Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) shares were up 3% on Thursday following the company’s reported Q2 results, with EPS of $1.41 coming in better than the consensus estimate of $1.40. Revenue was $5.03 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.84 billion.
Analysts at Oppenheimer see healthy margin expansion in 2023 as increasingly probable, given stronger pricing and underlying CPI trends supporting 2023 price tailwinds, and management indicating internal cost inflation has peaked.
While management did not discount a recession scenario, the analysts believe the current forward volume indicators remain healthy. Contractual constraints are gating a portion of the company’s planned automation/productivity investments, but ROI on those investments continues to improve.
The company expects full 2022-year revenue growth of over 10% year-over-year, compared to the prior estimate of 5.8-6.2%. Adjusted operating EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $5.5-$5.6 billion, representing an increase of $175 million from the prior guidance.