Waste Management Outlook - A Stock to Avoid Amid Weak Technicals and Mixed Analysts

Market Snapshot – Weak Technicals and a Divergent Price Trend

Takeaway: Waste Management (WM) is showing weak technicals with a score of 3.27 (internal diagnostic score), and its current price trend is negative, down by 2.23% recently, which diverges from generally optimistic analyst expectations.

News Highlights – Mixed Signals from the Wider Economy

Recent news has been mixed for the broader market, but not directly tied to Waste Management:

• U.S. vaccine policy changes are likely to reshape the healthcare sector, but their impact on Waste Management is unclear at this time.
• China’s factory activity showed signs of stabilizing in May, which could support global economic sentiment and indirectly benefit industrial and waste-related sectors.
• Trump’s tariff announcements continue to shape trade dynamics, though Waste Management is less exposed compared to other industries.

Analyst Views & Fundamentals – Optimistic Outlook, but Divergent Ratings

Analysts remain optimistic on Waste Management, with a simple average rating of 3.80 and a performance-weighted rating of 5.34. However, ratings are not aligned — there are 2 neutral, 1 strong buy, and 2 buy ratings in the last 20 days, suggesting some dispersion in expectations.

How does this stack up against the price trend? The current price is falling, while the average analyst rating is above neutral — this suggests divergence between fundamentals and price action.

Key Fundamental Factors

• Return on Assets (ROA): 1.59% (model score: 3.00)
• Return on Equity (ROE): 7.90% (model score: 3.00)
• Price-to-Book (PB): 2.21 (model score: 3.00)
• Operating revenue growth (YoY): 17.87% (model score: 2.00)
• Non-current liabilities / Total liabilities: 84.07% (model score: 2.00)
• Interest coverage ratio (EBIT / Interest expense): 4.70x (model score: 3.00)

Overall fundamental score: 6.67 (internal diagnostic score), which suggests caution — the company is not under financial distress but lacks strong momentum in key metrics.

Money-Flow Trends – Negative Flows Across All Investor Segments

Big money is flowing out of Waste Management, with negative trends in all investor segments:

• Extra-large investor inflow ratio: 45.70%
• Large investor inflow ratio: 48.08%
• Small investor inflow ratio: 49.42%

The fund flow score is 7.73 (internal diagnostic score), indicating good inflow patterns, but the overall trend remains negative — this could signal profit-taking or lack of conviction in the stock.

Key Technical Signals – Weak Momentum and Volatile Outlook

From a technical standpoint, Waste Management is showing weak signals with a score of 3.27 (internal diagnostic score). Only two indicators were analyzed over the past five days, and both lean neutral to bearish.

Indicator Breakdown

• Williams %R Oversold: Score of 3.54 (internal diagnostic score) — historically, this indicator has a 52.63% win rate with an average return of 0.3%.
• Marubozu White: Score of 2.99 (internal diagnostic score) — historically, it has a 46.15% win rate and average return of 0.01%.

Recent Chart Patterns

Over the past five days, Williams %R Oversold appeared on multiple dates: 2025-09-03, 2025-08-25, 2025-08-28, and 2025-09-05. The Marubozu White candle pattern appeared on 2025-08-29.

Key insight: The market is in a volatile state with 2 bearish signals and 0 bullish signals. The momentum is not clear, and technical indicators suggest caution or avoidance of the stock.

Conclusion – Consider Waiting for a Pull-Back

While Waste Management has a strong balance sheet and solid analyst ratings, the technical indicators and negative money flows point to a challenging near-term outlook.

• Analysts are generally optimistic but not aligned in their expectations.
• Technical conditions are weak, with more bearish than bullish signals.
• Money is flowing out across all segments, despite a good fund flow score.

Actionable takeaway: Consider waiting for a clearer pull-back or a positive catalyst (e.g., earnings beat, new contract) before entering a long position. In the current climate, Waste Management may be best suited for patient, long-term investors, rather than short-term traders.