WM
Not exactly glamorous, still very investable
WM kicked out first-quarter 2026 results for the period ended March 31, and the headline is simple: the trash truck keeps rolling. Revenue came in at $6.23 billion, up from $6.02 billion a year earlier, while income from operations and EBITDA both moved higher too.
The boring business with the sturdy margins
That’s the thing about waste collection and disposal: it doesn’t need a blockbuster product cycle or a viral app. People make trash in good economies and bad ones, which is why investors tend to treat WM like a defensive compounder with a predictable engine under the hood.
Why you should care
A few things matter here:
- Revenue growth suggests WM is still squeezing more out of its network.
- Higher operating income hints the company is keeping costs in check, not just growing for growth’s sake.
- EBITDA improvement is the kind of metric long-term holders love, because it says the machine is getting more efficient, not just bigger.
Big picture: this isn’t the kind of earnings report that sends traders sprinting for the exits or the champagne. But for investors who like steady cash generation over drama, WM is doing exactly what you’d want a trash monopoly-adjacent business to do: quietly get richer.