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Waste Management (WM) Ascends While Market Falls: Some Facts to Note

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Waste Management (WM - Free Report) closed at $207.93 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.16% move from the prior day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.93%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.41%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.53%.

Shares of the garbage and recycling hauler have depreciated by 2.09% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Business Services sector's gain of 1.6% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.17%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Waste Management in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on October 28, 2024. On that day, Waste Management is projected to report earnings of $1.86 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 14.11%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $5.5 billion, showing a 5.82% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $7.24 per share and a revenue of $21.54 billion, signifying shifts of +16.96% and +5.46%, respectively, from the last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Waste Management should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. Waste Management is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Waste Management has a Forward P/E ratio of 28.68 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 27.17.

Also, we should mention that WM has a PEG ratio of 2.32. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Waste Removal Services industry stood at 2.88 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Waste Removal Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 173, placing it within the bottom 32% of over 250 industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


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