WM Q3 FY2026: revenue up 6.3%, adjusted EPS $2.15 misses consensus
WM's third quarter was a good operating quarter that fell short on the bottom line: revenue rose 6.3% to $6.85 billion, but adjusted EPS of $2.15 landed below the $2.25 consensus. Read the release as two stories — a pricing-led top line plus $3.01 billion of nine-month free cash flow on one side, fuel and risk-management costs and soft volumes on the other.
1 · Expected vs. Actual
Free preview belowGAAP EPS was $2.05 and adjusted EPS $2.15, up from $1.49 and $1.98 a year ago. Against the $2.2465 consensus, adjusted EPS came in about $0.10 light, or 4.3%. Add-backs were small this quarter — $50 million pre-tax — so the gap is an operating story, not a one-time-item story.
Revenue of $6.85 billion rose 6.3% from $6.44 billion a year earlier, with core price of 5.8% doing most of the work. Collection and Disposal revenue was $5.58 billion, growing on price while volume slipped 0.4% as WM kept shedding low-margin residential work. Gross margin fell to 40.2% from 41.1%, so the extra revenue did not drop through at the same rate.
WM affirmed 2026 guidance and pointed to the high end for revenue ($26.275 to $26.475 billion) and free cash flow ($3.75 to $3.85 billion), with adjusted operating EBITDA inside $8.15 to $8.25 billion. Nine-month revenue is $19.76 billion, so hitting the top of the revenue range needs roughly $6.72 billion in Q4. At the $26.375 billion midpoint the Q4 ask is about $6.62 billion, below the $6.85 billion just delivered.
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Figures on this page come from the company's original SEC filings. The analysis is generated automatically and checked against validation rules, but may still contain errors or omissions. Not investment advice. · Generated 2026-11-03
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