P/FCF 26.8x 38.2x
P/Operating cash flow 14.7x 18.7x
P/S 3.7x 4.8x
P/B 9.6x 5.9x
P/Tangible book 15.2x 7.9x
EV/EBITDA 15.8x 17.9x
EV/EBIT 26.3x 33.9x
EV/Revenue 4.6x 5.8x
EV/FCF 33.2x 45.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.2x 22.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.14 5.09

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWMWCN
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.2% 5.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.6% 8.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -18.6% 7.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.8% 10.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 7.3% 47.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 9.1% 8.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.8% 64.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 8.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 5.3% 68.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.1% 8.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 15.9% 8.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.8% 6.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 65.2% 8.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 33.4% 2.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWMWCN
Gross margin 40.9% 42.5%
EBITDA margin 29.3% 32.2%
Operating margin 17.6% 17.0%
Pretax margin 14.1% 14.2%
Net margin 11.1% 10.9%
FCF margin 13.9% 12.6%
Operating cash flow margin 25.4% 25.7%
Return on equity 28.6% 13.3%
Return on assets 6.2% 5.0%
Return on invested capital 10.7% 7.4%
Return on capital employed 11.2% 8.7%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 2.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWMWCN
Debt / assets 50.3% 43.6%
Debt / equity 2.4x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.0x 2.9x
Debt / FCF 6.5x 7.6x
Liabilities / assets 78.6% 63.0%
Equity / assets 21.4% 37.0%
Interest coverage – 4.8x
Current ratio 0.9x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 2.97 3.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWMWCN
Dividend yield 1.5% 0.8%
Net buyback yield 1.0% 2.4%
Shareholder yield 2.5% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 50.1% 32.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) 40.0% 28.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) 12.4% 9.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 10.9%

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.

ConsensusWMWCN
Forward P/E 27.7xFY2026 34.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.65FY2026 $5.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.3%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +9.5% +20.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $25.84BFY2026 $10.23BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.0% -0.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWMWCN
Held by institutions 82.3% 85.2%
Institutions holding 2,348 829
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +1.3%
Institutions buying 1,094 410
Institutions selling 901 303
Buyers to sellers 1.21 1.35

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.

WMWCN
WM 1.00 0.75
WCN 0.75 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WM and WCN?

Waste Management (WM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Waste Management (WM) $96.60B, Waste Connections (WCN) $47.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, WM and WCN?

Waste Management (WM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Waste Management (WM) 33.9x, Waste Connections (WCN) 44.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Waste Management (WM) is cheapest (Waste Management (WM) 27.7x, Waste Connections (WCN) 34.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Waste Management (WM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Waste Management (WM) +7.2%, Waste Connections (WCN) +5.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Waste Management (WM) has the highest net margin (Waste Management (WM) 11.1%, Waste Connections (WCN) 10.9%). On return on invested capital, Waste Management (WM) leads (Waste Management (WM) 10.7%, Waste Connections (WCN) 7.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Waste Management (WM) returned the most: Waste Management (WM) +10.8%, Waste Connections (WCN) +5.5%. Over five years, Waste Management (WM) compounded fastest (Waste Management (WM) +7.8%/yr, Waste Connections (WCN) +6.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Waste Management (WM) has the highest dividend yield: Waste Management (WM) 0.01%, Waste Connections (WCN) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

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

Do WM and WCN move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.75, a strong positive relationship. Holding both adds little diversification.

Which is the better stock, WM 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 10. 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.