Republic Services vs Waste Management
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The short version
- Waste Management is the larger business, with $25.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $19.0B for Republic Services.
- Waste Management grew revenue faster (14.2%, against 3.3%).
- Republic Services turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.7% FCF margin, against 11.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Republic Services’s earnings: a P/E of 34.1x against 33.9x for Waste Management.
| Latest fiscal year | RSG · FY25 | WM · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $74.0B | $96.3B |
| Revenue | $19.0B | $25.2B |
| Free cash flow | $2.4B | $2.8B |
| Net income | $2.1B | $2.7B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.3% | 14.2% |
| 5-year growth | 9.6% | 10.6% |
| Share count change | −0.8% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 49.4% | 40.4% |
| Operating margin | 17.4% | 17.1% |
| Net margin | 11.2% | 10.7% |
| FCF margin | 12.7% | 11.2% |
| Return on capital | 10.8% | 10.9% |
| Return on equity | 18.3% | 29.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $13.9B | $22.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.7x | 3.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.6B | $1.3B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 34.1x | 33.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
RSG $11.4B
WM $13.6B
FY17
RSG $12.1B
WM $14.5B
FY18
RSG $11.9B
WM $14.9B
FY19
RSG $12.2B
WM $15.5B
FY20
RSG $12.0B
WM $15.2B
FY21
RSG $13.3B
WM $17.9B
FY22
RSG $15.6B
WM $19.7B
FY23
RSG $17.3B
WM $20.4B
FY24
RSG $18.4B
WM $22.1B
FY25
RSG $19.0B
WM $25.2B
RSG
WM
Operating margin
FY16
RSG 13.5%
WM 16.9%
FY17
RSG 13.8%
WM 18.2%
FY18
RSG 14.6%
WM 18.7%
FY19
RSG 14.7%
WM 17.5%
FY20
RSG 14.2%
WM 16.0%
FY21
RSG 15.6%
WM 16.5%
FY22
RSG 15.3%
WM 17.1%
FY23
RSG 16.1%
WM 17.5%
FY24
RSG 17.4%
WM 18.4%
FY25
RSG 17.4%
WM 17.1%
RSG
WM
Free cash flow
FY16
RSG $920M
WM $1.7B
FY17
RSG $921M
WM $1.6B
FY18
RSG $1.2B
WM $1.9B
FY19
RSG $1.1B
WM $2.1B
FY20
RSG $1.3B
WM $1.8B
FY21
RSG $1.5B
WM $2.3B
FY22
RSG $1.7B
WM $1.7B
FY23
RSG $2.0B
WM $1.8B
FY24
RSG $2.1B
WM $2.2B
FY25
RSG $2.4B
WM $2.8B
RSG
WM
Return on capital
FY16
RSG 6.4%
WM —
FY17
RSG 10.6%
WM 16.2%
FY18
RSG 8.4%
WM 14.8%
FY19
RSG 8.9%
WM 13.2%
FY20
RSG 8.4%
WM 10.4%
FY21
RSG 9.3%
WM 11.5%
FY22
RSG 9.6%
WM 12.7%
FY23
RSG 9.7%
WM 12.4%
FY24
RSG 11.2%
WM 12.2%
FY25
RSG 10.8%
WM 10.9%
RSG
WM
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.