CWSTCASELLA WASTE SYSTEMS INC

Refuse Systems

Revenue: $1.8B; 18% YoY
Operating margin: 3.5%; 26% YoY
EBITDA: $371M; 20% YoY
Market cap: $5.9B
Employees: 5,600; $328K revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: 3.5×; $1.3B net debt
AI in 10-K: 1.5; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 3 of 13

Fixable underperformance 2 of 7

TSR below peersYes
5 of 5 years
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
$4M median
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
42× net income
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
1% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
0% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
39% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentYes
66% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 1 of 4

Low revenue per employeeYes
$328K · 8th pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AINo
1.5 per 10K words · 46th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashNo
3.5× EBITDA net debt
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedNo
$5.9B market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 0 of 2

Active 13DNo
0 filings
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingNo
−$6M net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$889M	$1.1B	$1.3B	$1.6B	$1.8B	18%
Operating income	$78M	$95M	$80M	$73M	$64M	12%
Net income	$41M	$53M	$25M	$14M	$8M	42%
Operating cash flow	$183M	$217M	$233M	$281M	$330M	17%
Capex	$123M	$131M	$155M	$203M	$245M	21%
Stock-based comp	$12M	$8M	$9M	$12M	$14M	17%

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

None on file.

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $0 · 0
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $6M · 28
Net: −$6M

Pay vs performance

Year	CEO total comp	Comp actually paid	TSR (indexed)	Peer TSR
FY2025	$4M	$5M	158	200
FY2024	$4M	$6M	171	188
FY2023	$3M	$4M	138	159
FY2022	$4M	$3M	128	133
FY2021	$4M	$11M	138	141