Waste Management: Near-Term Upside Tempered by Slower Growth Ramp and Normalizing Margins, Justifying Hold Rating

In a report released yesterday, Devin Dodge from BMO Capital maintained a Hold rating on Waste Management, with a price target of $226.00.

Devin Dodge has given his Hold rating due to a combination of factors that temper the near‑term upside in Waste Management’s shares. While the company’s core solid waste operations remain fundamentally healthy and still support margin expansion, the latest quarterly results and 2026 outlook have led investors to scale back expectations for how quickly key growth drivers will contribute. Part of the recent strength in profitability reflects temporary reductions in corporate expenses and incentive compensation, which are not expected to repeat, and higher technology spending is anticipated to offset some of the structural margin gains.

Devin also points to a slower-than-expected ramp in the Healthcare Solutions business, where revenue growth and profit improvement are progressing but not at the pace initially envisioned, despite continued integration progress and cost reductions. Similarly, returns from renewable natural gas and recycling investments are now projected to be lower and later than previously planned, due to project delays, higher capital and operating costs, and less favorable commodity environments, even though these projects still appear economically attractive over the long run. With the target price unchanged at $226 and estimate changes largely balanced by valuation adjustments, Devin concludes that the current stock price appropriately reflects the risk/reward profile, justifying a Hold rather than a more bullish stance.

In another report released today, TipRanks – Anthropic also downgraded the stock to a Hold with a $254.00 price target.

WM’s price has also changed slightly for the past six months – from $235.560 to $223.130, which is a -5.28% drop .