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Opinions The Weekly Buzzing Stocks by Billy Kawasaki
Waste ManagementWMTOP PICKFeb 15, 2024
Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 18, 2026. Market Open.
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Likes the waste management business globally. Really hard to replicate. Wonderful assets, almost impossible to get permits for new landfills.
Problem with all that is the valuation of ~40x+ PE, which is high. Some growth. FCF yield is ~2.5%. A bit rich. If you own today, tuck it away for 10 years. He'd love to get it on sale.
Only difficulty is the technical picture for waste management -- broke 200-day MA of ~$220. Has had a bounce from $200 to $215. But trading below declining 200-week MA.
Risk right now in the US stock market. Breadth is still narrowing. For his team, that means they shouldn't be putting on new positions.
A defensive part of his portfolio. An industry with very reliable earnings and revenue. Though stock's fallen below 200-day moving average, looks to be bouncing off $200 support. Pretty reliable earnings growth rate of ~10%, and trading at 25x forward PE. Not cheap, but there are only so many players in the space and he likes that.
Stan Wong
Need, not a want. Leader in NA, at roughly 25% market share. Wide competitive moat, predicated on ownership of landfills. As you can imagine, it's extraordinarily difficult to get regulatory and environmental approvals to open a landfill. This lets them lower disposal costs and price more sharply for contracts.
Also recycling, which is perhaps growing faster than disposal. Made an acquisition that gets them into medical waste disposal, a global secular grower. In 49 states and 6 Canadian provinces. High single-digit pace of organic growth, and he expects operating profit to grow ~10% and same with the dividend. Yield is 1.53%.
Brian Madden
Not all the picks can be exciting names ;) In a portfolio, it's important to have some lower beta, more defensive names (especially when mid-late cycle). Leader. Industry has high barriers to entry, which is important to him. Only a few major competitors in the environmental space in NA. (He also owns WCN.)
Supported by secular trends such as urbanization, population growth, and more regulatory focus on sustainable waste solutions. Steady 10-12% growth rate. Yield is 1.41%.
Stan Wong
Likes the environmental space so much they launched Canada's first Global Biodiversity Fund, comprised of about 40 stocks. These stocks are focused on halting and reversing nature loss and restoring ecosystems. Companies like WSP, WM, and CLH will benefit from massive tailwinds driven by conservation targets.
Strong business that is good in all economic cycles. Earnings continue to grow at 11%. Fundamentally ranks at 8/10. Would recommend buying. Defensive business with stable dividend yield. High quality cash flow yields.
Brianne Gardner
Waste Management is north america's leading provider of integrated environmental solutions. we partner with our customers and communities to manage and reduce waste from collection to disposal while recovering valuable resources and creating clean, renewable energy. we are on a quest for environmental performance, a mission to maximize resource value, while minimizing – and even eliminating – environmental impact so that both our economy and our environment can thrive. waste management tailors its services to meet the needs of each customer group and to ensure consistent, superior service at the local level. headquartered in houston, the company serves nearly 20 million municipal, commercial, industrial, and residential customers through a network of 367 collection operations, 355 transfer stations, 273 active landfill disposal sites, 16 waste-to-energy plants, 104 recycling plants, and 111 beneficial-use landfill gas projects. Social media mentions are up 1400% in the past 24h.