Shares of
WM,
which previously was known as Waste Management, were on track for their biggest jump in three years after the company beat third-quarter earnings estimates and raised guidance on free cash flow.
WM (ticker: WM) on Tuesday posted third-quarter earnings of $1.63 a share, better than $1.54 recorded in the year-ago quarter and Wall Street’s estimate of $1.61, according to FactSet. Revenue of $5.2 billion was short of expectations for $5.27 billion.
The company said it expects free cash flow for 2023 of between $1.825 billion and $1.925 billion from a prior range of $1.675 billion and $1.775 billion. The company cited “lower anticipated capital spending” in a press release.
Shares of Waste Management were rising 6.3% to $164.37 on Wednesday, putting them on pace for their largest increase since March 26, 2020, when they gained 7.4%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The stock—which was a Barron’s stock pick earlier this year—also was the leading performer in the
S&P 500.
Earlier this week, UBS analysts led by Jon Windham upgraded shares of Waste Management and
Republic Services
(RSG) to Buy from Neutral, writing that they were “expecting municipal solid waste stocks to be a popular way to ride out current market turbulence and risk of a rate-driven economic slowdown.”
Write to Emily Dattilo at [email protected]
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