Waste Connections raises 2026 revenue outlook to about $10.09 billion
Key Facts
Waste Connections raised its 2026 revenue outlook to about $10.09 billion, according to RTT News, exceeding the range announced in July alongside its second-quarter results. The company had set its annual revenue target at between $10.02 billion and $10.05 billion at the time, according to its statement published on its investor relations website. The updated target therefore exceeds the upper end of its previous guidance, after the company had been targeting revenue within that range. RTT News said in its account of the new outlook that "revenue is estimated at approximately $10.09 billion." Waste Connections had scheduled the release of its third-quarter results for after the stock market close on 21 October 2026, placing the annual outlook update within its quarterly reporting cycle.
For the third quarter of 2026, net income under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles was $359.224 million, compared with $286.271 million in the same period of 2025, according to RTT News. Investing.com reported quarterly earnings per share of $1.58, compared with analysts' estimates of $1.52 per share. Earnings per share exceeded expectations by $0.06, according to the website, alongside the increase in net income from a year earlier. Quarterly revenue also reached $2.63 billion, compared with consensus expectations of $2.61 billion, according to Investing.com. The results thus combined year-on-year growth in accounting earnings with beats on analysts' estimates for both quarterly earnings per share and revenue.
The third-quarter results followed a performance that exceeded the company's expectations in the second quarter of 2026, according to Waste Connections' disclosure for that period. Revenue then reached $2.562 billion, an increase of 6.4% year on year. The company described revenue in its statement as "above expectations," before raising its full-year targets in that announcement. Second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization reached $840.1 million, posting year-on-year growth of 6.8%. The company said this metric also exceeded its expectations, while its annual growth rate outpaced revenue growth in the same quarter.
In its annual outlook announced in July, Waste Connections set a 2026 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization target of between $3.33 billion and $3.34 billion. That range accompanied the previous annual revenue target, according to the second-quarter results statement published on its investor relations website. For comparison with the previous year's performance, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization reached $3.125 billion in 2025, according to the annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That was up from $2.902 billion in 2024, as stated in the report. This performance puts the July target for 2026 adjusted earnings above the level achieved in the previous year at both ends of the guidance range.
Alongside its financial targets, Waste Connections renewed its share repurchase authorization for a period beginning on 12 August 2026, according to a separate company announcement. The scheduled authorization period runs through 11 August 2027, allowing purchases during that time under the program's terms. The authorization may end before its scheduled expiry under those terms. To review the quarterly results, the company scheduled an investor call for 22 October 2026, according to its third-quarter results scheduling announcement. The call was set for 8:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time to discuss the results associated with the announcement.