Waste Management Misses Where it Counts

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Waste Management (NYS: WM) reported earnings on Feb. 14. 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 missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased slightly and GAAP earnings per share contracted significantly.


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
 Waste Management recorded revenue of $3.43 billion. The eight analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $3.39 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

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

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.57. The nine earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.60 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.48 for Q4 were 17% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.58 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 35.2%, 180 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 15.4%, 170 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.5%, 130 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $3.34 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.42.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $13.94 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.30.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,642 members out of 2,700 rating the stock outperform, and 58 members rating it underperform. Among 693 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 683 give Waste Management a green thumbs-up, and 10 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 $34.63.

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The article Waste Management Misses Where it Counts originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool recommends Waste Management. The Motley Fool owns shares of Waste Management. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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