WM's Revenue Soars 19.0% in Q2 2025

WM announced strong financial results for Q2 2025, with revenue reaching $6,430 million, marking a 19.0% increase from $5,402 million in Q2 2024. Net income for the quarter stood at $726 million, up 6.8% from $680 million in the prior-year period. The reported revenue surpassed the analyst estimate of $6,361.07 million, indicating a beat, while the diluted EPS of $1.80 was below the analyst estimate of $1.89.

Operational Performance and Segment Growth

The company's Collection and Disposal business was a key driver, achieving an adjusted margin of 37.9%. This was primarily due to organic revenue growth, disciplined cost management, and optimized business mix. The Recycling Processing and Sales and WM Renewable Energy segments collectively contributed $36 million to adjusted operating EBITDA growth, driven by investments in sustainability projects.

Revenue growth in the WM Legacy Business was 7.1%, fueled by a core price increase of 6.4% and Collection and Disposal yield of 4.1%, reflecting a continued focus on customer lifetime value. Volumes in the Collection and Disposal business increased by 1.6% compared to Q2 2024, with robust growth in landfill volumes. Adjusted operating expenses as a percentage of revenue for the WM Legacy Business improved by 150 basis points, reflecting the benefits of additional landfill volumes and cost discipline, including improved driver retention and safety performance, and routing technology benefits.

Strategic Investments and Integration

WM Healthcare Solutions contributed $110 million of adjusted operating EBITDA, aligning with expectations. The company is on track to achieve the upper end of its targeted synergies, ranging from $80 million to $100 million, in 2025. Integration of WM Healthcare Solutions continues to progress, with $11 million of annualized operating EBITDA already secured from cross-selling opportunities. Anticipated run-rate synergies are expected to reach $300 million of operating EBITDA by 2027.

Sustainability Initiatives and Outlook

WM highlighted its 2025 Sustainability Report, noting a 22% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2021. During the quarter, three growth projects commenced operations, including a new renewable natural gas facility in Illinois and a recycling automation project in Pennsylvania. These additions bring the total completed renewable natural gas projects to eight out of 20 planned facilities and total recycling automation and new market projects to 29 out of 39 planned.

For 2025, the company affirmed its adjusted operating EBITDA guidance midpoint of $7,550 million, narrowing the range to $7,475 million and $7,625 million. Free cash flow is now projected to be between $2.8 billion and $2.9 billion, an increase of $125 million from initial guidance, driven by restored bonus depreciation tax policy. Total company revenue is now expected to be between $25,275 million and $25,475 million, a slight decrease from prior expectations primarily due to recent declines in recycled commodity prices and impacts from severe winter weather on Collection and Disposal volumes.