What's Happening with wm
Garbage and recycling company Waste Management (WM) will report its fourth-quarter results before the market open February 14. Analysts forecast earnings of $1.07 and sales of $3.79 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year the company reported earnings of $0.85 and sales of $3.65 billion.
Technical Analysis
WM was recently trading at $96.89 down $0.32 from its 12-month high and $18.5 above its 12-month low. InvestorsObserver's Stock Score Report gives WM a 92 long-term technical score and a 95 short-term technical score. The stock has recent support above $94 and recent resistance below $97.5. Of the 6 analysts who cover the stock 5 rate it Strong Buy, 1 rate it Buy, 0 rate it Hold, 0 rate it Sell, and 0 rate it Strong Sell, WM gets a score of 86 from InvestorsObserver's Stock Score Report.
Analysts' Thoughts
Waste Management stock has been a strong outperformer over the last six months, and the stock is currently trading just pennies below its all-time high of $97.22. The waste and recycling sector is very defensive, and with continued strength in the underlying economy there is no reason to expect lower demand for the company's services moving forward. The waste sector has huge barriers of entry which allows for excellent pricing power for the small handful of companies that dominate the sector. Waste Management has shown average annual earnings growth of 12.4% over the last five years, and analysts expect to see additional earnings growth of 14.3% per annum over the next five years. The company's strong growth history and estimates suggests shares will continue to trend higher as long as the company is able to keep pace with future estimates. The street expects a small beat for the recent quarter with a whisper number of $1.09. WM stock has posted better than expected earnings for five straight quarters going into this week's report. Analysts have an average price target of $97.43 on the stock.