Clean Harbors (CLH) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $13.89B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 346.37K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 36.1
• Beta (1Y): 0.80
• Revenue Growth: 2.85%
• EPS Growth: -6.27%
• Country: US
• Employees: 22,796
• Sector: Industrials
• Sector Strength: 72
• Industry: Waste Management
• EPS (TTM): 2.21
• Shares Outstanding: 53,431,835
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 342,239
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 346,369
• PEG Ratio: 4.59
• Price to Book (P/B): 4.82
• Price to Sales (P/S): 2.11
• P/FCF Ratio: 35.90
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 0.97
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 2.25
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 7.25
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 12.00
• 1Y Price Target: $263.14
• Price Target Upside: 1.24% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 8
• EPS Forecast (FY): N/A
• Revenue Forecast (FY): N/A

• Rating: 78 Outperform
• Price Target: $298.00 ▲(14.66% Upside)

Clean Harbors' strong financial performance and positive earnings call sentiment are the primary drivers of its stock score. Technical indicators suggest a strong upward trend, though caution is warranted due to overbought signals. The stock's high valuation relative to peers slightly tempers the overall score.

Positive Factors

Free Cash Flow Growth

Sustained FCF growth indicates strong cash generation that supports capital allocation, debt repayment, and strategic investments. Robust free cash flow enhances resilience through cyclical downturns and funds multi-year projects (PFAS, SDA) without excessive external financing.

Low Leverage & ROE

Very low leverage provides flexibility to fund growth, absorb shocks, and pursue capital projects, while a healthy ROE shows effective capital use. This balance sheet strength reduces refinancing risk and supports multi-year investments in infrastructure and technology.

PFAS Growth & Technology

Regulatory-driven PFAS demand and a validated incineration process create a structural revenue stream. Expected material PFAS contribution plus demonstrated capability with EPA/DoD backing positions the company for sustained, higher-margin Environmental Services growth over multiple years.

Negative Factors

Industrial & Field Services Weakness

Declines in Field and Industrial Services reflect exposure to customer capex cycles and deferred maintenance. Prolonged softness in these segments can reduce utilization and EBITDA contribution, limiting diversification benefits and pressuring consolidated revenue and operating leverage.

Rising Corporate & Healthcare Costs

Elevated insurance and employee healthcare costs are recurring operating pressures that compress margins if not offset by pricing or efficiency gains. Given labor and insurance inflation trends, these cost increases can materially erode profitability over the medium term without structural remediation.

Net Income Pressure / Cost Control

Despite revenue and EBITDA gains, slipping net income highlights cost or non-operating headwinds. Sustained margin expansion requires tighter cost control and conversion of EBITDA to net income; failure to do so could weaken long-term earnings per share growth and cash return capacity.

Clean Harbors Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Clean Harbors, Inc. provides environmental and industrial services in North America. The company operates through two segments, Environmental Services and Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions. The Environmental Services segment collects, transports, treats, and disposes hazardous and non-hazardous waste, such as resource recovery, physical treatment, fuel blending, incineration, landfill disposal, wastewater treatment, lab chemicals disposal, and explosives management services; and CleanPack services, including collection, identification, categorization, specialized packaging, transportation, and disposal of laboratory chemicals and household hazardous waste. This segment also provides industrial maintenance and specialty industrial services, and utilizes specialty equipment and resources that performs field services. The Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions segment offers specially designed parts washers; automotive and industrial cleaning products, such as antifreeze, windshield washer fluid, degreasers, glass and floor cleaners, hand cleaners, absorbents, mats, and spill kits; pickup and transportation services for hazardous and non-hazardous containerized waste for recycling or disposal; and vacuum services to remove solids, residual oily water and sludge, and other fluids from customers oil/water separators, sumps, and collection tanks, as well as remove and collect waste fluids found at metal fabricators, auto maintenance providers, and general manufacturers. This segment also manufactures, formulates, packages, distributes, and markets lubricants; and provides containerized waste, vacuum services, used motor oil collection, and contract blending and packaging services. Clean Harbors, Inc. was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Norwell, Massachusetts.

How the Company Makes Money

Clean Harbors generates revenue primarily through its diverse service offerings, which include waste management, industrial services, and environmental solutions. The company's revenue model is built on a mix of contractual agreements and one-time service fees, enabling it to secure stable income from long-term clients while also capitalizing on project-based work. Key revenue streams include hazardous waste treatment and disposal, industrial cleaning services, and emergency response operations. Additionally, Clean Harbors benefits from strategic partnerships with various sectors such as energy and manufacturing, allowing it to provide tailored solutions that meet specific regulatory and operational needs. The company's focus on sustainability and efficiency further enhances its appeal to clients, contributing to its overall earnings.

Clean Harbors Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Clean Harbors demonstrates strong financial performance with significant revenue growth and healthy profit margins. The company maintains a stable balance sheet with low leverage and robust cash flow generation, although there is room for improvement in cost control.

Income Statement

Clean Harbors has demonstrated strong revenue growth with a 33.5% increase in TTM, supported by solid gross and net profit margins of 31.1% and 6.5% respectively. The EBIT and EBITDA margins are also healthy at 13.95% and 21.47%, indicating efficient operational management. However, slight declines in net income from the previous year suggest room for improvement in cost control.

Balance Sheet

The company's balance sheet shows a strong equity position with a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09 in TTM, reflecting reduced leverage and improved financial stability. The return on equity is robust at 14.61%, indicating effective use of shareholder funds. However, the equity ratio of 36.8% suggests moderate reliance on debt financing.

Cash Flow

Cash flow analysis reveals a positive trajectory with a 17.44% growth in free cash flow, indicating strong cash generation capabilities. The operating cash flow to net income ratio of 0.76 and free cash flow to net income ratio of 0.54 highlight efficient cash management. Continued focus on maintaining cash flow growth will be beneficial.

Breakdown	TTM	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	5.96B	5.89B	5.41B	5.17B	3.81B	3.14B
Gross Profit	1.85B	1.82B	1.66B	1.62B	1.20B	1.01B
EBITDA	1.12B	1.09B	989.57M	997.86M	647.73M	544.05M
Net Income	388.36M	402.30M	377.86M	411.74M	203.25M	134.84M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	7.54B	7.38B	6.38B	6.13B	5.65B	4.13B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	850.37M	789.83M	550.80M	554.64M	534.30M	570.96M
Total Debt	260.48M	3.04B	2.49B	2.59B	2.70B	1.71B
Total Liabilities	4.76B	4.80B	4.14B	4.21B	4.14B	2.79B
Stockholders Equity	2.78B	2.57B	2.25B	1.92B	1.51B	1.34B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	442.92M	345.53M	309.60M	279.19M	300.29M	232.31M
Operating Cash Flow	815.57M	777.77M	734.55M	626.21M	546.00M	430.60M
Investing Cash Flow	-367.32M	-903.67M	-575.05M	-388.94M	-1.51B	-199.46M
Financing Cash Flow	-198.05M	377.03M	-208.89M	-187.31M	898.25M	-88.95M

Clean Harbors Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 259.91
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For CLH, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 259.91 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 255.64, above the 50-day MA of 242.00, and above the 200-day MA of 232.52, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 5.41 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 61.51 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 35.84 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for CLH.

Clean Harbors Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
CLH	78 Outperform	$13.89B	36.06	14.64%	―	2.85%	-6.27%
WM	74 Outperform	$89.53B	33.17	29.69%	1.50%	15.88%	-3.11%
RSG	72 Outperform	$66.58B	31.97	18.24%	1.11%	4.33%	7.59%
CWST	69 Neutral	$6.41B	420.51	0.98%	―	20.54%	106.35%
MEG	68 Neutral	$787.32M	-23.61	-4.17%	―	22.77%	44.73%
Sector *	63 Neutral	$10.79B	15.43	7.44%	2.01%	2.89%	-14.66%
NVRI	56 Neutral	$1.53B	-9.13	-38.53%	―	-2.91%	-67.18%