WMWASTE MANAGEMENT INC

Refuse Systems

Revenue: $25.2B; 14% YoY
Operating margin: 17.1%; 7.2% YoY
EBITDA: $7.2B; 13% YoY
Market cap: $92.8B
Employees: 60,500; $417K revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: 3.0×; $21.6B net debt
AI in 10-K: 2.6; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 2 of 13

Fixable underperformance 0 of 7

TSR below peersNo
—
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
—
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
223% of net income
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
1% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
26% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
30% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
94% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 1 of 4

Low revenue per employeeYes
$417K · 11th pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AINo
2.6 per 10K words · 64th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashNo
3.0× EBITDA net debt
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedNo
$92.8B market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 1 of 2

Active 13DNo
0 filings
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingYes
−$24M net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$17.9B	$19.7B	$20.4B	$22.1B	$25.2B	14%
Operating income	$3.0B	$3.4B	$3.6B	$4.1B	$4.3B	6.0%
Net income	$1.8B	$2.2B	$2.3B	$2.7B	$2.7B	1.4%
Operating cash flow	$4.3B	$4.5B	$4.7B	$5.4B	$6.0B	12%
Capex	$2.0B	$2.8B	$2.9B	$3.2B	$3.2B	0.1%
Stock-based comp	$108M	$84M	$93M	$118M	$169M	43%
Buybacks	$1.4B	$1.5B	$1.3B	$262M	—
Dividends	$970M	$1.1B	$1.1B	$1.2B	$1.3B	10%

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

None on file.

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $393K · 1
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $24M · 35
Net: −$24M

Pay vs performance

No pay-versus-performance disclosure yet.