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Investing.com -- Waste Management Inc (NYSE:WM) reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations, with adjusted earnings per share of $1.92 beating estimates by $0.02 and revenue of $6.43 billion surpassing the consensus of $6.37 billion. The company’s shares rose 1% in aftermarket trade following the announcement.
The waste disposal giant saw revenue increase 19% YoY from $5.40 billion in the same quarter last year, with 7.1% growth in its legacy business driven by core price increases of 6.4% and collection and disposal yield of 4.1%. The company’s adjusted operating EBITDA grew 18.9% to $1.92 billion, with margins expanding to 29.9%.
"Our second quarter results are a strong demonstration of our progress on all fronts," said Jim Fish, WM’s CEO. "Our Collection and Disposal business produced robust organic revenue growth and margin expansion, achieving the Company’s best-ever operating expense margin."
The company narrowed its full-year adjusted operating EBITDA guidance to between $7.475 billion and $7.625 billion, maintaining the midpoint of $7.55 billion. However, WM lowered its revenue outlook to $25.275-25.475 billion, below the analyst consensus of $25.508 billion, citing recent declines in recycled commodity prices and weather-related volume impacts from the first quarter.
Despite the revenue adjustment, Waste Management raised its free cash flow projection to between $2.8 billion and $2.9 billion, an increase of $125 million from its initial guidance, driven by recently enacted tax policy that restores bonus depreciation to 100%.
The company also increased its adjusted operating EBITDA margin expectations to between 29.6% and 29.9%, up from the previous guidance of 29.2% to 29.7%, reflecting continued cost discipline and operational improvements across its business segments.