Detailed financial statements for Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN): income statement, balance sheet and cash-flow summary. Track margins, debt, liquidity and profitability trends year over year: ten fiscal years free and up to 20 with Premium.
Waste Connections, Inc. is a leading environmental services provider that delivers a full spectrum of non-hazardous waste management solutions, including collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery, across both the United States and Canada. The company offers essential waste collection services to a diverse customer base, spanning residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) sectors.
Analysis Summary
Waste Connections, Inc. reported revenue of $9.50B in the most recent fiscal year, growing at a 5-year CAGR of 11.8%. Net income reached $1.08B, with a 39.5% 5-year CAGR.
Trailing-twelve-month margins: gross margin 39.4%, operating margin 17.8%, net margin 11.4%. Free cash flow grew at 10.4% CAGR over 5 years.
At $181.97 (closing price, October 29, 2026), WCN trades at a P/E of 39.30 and an ROE of 14.18%. Market capitalisation stands at $45.5B, placing it among large-cap names.
Balance sheet quality for WCN: current ratio of 0.6, net debt of $9.35B. A debt-to-equity below 1.0 typically signals conservative capital structure, while a current ratio above 1.5 indicates comfortable short-term liquidity.
Cash flow quality is strong: free cash flow of $1.22B represents 113% conversion of reported net income. High conversion (above 90%) suggests earnings translate cleanly into cash; lower conversion may indicate working capital tightness or accounting timing differences.
Income Statement (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.38B | $4.63B | $4.92B | $5.39B | $5.45B | $6.15B | $7.21B | $8.02B | $8.92B | $9.50B |
| Cost of Revenue | $1.96B | $2.70B | $2.87B | $3.20B | $3.28B | $3.65B | $4.34B | $4.74B | $5.19B | $5.80B |
| Gross Profit | $1.42B | $1.93B | $2.06B | $2.19B | $2.17B | $2.50B | $2.88B | $3.28B | $3.73B | $3.70B |
| Research & Development | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Selling, General & Admin | $382.3M | $477.0M | $503.8M | $530.8M | $522.3M | $592.6M | $671.4M | $774.1M | $855.8M | $946.6M |
| Operating Expenses | $965.9M | $1.30B | $1.22B | $1.35B | $1.76B | $1.46B | $1.63B | $2.04B | $2.66B | $1.98B |
| Operating Income | $452.3M | $627.1M | $832.2M | $837.8M | $412.4M | $1.04B | $1.24B | $1.24B | $1.07B | $1.72B |
| EBITDA | $1.03B | $1.38B | $1.55B | $1.61B | $1.60B | $1.89B | $2.19B | $2.35B | $2.39B | $3.00B |
| Interest Expense | $85.0M | $126.9M | $125.4M | $142.6M | $181.2M | $181.5M | $200.6M | $259.7M | $291.6M | $331.7M |
| Pre-tax Income | $361.4M | $508.5M | $707.1M | $705.9M | $253.9M | $770.7M | $1.05B | $983.5M | $762.9M | $1.42B |
| Income Tax | $114.0M | -$68.9M | $160.0M | $139.2M | $49.9M | $152.3M | $213.0M | $220.7M | $146.4M | $342.6M |
| Net Income | $246.5M | $576.8M | $546.9M | $566.8M | $204.7M | $618.0M | $835.7M | $762.8M | $617.6M | $1.08B |
| EPS | $1.07 | $2.19 | $2.07 | $2.20 | $0.78 | $2.37 | $3.25 | $2.96 | $2.39 | $4.19 |
| EPS (Diluted) | $1.07 | $2.18 | $2.07 | $2.19 | $0.78 | $2.36 | $3.24 | $2.95 | $2.39 | $4.18 |
| Shares Outstanding (Diluted) | 231.1 M | 264.3 M | 264.4 M | 264.5 M | 263.7 M | 261.7 M | 258.0 M | 258.1 M | 258.7 M | 256.5 M |
Income Statement (Quarterly)
| Year | 2025-Q4 | 2026-Q1 | 2026-Q2 | 2026-Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.41B | $2.37B | $2.56B | $2.64B |
| Gross Profit | $700.5M | $1.01B | $1.08B | $1.14B |
| Operating Income | $433.3M | $364.1M | $437.6M | $541.7M |
| EBITDA | $752.6M | $766.0M | $800.8M | $886.9M |
| Net Income | $262.5M | $219.3M | $296.4M | $359.2M |
| EPS | $1.03 | $0.86 | $1.14 | $1.43 |
| EPS (Diluted) | $1.02 | $0.86 | $1.14 | $1.43 |
Balance Sheet (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & Equivalents | $154.4M | $433.8M | $319.3M | $326.7M | $617.3M | $147.4M | $78.6M | $78.4M | $62.4M | $45.9M |
| Short-term Investments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Receivables | $485.1M | $554.5M | $609.5M | $662.8M | $680.3M | $770.9M | $876.9M | $885.1M | $972.6M | $1.07B |
| Inventory | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $36.7M | $44.3M | $55.2M | $61.7M | $71.2M | $78.7M |
| Total Current Assets | $743.4M | $1.18B | $1.09B | $1.13B | $1.41B | $1.03B | $1.12B | $1.14B | $1.23B | $1.31B |
| Property, Plant & Equipment | $4.74B | $4.82B | $5.17B | $5.70B | $5.46B | $5.88B | $7.14B | $7.49B | $8.34B | $9.03B |
| Goodwill | $4.39B | $4.68B | $5.03B | $5.51B | $5.73B | $6.19B | $6.90B | $7.40B | $7.95B | $8.38B |
| Intangible Assets | $1.07B | $1.09B | $1.13B | $1.16B | $1.16B | $1.35B | $1.67B | $1.60B | $1.99B | $2.00B |
| Total Assets | $11.10B | $12.01B | $12.63B | $13.74B | $13.99B | $14.70B | $17.13B | $17.92B | $19.82B | $21.23B |
| Accounts Payable | $251.3M | $330.5M | $360.0M | $437.0M | $290.8M | $392.9M | $638.7M | $642.5M | $637.4M | $763.8M |
| Short-term Debt | $1.6M | $11.7M | $1.8M | $465,000 | $8.3M | $6.0M | $6.8M | $26.5M | $7.9M | $67.5M |
| Total Current Liabilities | $692.2M | $802.6M | $886.8M | $1.01B | $1.03B | $1.23B | $1.51B | $1.69B | $1.88B | $2.12B |
| Long-term Debt | $3.62B | $3.90B | $4.15B | $4.35B | $4.71B | $5.04B | $6.89B | $6.72B | $8.07B | $9.06B |
| Total Liabilities | $5.54B | $5.74B | $6.17B | $6.80B | $7.13B | $7.71B | $10.02B | $10.22B | $11.96B | $13.00B |
| Retained Earnings | $1.41B | $1.86B | $2.26B | $2.65B | $2.66B | $3.06B | $3.65B | $4.14B | $4.46B | $5.19B |
| Total Equity | $5.65B | $6.27B | $6.45B | $6.93B | $6.86B | $6.99B | $7.11B | $7.69B | $7.86B | $8.23B |
| Total Debt | $3.62B | $3.91B | $4.16B | $4.54B | $4.89B | $5.21B | $7.10B | $7.02B | $8.39B | $9.40B |
| Net Debt | $3.46B | $3.48B | $3.84B | $4.22B | $4.28B | $5.07B | $7.02B | $6.94B | $8.33B | $9.35B |
| Working Capital | $51.2M | $374.3M | $206.1M | $123.4M | $379.6M | -$200.0M | -$395.0M | -$546.1M | -$651.9M | -$811.2M |
Balance Sheet (Quarterly)
| Year | 2025-Q4 | 2026-Q1 | 2026-Q2 | 2026-Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & Equivalents | $45.9M | $112.4M | $98.2M | $95.7M |
| Total Assets | $21.23B | $21.19B | $21.40B | $21.51B |
| Total Liabilities | $13.00B | $13.13B | $13.48B | $13.63B |
| Total Equity | $8.23B | $8.06B | $7.92B | $7.88B |
| Total Debt | $9.40B | $9.43B | $9.61B | $9.76B |
Cash Flow (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Income | $247.3M | $577.4M | $547.2M | $566.7M | $204.0M | $618.5M | $836.0M | $762.8M | $616.6M | $1.08B |
| Depreciation & Amortization | $463.9M | $632.5M | $680.5M | $743.9M | $752.4M | $813.0M | $919.0M | $1.00B | $1.16B | $1.23B |
| Stock-based Compensation | $44.8M | $39.4M | $43.8M | $42.7M | $45.8M | $58.2M | $63.5M | $70.4M | $77.9M | $79.4M |
| Change in Working Capital | -$35.2M | -$70.7M | $31.4M | $27.3M | -$24.0M | $19.0M | $72.8M | $12.5M | -$209.3M | -$264.2M |
| Operating Cash Flow | $795.3M | $1.19B | $1.41B | $1.54B | $1.41B | $1.70B | $2.02B | $2.13B | $2.23B | $2.41B |
| Capital Expenditure | -$344.7M | -$479.3M | -$546.1M | -$666.1M | -$664.6M | -$744.3M | -$912.7M | -$934.0M | -$1.06B | -$1.19B |
| Acquisitions | $48.6M | -$410.7M | -$830.1M | -$761.6M | -$388.8M | -$985.4M | -$2.21B | -$676.8M | -$2.08B | -$817.6M |
| Stock Repurchased | 0 | 0 | -$58.9M | 0 | -$105.7M | -$339.0M | -$425.0M | 0 | 0 | -$505.5M |
| Dividends Paid | -$92.5M | -$132.0M | -$152.6M | -$175.1M | -$199.9M | -$220.2M | -$243.0M | -$270.6M | -$302.3M | -$333.8M |
| Free Cash Flow | $450.6M | $708.0M | $865.1M | $874.5M | $744.0M | $953.9M | $1.11B | $1.19B | $1.17B | $1.22B |
Cash Flow (Quarterly)
| Year | 2025-Q4 | 2026-Q1 | 2026-Q2 | 2026-Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow | $556.9M | $545.6M | $733.3M | $691.9M |
| Capital Expenditure | -$399.4M | -$296.6M | $296.6M | -$299.9M |
| Free Cash Flow | $157.4M | $249.0M | $1.03B | $392.0M |
| Dividends Paid | -$89.9M | -$88.7M | -$88.4M | -$88.4M |
| Stock-based Compensation | $19.0M | $17.6M | $24.0M | $20.3M |
Growth & Margins (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth (YoY) | +37.2% | +6.3% | +9.5% | +1.1% | +13.0% | +17.2% | +11.2% | +11.2% | +6.5% | |
| Net Income Growth (YoY) | +134.0% | -5.2% | +3.7% | -63.9% | +202.0% | +35.2% | -8.7% | -19.0% | +75.0% | |
| EPS Growth (YoY) | +104.7% | -5.5% | +6.3% | -64.5% | +203.8% | +37.1% | -8.9% | -19.3% | +75.3% | |
| Shares Change (YoY) | +14.4% | +0.0% | +0.0% | -0.3% | -0.7% | -1.4% | +0.0% | +0.2% | -0.8% | |
| FCF Growth (YoY) | +57.1% | +22.2% | +1.1% | -14.9% | +28.2% | +16.3% | +7.5% | -1.7% | +4.0% | |
| Gross Margin | 42.0% | 41.6% | 41.8% | 40.6% | 39.8% | 40.6% | 39.9% | 40.9% | 41.8% | 39.0% |
| Operating Margin | 13.4% | 13.5% | 16.9% | 15.5% | 7.6% | 16.9% | 17.2% | 15.4% | 12.0% | 18.1% |
| EBITDA Margin | 30.7% | 29.8% | 31.6% | 29.8% | 29.3% | 30.7% | 30.3% | 29.2% | 26.8% | 31.6% |
| Net Margin | 7.3% | 12.5% | 11.1% | 10.5% | 3.8% | 10.0% | 11.6% | 9.5% | 6.9% | 11.4% |
| FCF Margin | 13.3% | 15.3% | 17.6% | 16.2% | 13.7% | 15.5% | 15.4% | 14.9% | 13.2% | 12.8% |
| Effective Tax Rate | 31.6% | -13.6% | 22.6% | 19.7% | 19.7% | 19.8% | 20.3% | 22.4% | 19.2% | 24.1% |
Per-Share Data (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCF Per Share | $1.95 | $2.68 | $3.27 | $3.31 | $2.82 | $3.64 | $4.30 | $4.62 | $4.53 | $4.76 |
| Dividends Per Share | $0.40 | $0.50 | $0.58 | $0.66 | $0.76 | $0.84 | $0.94 | $1.05 | $1.17 | $1.30 |
| Shares Outstanding (Basic) | 230.3 M | 263.7 M | 263.7 M | 263.8 M | 263.2 M | 261.2 M | 257.4 M | 257.6 M | 258.0 M | 255.8 M |
What to look at in Industrials
Aerospace, defence, machinery, transport. Semi-cyclical. Key: backlog, operating margins, and FCF conversion.
- 5y revenue growth — Without growth, there is no long-term value creation
- Operating margin — The best indicator of operational discipline in industrials
- ROIC — Quality industrials have ROIC >15% — the rest destroy capital
- FCF conversion — FCF / Net Income — in industrials good >85%
- Net debt / EBITDA — Cyclical industrials with high debt suffer hard in recessions
- Capex / Revenue — Maintaining the machinery. <4% = possible underinvestment (future decline)
- Altman Z-Score — Bankruptcy model (NYU 1968) — combines liquidity, leverage and profitability. Key in cyclicals
Profitability
| Return on Equity | 14.18% |
| Return on Invested Capital | 7.11% |
| Return on Assets | 5.29% |
| Gross Margin | 39.37% |
| Operating Margin | 17.80% |
| Net Margin | 11.40% |
Financial Health
| Debt / Equity | 1.24 |
| Current Ratio | 0.67 |
| Piotroski F-Score | 6 |
| Altman Z-Score | 3.08 |
Key Ratios (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 48.96 | 32.39 | 35.87 | 41.27 | 131.50 | 57.50 | 40.79 | 50.43 | 71.79 | 41.85 |
| P/B | 2.14 | 2.98 | 3.03 | 3.45 | 3.94 | 5.09 | 4.80 | 5.00 | 5.63 | 5.45 |
| P/S | 3.57 | 4.04 | 3.98 | 4.44 | 4.96 | 5.79 | 4.73 | 4.79 | 4.96 | 4.72 |
| Gross Margin | 42.0% | 41.6% | 41.8% | 40.6% | 39.8% | 40.6% | 39.9% | 40.9% | 41.8% | 39.0% |
| Operating Margin | 13.4% | 13.5% | 16.9% | 15.5% | 7.6% | 16.9% | 17.2% | 15.4% | 12.0% | 18.1% |
| Net Margin | 7.3% | 12.5% | 11.1% | 10.5% | 3.8% | 10.0% | 11.6% | 9.5% | 6.9% | 11.4% |
Related companies: CWST · WM · RSG · CLH · GFL
Explore sector: Industrials · Waste Management
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