JPMorgan moved off the sidelines on Waste Management as the bank sees an improving business outlook. Analyst Tami Zakaria upgraded shares to overweight from neutral. Zakaria’s $277 price target, increased from $225, implies 18.7% upside over Thursday’s close. It’s also the highest on the Street, per LSEG. “WM owns and operates the largest network of landfills in North America with mid-to-high teens % share. This enables WM to have a high internalization rate and retain more of the margin in the supply chain for itself,” Zakaria wrote. “Longer term, WM’s valuation gap vs. peers should narrow.” Zakaria said to expect the topline to grow over the next five years at a high single digits percentage. EBITDA over this period should rise by a percentage in either the high single digits or low double digits. The Stericycle business acquired by Waste Management last year should see its core growth profile rise from the low single digits to mid single digits, the analyst added. She added that technology investments can also drive growth. “It has been investing in technology to improve route density. So far, 2,000 routes have been shifted to automated pickups; we see more runway among the ~2,000 more routes left.” With the upgrade, Zakaria is in the majority of analysts with a buy or strong buy-equivalent rating, according to LSEG. Shares advanced more than 1% in Friday’s premarket following the upgrade. The stock has rallied more than 12% in 2025, putting it on track to notch its 12th positive year of the last 13.
