Waste Management: Opportunity?

Waste Management (WM) has been on our radar for all of 2017 and the first part of 2018. Looking at the full year, 2017 was exceptional for Waste Management as the company continued to focus on improving core price, adding profitable volume in a disciplined manner, and controlling costs. This led to the best year in the company’s history. Let us discuss.

Financial Highlights

For the full year 2017, the Company reported revenues of $14.5 billion, compared with $13.6 billion for 2016. Earnings per diluted share were $4.41 for the full year 2017 compared with $2.65 for the full year 2016. On an as-adjusted basis, earnings per diluted share were $3.22 for the full year 2017 versus $2.91 for the full year 2016.

In the fourth quarter, overall revenue increased by 5.5%, or $192 million, from the same period in the prior year. The revenue growth was driven by strong yield and volume growth in the Company’s collection and disposal business, which contributed $172 million of the increase. For the full year 2017, overall revenue increased by 6.4%, or $876 million. Yield and volume growth in the company’s collection and disposal business increased revenue by $536 million. Though revenue from the company’s recycling yield and volume declined by $25 million on a year-over-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2017, full-year recycling yield and volume contributed $231 million of revenue growth.

Internal revenue growth from yield for collection and disposal operations was 2.2% for the fourth quarter and 2.0% for the full year.

Solid waste

Traditional solid waste internal revenue growth from volume was 4.2% in the fourth quarter of 2017, or 5.0% on a workday adjusted basis. Total company internal revenue growth from volume, which includes our recycling and other ancillary businesses, was 2.6% in the fourth quarter, or 3.4% on a workday adjusted basis. For the full year 2017, traditional solid waste internal revenue growth from volume was 2.7%, or 2.9% on a workday adjusted basis. Total company volume was 2.1% for the full year 2017, or 2.3% on a workday adjusted basis.