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Waste Management WM Return on invested capital

Return on invested capital at other companies

Republic Services logo
Republic ServicesRSG
23.7%-0.6pp
Waste Connections logo
Waste ConnectionsWCN
7.7%
EMCOR Group logo
EMCOR GroupEME
42.7%+0.6pp
Steel Dynamics logo
Steel DynamicsSTLD
11.2%+1.1pp
Valero Energy logo
Valero EnergyVLO
14.6%+11.2pp
Smurfit Kappa Group logo
Smurfit Kappa GroupSW
2.5%

Other financials

Income statement

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Revenue$6.2B+3.5%
Gross profit$2.5B+5.3%
Operating income$1.1B+9.9%
Net income$723.0M+13.5%
EPS (diluted)$1.79+13.3%

Balance sheet

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Cash & equivalents$158.0M-26.9%
Total equity$10.0B+15.9%
Total assets$45.7B+2.7%

Cash flow

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Operating cash flow$1.5B+24.3%
CapEx$650.0M-21.8%
Free cash flow$851.0M+126%

Valuation

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Market cap$86.68B-0.4%
P/E31×-1.5×
P/S3.4×-0.4×

Profitability

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Gross margin40.7%+1.2pp
Operating margin17.3%-0.4pp
Net margin11%-0.7pp

Returns & leverage

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Return on equity29.9%-4.1pp
Debt / equity0.2×0.0×
Current ratio0.9×+0.1×

Where this comes from

Calculated from Waste Management’s reported figures.

Based on trailing twelve months.

The official record: Waste Management’s 10-Q, filed April 29, 2026, on SEC EDGAR. View the filing →

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Questions, answered.

What is Waste Management's return on invested capital?
Waste Management (WM) reported return on invested capital of 32.9% in Q4 2025.
How has Waste Management's return on invested capital changed year-over-year?
Waste Management's return on invested capital decreased by 14.9% year-over-year, from 38.7% to 32.9%.
What does return on invested capital mean?
The after-tax return the business earns on all the capital — debt and equity — invested in it.
How do you interpret return on invested capital?
The cleanest measure of business quality: ROIC sustained above the cost of capital creates value, below it destroys value. Compare against WACC, not against zero.
How does return on invested capital compare across companies?
Highly comparable across companies as a quality screen. Sector-sensitive definitions of invested capital mean banks/insurers are best excluded.