Waste Management Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

Waste Management (NYSE: WM  ) filed its 10-K on Feb. 16. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Waste Management beat slightly on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew, and GAAP earnings per share dropped.

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
Waste Management recorded revenue of $ 3.41 billion. The seven analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see sales of $ 3.36 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 6.9% higher than the prior-year quarter’s $ 3.19 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $ 0.63. The nine earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $ 0.61 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $ 0.58 for Q4 were 1.7% lower than the prior-year quarter’s $ 0.59 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 37%, 210 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.1%, 130 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.8%, 100 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter’s average estimate for revenue is $ 3.18 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $ 0.40.

Next year’s average estimate for revenue is $ 13.77 billion. The average EPS estimate is $ 2.29.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,529 members rating the stock outperform and 54 members rating it underperform. Among 674 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 665 give Waste Management a green thumbs-up, and nine give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Waste Management is hold, with an average price target of $ 36.19.

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