RSG

Everpure P is scheduled to report second-quarter of fiscal 2027 results on Aug. 26, before market open. Everpure’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, with an average earnings surprise of 8.1%. Everpure, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Everpure, Inc. Quote The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s revenues is pinned at $1.1 billion, up 27.2% year over year. Factors that contributed to top-line growth are listed below. Rising win rates in contested opportunities, led by customers adopting the company as their preferred storage vendor, are likely to have driven the top line. Large deals and new customer logos are other factors that are anticipated to have fueled revenues. Evergreen/One benefits from longer-term contracts, lower upfront costs and expanding asset life cycles, allowing the company to spread costs over multiple years, and deliver predictable and cost-effective operating models for customers. Therefore, we expect this to have supported revenue momentum in the second quarter of fiscal 2027. Rising demand, enabled by Purity Fusion facilitating customers to build their data clouds, is anticipated to have raised customer wins, driving the top line. The top line is expected to have gained traction from FlashBlade/EXA, delivering new wins, including deployments supporting AI and machine learning applications, and a GPU-enhanced trading environment within financial services. For EPS, the consensus estimate is set at 59 cents per share, suggesting a 37.2% year-over-year rally. During the first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings call, Tarek Robbiati, the CEO, remarked that the company is expected to record improving margins during the second half of fiscal 2027. These expanding margins, accompanied by share buybacks, are expected to have lifted the bottom line. Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for P this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Everpure has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Republic Services, Inc. RSG reported better-than-expected second-quarter 2026 results. RSG’s adjusted earnings of $1.85 per share grew 4.5% year over year and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.81 by 2.2%. Revenues increased 4.6% to $4.43 billion and beat the consensus mark of $4.36 billion by 1.5%. Corpay, Inc. CPAY posted impressive second-quarter 2026 results. CPAY reported adjusted earnings per share of $7, rising 36% year over year and surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.60 by 6.1%. Revenues increased 21% to $1.33 billion, beating the consensus mark by 2.6%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Everpure, Inc. (P) : Free Stock Analysis Report Republic Services, Inc. (RSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Corpay, Inc. (CPAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET Chief Executive Officer - Jon Vander Ark Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer - Brian DelGhiaccio Vice President of Investor Relations - John Weeks Operator: Good afternoon, and welcome to the Republic Services Second Quarter 2026 Investor Conference Call. Republic Services is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RSG. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to John Weeks, Vice President of Investor Relations. John Weeks: Good afternoon. I would like to welcome everyone to Republic Services' Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call. Jon Vander Ark, our CEO; and Brian DelGhiaccio, our CFO, are on the call today to discuss our performance. I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone that some information we discuss on today's call contains forward-looking statements, including forward-looking financial information, which may involve risks and uncertainties and may be materially different from actual results. Our SEC filings discuss factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The material that we discuss today is time sensitive. If in the future, you listen to a rebroadcast or recording of this conference call, you should be sensitive to the date of the original call, which is August 6, 2026. Please note that this call is the property of Republic Services, Inc. Any redistribution, retransmission or rebroadcast of this call in any form without the expressed written consent of Republic Services is strictly prohibited. Our SEC filings, our earnings press release, which includes GAAP reconciliation tables and a discussion of business activities, along with a recording of this call, are available on Republic's website at republicservices.com. In addition, Republic's management team routinely participates in investor conferences. When events are scheduled, the dates, times and presentations are posted on our investor website. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Jon. Jon Vander Ark: Thanks, John. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Our strong second quarter results reflect the resilience of our business model and consistent operational execution. We delivered solid growth on both the top and bottom lines. At the same time, we continued investing in technology, automation and customer-focused solutions that strengthen our competitive position, improve the customer experience and enhance long-term profitability. During the quarter, we achieved revenue growth of 4.6% and generated adjusted EBITDA growth of 4.5%. We maintained adjusted EBITDA margin at 32.1% and overcame headwinds associated with event-driven landfill volumes received in the prior year. We delivered adjusted earnings per share of $1.85 and produced $1.58 billion of adjusted free cash flow on a year-to-date basis. Our focus on delivering world-class essential services continues to support organic growth and enhance customer loyalty. With respect to customer zeal, our customer retention rate remained strong at more than 94%. We continue to see favorable Net Promoter Scores due to the value of our offerings and quality of our service delivery. Organic revenue growth during the second quarter was driven by strong pricing across the business. Average yield on total revenue was 3.4%, and average yield on related revenue was 4%. This level of pricing exceeded our cost inflation, which drove margin expansion in the underlying business. Organic volume was down 1.9% on related revenue or 1.6% on total revenue. This level of performance was expected with 1.3% of the decline in total revenue associated with landfill event volumes received in the prior year. Aside from the tough prior year comp, volume performance improved 50 basis points from the first quarter. Organic revenue in the Environmental Solutions business decreased total revenue by 20 basis points in the second quarter, which was in line with our expectations. Our Environmental Solutions sales pipeline continues to build with increased activity across multiple end markets. We continue to expect year-over-year revenue growth in this business in the second half of the year. Turning to digital. Our investments in technology and AI are advancing. Over time, these capabilities are expected to drive additional growth and support continued operating leverage. We are actively deploying AI-based predictive technology that supports optimized pricing decisions across markets with varying customer and competitive dynamics. This approach is expected to reinforce price retention and reduce customer attrition over time. Enhancements to our RISE digital platform are progressing with initial deployment focused on the large container business. The integration of AI and advanced routing algorithms is expected to improve safety outcomes, strengthen service execution and increase route efficiency. Early pilots confirm the expected value from this initiative. Activation of digital tools in our call centers are enhancing the customer experience and unlocking value in our business by optimizing the 11 million inbound calls we receive each year. Moving on to sustainability. Last week, we released our latest sustainability report, highlighting the meaningful progress we are making toward our 2030 goals and the positive impact we are delivering for our customers and communities. Our suite of sustainability reports and materials is available on our website. We continue to believe that our investments in plastic circularity and decarbonization position us for profitable growth and long-term value creation. Production volume continues to increase across our Polymer Center network as we optimize processing operations. Construction at our third Polymer Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania is progressing. Facility commissioning is planned to begin early next year. We continue to advance renewable natural gas projects with our partners. We commenced operations at 2 RNG projects during the second quarter and expect 2 additional projects to begin operations by year-end. We made further progress on our commitment to fleet electrification. We had more than 250 electric collection vehicles in operation at the end of the second quarter. We expect to exit this year with more than 300 EV collection trucks in our fleet, and we'll continue to grow this differentiated service offering. As part of our approach to sustainability, we strive to be the employer where the best people want to work. We continue to see high employee engagement scores, and our turnover rate is the lowest on record. With respect to capital allocation, we invested $860 million in strategic acquisitions in the first half of the year. Our acquisition pipeline remains supportive of continued activity in both the Recycling & Waste and Environmental Solutions businesses. We expect to invest more than $1.2 billion in value-creating acquisitions in 2026. During the first half of the year, we returned more than $1 billion to shareholders through dividends and a repurchase of approximately 1% of our outstanding shares. Additionally, we recently announced an increase of the dividend for the 23rd consecutive year. Building on the strong results delivered through the first half of the year and continued momentum we see across the business, we raised our full year 2026 guidance as follows. Revenue is expected to be in the range of $17.2 billion to $17.3 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in a range of $5.525 billion to $5.55 billion. Adjusted earnings per share is expected to be in the range of $7.23 to $7.28, and adjusted free cash flow is expected to be in a range of $2.54 billion to $2.575 billion. Our full year guidance incorporates higher-than-expected fuel recovery fee revenue through July, increased recycling commodity revenue based on current prices and the contribution of acquisitions closed to date. I will now turn the call over to Brian, who will provide details on the quarter. Brian DelGhiaccio: Thanks, Jon. Core price on total revenue was 5.3%. Core price on related revenue was 6.4%, which included open market pricing of 7.8% and restricted pricing of 4.1%. The components of core price on related revenue included small container of 8.1%, large container of 6.9% and residential of 6.3%. Average yield on total revenue was 3.4%, and average yield on related revenue was 4%. Additionally, fuel recovery fees increased total revenue by 1.8%, which offset higher fuel expense and related surcharges. Second quarter volume decreased total revenue by 1.6% and related revenue by 1.9%. Most of the decline was due to the event-driven landfill volumes in the prior year. Volume performance on related revenue also included a 1.1% increase in landfill MSW. This was more than offset by large container volumes, which declined 2.2%, primarily due to continued softness in construction-related activity; residential volume, which declined 4.3% due to known contract losses; and landfill special waste, which declined 30 basis points. It's important to note that landfill special waste increased 10.7%, excluding the tough comp from wildfire volumes received in the prior year. Moving on to recycling. Commodity prices were $136 per ton during the second quarter. This compared to $149 per ton in the prior year. Recycling processing and commodity sales increased by $8 million during the quarter. Increased volumes at our Polymer Centers offset lower recycled commodity prices. Current commodity prices are approximately $140 per ton. This is the basis used for the second half of the year in our updated guidance. This would imply a full year average commodity price of approximately $135 per ton. Total company adjusted EBITDA margin was 32.1%. Margin performance during the quarter included margin expansion in the underlying business of 90 basis points, which was offset by a 50 basis point decrease from landfill event volumes, a 30 basis point decrease from net fuel and a 10 basis point decrease from recycled commodity prices. With respect to Environmental Solutions, second quarter revenue increased $53 million sequentially, driven by higher event volumes and additional seasonal activity across the business. Adjusted EBITDA margin in the Environmental Solutions business was 20.2%, a sequential improvement of 100 basis points. Year-to-date, adjusted free cash flow was $1.58 billion. Our performance was driven primarily by EBITDA growth in the business. Total debt was $14.2 billion, and total liquidity was $2.8 billion. Our leverage ratio at the end of the quarter was approximately 2.6x. With respect to taxes, our combined tax rate and impact from equity investments in renewable energy resulted in an equivalent tax impact of 23.8% during the quarter. We now expect an equivalent tax impact of approximately 24.5% for the year. With that, operator, I would like to open the call to questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question today comes from Tyler Brown with Raymond James. Patrick Brown: Brian, it looks like the EBITDA midpoint was up, call it, $40 million, I think, at the midpoint. Just curious if you could break that increase down between M&A and the core. And then is flat to slightly down margins in Q3 still a good placeholder? Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes. When you look at the increase of the $40 million or so in EBITDA, majority of that is just due to increase in commodity prices. So if you look at both the revenue and the related EBITDA, that's about $25 million, and then the rest is due to the contribution from incremental acquisitions. So if you look at the revenue that's increasing, you've also got the increase from fuel recovery fees, but that is mostly offset by fuel costs as well as related surcharges. Patrick Brown: Okay. And then on the Q3 margins? Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes. So Q3, think of it relatively flattish with the prior year with margin expansion in the fourth quarter. Patrick Brown: Okay. Perfect. And then this is a big picture question. So first, congrats to the team for giving the sustainability report. I know those are big undertakings. But Jon, one of the things that caught my eye in there was your total TRIR safety numbers. I think those are a decade low. I know that 0 is the goal. But can you kind of talk about what you think the top 1 or 2 items that are really driving that success are? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. Thank you for noticing. That's our #1 priority and value, and I think it's a mix of things. We've always had a very good safety culture and very good at training, prioritizing on the front line. I think the big increases have really been technology. We put a lot of equipment into vehicles. And it's not just the camera, the technology. It's also the coaching and training around it. That system has really been encouraging. And I'd say our next frontier is really to use AI in that capacity and think about analytics and understand what types of environments create unsafe opportunities and how do you then create management actions and systems and tools and processes around it. So I think we've got more room to run on that. We don't take it for granted. We wake up every day and try to keep all 42,000 colleagues safe, but we're making great progress. Operator: The next question will come from Adam Bubes with Goldman Sachs. Adam Bubes: Wondering if you could just break the performance out across the major lines in Environmental Solutions because I know there's a lot of moving pieces there. And then nice to see that sequential seasonal step-up. Just how are you thinking about potential magnitude of growth in the balance of the year? Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes. So if you take a look at the performance in Environmental Solutions, we saw an increase in emergency response jobs year-over-year, which was partially offset by a reduction in landfill tons. And again, we are just slightly down on a year-over-year basis, but we saw sequential improvement each of the month throughout the second quarter. And we're optimistic, and again, we project that we're going to grow from a top line perspective as well as related margin expansion in the second half of the year. Adam Bubes: And then on the volume side, I think this year's residential volume trends reflected the loss of a few larger residential contracts that you called out last quarter. How are you thinking about volume trends beyond 2026 as you lap those contracts? Is low to mid-single-digit volume declines the right framework over the medium term? Or is there a path towards stabilization in residential? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. Maybe, I think, start with market. We're coming out of a period of nearly 4 years of negative growth in Recycling & Waste. That's really been driven by industrial and construction or lack thereof in terms of activity. And I think we're now in a market that's sequentially improving. I would think of it more flat with encouraging signs month-over-month. And in that context, we're obviously losing a little bit of share in residential, and we're gaining some share in industrial and small container, which will take all day long if we can make that mix change. You'll see residential, the rate of decline certainly start to narrow as we get into '27. And listen, we don't aspire to lose or shrink in that category, but we're always going to take price over volume, and we're going to continue to get a fair return on the hard work that our people do and the assets we invest. And if we need to continue to slightly prune in order to find more value there, we're going to do it. Operator: The next question will come from Sabahat Khan with RBC Capital Markets. Sabahat Khan: Great. Maybe hoping to get some additional color on the commentary on the increased use of AI. I guess, based on your learnings so far, are you being pointing into direction of, look, these are customers that you previously weren't pushing on price but you can? Or is it kind of same customer, just higher magnitude? Just maybe what are the learnings? And how much more runway do you think there is on that front? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. I think AI is going to transform us broadly across the business, and we're using -- experimenting with it, I'd say, almost everywhere. We talked about the 3 major areas that we're going deep, and there's a few other ones that we'll add to the list over time in terms of investing at scale across the enterprise. On pricing specifically, it's understanding the specific price that you want to give to a customer that both maximizes value in the short term but also the long term, right? So you could price more, but then if you're going to drive defection, that's not a very good long-term trade-off. And so this now takes in dozens of variables about the customer, and each customer has their own fingerprint in terms of the service history and background and size and scale and location. And so we're able to put all of those variables in to really get a precise optimized price that maximizes long-term value. We've always done analytics, but this is totally, as an order of magnitude, different level of sophistication. Sabahat Khan: Great. And then just a second one on M&A. It sounds like about $1 billion and change for this year. Is this a pipeline that's building up? Or you think it could kind of seep into next year and next year could also be an outsized year? Or are most of these closing this year or these transactions closing this year, maybe not as much momentum into next year? Any color there? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. The pipeline is certainly strong and how many of those things close in the back half of the year versus push into the first part of next year, we'll expect to have another strong year next year. We'll probably give a relatively conservative guide because I never want the team to chase an M&A number because you can easily hit that and not get the returns that we expect. But everything we see going forward, that pipeline looks strong and continues to build both in the short and the medium term. Operator: The next question will come from Bryan Burgmeier with Citi. Bryan Burgmeier: Maybe just following up on Tyler's question on the revision to 2026 EBITDA guidance. Are there any changes to your underlying assumptions for the core solid waste business, specifically just thinking about volume or cost inflation for some key buckets? Brian DelGhiaccio: I would say, look, the components of organic growth, the price, the volume and then obviously, the related inflationary costs are all coming relatively in line with our initial expectations. So most of the update to the guide, again, was due to, as I mentioned earlier, those -- the increase in fuel recovery fees, due to just increased diesel costs, the incremental acquisitions. So we came into the year thinking we had about 70 basis points of contribution to top line growth due to both rollover as well as the in-year deals. Now that's 100 as well as an increase in commodity prices moving from $115 per ton to $135. Bryan Burgmeier: Got it. Got it. Really appreciate that detail. And then maybe just on the kind of margin outlook or the margin cadence that you described for the second half of the year, waste and recycling margins were up like 40 bps in 2Q, and then I guess, commodities will maybe be more helpful in 3Q. But it sounds like you're maybe expecting flattish kind of year-over-year, so just help us kind of frame that or maybe some headwinds I might not be thinking of. I'll turn it over. Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes, we still have the continuation of the landfill event volumes in the prior year, so that's about a 40 basis point headwind. We also -- just because of the timing of the acquisitions themselves, when we look at the integration costs that we expect to incur, most of that's going to happen in the third and fourth quarter, which is a headwind. But again, when you take a look at the overall performance, we expect the underlying business to continue to remain strong and the margin expansion in the underlying business such that when you take a look at what we expect for the full year, we're looking at 60 to 70 basis points of margin expansion in the underlying business. Operator: The next question will come from Faiza Alwy with Deutsche Bank. Faiza Alwy: I wanted to follow up on volumes because some of your peers in the waste space have talked about their changing views around volumes and kind of talked about maybe fuel surcharges impacting some volumes. So it sounds like you're not changing your view on that and not seeing anything different. And I'm just curious if you have a perspective on why that might be and what your interpretation is of what's going on around -- from a macro perspective on volumes. Jon Vander Ark: Yes. I think the -- look, I talked about this. This has been a negative market in recycling and waste for almost 4 years, driven by construction and industrial activity was changing. As I'd say, commercial construction, we're starting to see slight rebound. I'd still say it's depressed overall but slight rebound. Residential construction is still very challenged. And on the industrial activity, that's where you're starting to see more momentum. And you can see that with the PMI prints that are over 50 for the last 5 months and starting to accelerate, and we just see that with service changes with our large container customers. So that's where we're seeing some volume lift. So special waste, take out the comp from last year on the wildfire, and that looks good. It's a market that is slightly improving. I think there's still plenty of caution from geopolitical environment with oil prices and other things, so where we have a positive outlook, but we're still waiting and seeing for this economy, I would say, fully fired. Faiza Alwy: Okay. Makes sense. And then just to clarify on the guidance change. Is the incremental M&A that's in the guide, is that for the $1.2 billion? Or I think it's $860 million that's closed so far. So could you just confirm that it's only what's closed so far? And then secondly, I think you said that the fuel surcharge that was included in the guide is only through July. And I'm assuming that these -- like that represents some upside to revenues and possibly EBITDA because I think diesel prices are still ahead of last year. So just those 2 quick clarifying things. Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes, you are correct. So on the fuel recovery fees, we took what we knew through the month of July, right? So fuel prices have been highly volatile, so we didn't want to assume that they would remain elevated then to just have them come down, and now you're talking about a revenue change because of that assumption. So we took August through the end of the year back to our original assumption, which was just below $4 a gallon from a cost per gallon perspective on diesel. And I'm sorry, on your first question? Faiza Alwy: Yes. That was just the confirmation of the M&A because I think you're saying you're expecting $1.2 billion of M&A. So I just want to make sure that, that entire -- the EBITDA impact of that is not in the guide. That's just what's closed so far. Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes. So through today, we've closed just shy of $1.2 billion of investment in acquisitions, all of which is included in the guidance for the full year. Operator: The next question will come from Toni Kaplan with Morgan Stanley. Toni Kaplan: I wanted to ask on pricing. Core price stepped down a little bit this quarter. Just wanted to know your thoughts on how you see that trending through the rest of the year. And then maybe also a sort of a follow-up on pricing. Like if you think about you're doing AI initiatives to sort of optimize your pricing, and I imagine that others are as well, like how do you think that, that changes like the industry's pricing dynamics in the long term? Like do you sort of have even more stickiness and things like that because everyone's sort of charging the optimal price for the business that's maybe geographically advantaged, et cetera? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. If you think about pricing over time, fuel skyrocketed, and that becomes a meaningful portion of our customers' bills. So this is where AI helps us to think about the optimization of that and making sure we're playing a long-term game. So probably went out with balancing for a couple of months a little less gross price than we would have in another environment. I don't see the pricing environment changing broadly, which is we're pricing ahead of our cost structure. I think even in a challenged industry period, I think industry conduct around certain structure around price, right, has maintained pretty good discipline from my seat in the park, and now you see units starting to come back. That will be very positive. And then with respect to AI, I think this is true of almost any AI investment. It's almost always a scale investment. And so when you do routing, whether you roll that across 100 routes, 1,000 routes or 10,000 routes, you've got to do the same underlying work. Same thing with customers. Whether you do that across 2,000 customers or 2 million customers, you've got to do the same underlying work. So I think it will favor scale players who are able to invest in these tools. Brian DelGhiaccio: And on the core price, we would expect it to stay near what we posted here in the second quarter, so in a range, call it, 6.2% to 6.4%, in that ZIP code. Operator: The next question will come from Trevor Romeo with William Blair. Melissa McMahon: This is Melissa on for Trevor Romeo. Maybe just turning to Environmental Solutions. Can you guys speak to what the PFAS business is running at on a revenue dollar and year-over-year growth basis and maybe just what kind of opportunities you're seeing on the disposal wastewater treatment and remediation or service side of that? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. Strong. I think, again, we did over $100 million last year, and we're going to exceed that number this year. Kind of we're well ahead of that pace, and we're seeing it across the full suite of our assets. So it's taking -- certainly utilizing our hazardous waste landfills and our water treatment capabilities, but it's also utilizing our solid waste landfills. So some of that special waste growth you see are jobs initiated through our Environmental Solutions team that are actually flowing through the Recycling & Waste P&L. And that's one of our advantages given that we have a broad set of offerings for clients that different levels of PFAS require different solutions. And for low levels, a Subtitle D landfill is the most cost-effective solution. And so we're taking advantage of that, and we think that pipeline is building. And so we would expect to comfortably beat our number again next year. Melissa McMahon: Great. And then maybe just a quick follow-up on that end as well on the reshoring trend. I realize this could be a multiyear opportunity. But are you seeing any tangible near-term lift with clients that are building out their presence in the U.S.? Jon Vander Ark: Yes, we're starting to see that with some construction projects. I think it's mostly been -- first, it was talk and policy and now -- then it was planning, and I think we're now starting to see shovels in ground. And that will be good for us on both sides of the business. Certainly, in that construction activity, whether it's remediating the dirt to prepare the construction site or the construction process itself and then the ongoing service of those facilities across a range of end markets in the manufacturing space will be good and will -- that will be, I think, a tailwind for this business for 5-plus years. Operator: The next question will come from Konark Gupta with Scotia Capital. Konark Gupta: Maybe just to start on the pricing discussion. The spread between open market pricing and restricted pricing this quarter was perhaps one of the smallest we have seen, I think, in the last many years. What are you seeing in terms of competitive dynamics? And is there anything specific to like macro or fuel that's influencing that? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. Some of this is just the -- that's a natural effect of a declining inflationary environment, which we've seen over the last year, obviously, spiking because of oil in the last couple of months, but there's typically a 12-month lag between when inflation or CPI would print and then when you see that in the restricted business. And then the open market, we think about pricing relative to that context overall, so that's why we talked about gross prices coming down. But our cost structure is also coming down, so we're maintaining that spread over time. And then in terms of pricing activity in markets, there are a handful of markets where you see low-cost players come in and try to build up a book of revenue almost exclusively to sell that over time. And that's distracting in a handful of markets, but that's really been true for the last 30 years in this business. And we do a good job of fiercely defending and making good price volume decisions there over time. Those players who then don't end up transacting pretty quickly figure out that their set of assumptions around cost to serve is higher than they expected, and those decisions oftentimes are not very profitable in the end. Konark Gupta: Okay. No, understood. And if I can follow up on the RNG business, BP is looking to sell the Archaea Energy business they have. You guys have some good relationships with them, I guess. Do you anticipate any changes as part of the sale process with the future owners? Obviously, you don't know who that could be. But like what are some of the kind of guardrails in your contracts with them, which can protect you in terms of any changes potentially that may happen? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. We feel very comfortable. That business is very well contracted. So we will have a seat in the table in that process, and we'll be assured that our contract rights are going to live going forward with whoever they transact that business to. Operator: The next question will come from Jerry Revich with Wells Fargo. Jerry Revich: I'm wondering if you could just talk about Environmental Services. So nice to see the sequential margin improvement. Can you just update us on how you're thinking about the margin opportunity on a multiyear basis? At 1 point, I think we were talking about margins potentially in the high 20s as being feasible. Is that off the table at this point? Or what are the significant opportunities and the levers that you could pull to drive margin upside here over time? And what's a reasonable expectation? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. That long-term aspiration certainly hasn't changed. We've got to operate in a broader context and market, so we're going to make the right price volume trade-offs and we talked about -- probably didn't get it perfect as demand dropped at the end of '24 and into '25. We probably -- we're pursuing price more aggressively than we would have in retrospect. I think as we go forward and build from here, you'll see us, I think, ahead of our enterprise 30 to 50 basis points of margin expansion, as you talk about, a year. But you'll see Environmental Solutions expand at a faster pace than that. Exactly how fast? I think it will be a little bit dictated by both competitive environment but also the demand environment, right? And if industrial activity really starts to take another step up here, I think that will be very good for margin performance as well as growth. Jerry Revich: And Jon, in terms of just to shift the conversation to the AI opportunities, you had sized that as $100 million 3 months ago. Can you just talk about has that estimate changed at all? And how are you thinking about the cadence, the 30 to 50 basis points of margin expansion? Could we be ahead of that in 2027 because of potential AI benefits? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. I don't think we'll be ahead of it in 2027. Over the long term, we certainly could. I think what we've learned both in pricing and in routing have confirmed our assumptions that, that $100 million is on the table. The exact pace of rollout, I think, will certainly be trending toward that number in the end of 2027. The exact pace which we get it, we're going to make sure we get it and we stick it, right, not make it an event but make it an ongoing capability. And the tool part, I don't worry about. It's -- for routing, for example, you've got to get drivers to drive a different route that's optimized. And that change is easier said than done. You don't send out a memo and make that happen. You've got to work site by site, and that's a leadership opportunity that I'm confident we'll capture, but that will take us a little bit of time to make sure it's durable. Operator: The next question will come from Seth Weber with BNP Paribas. Seth Weber: Just another -- sorry, another look back on the ES business. The margin -- the kind of the flattish revenue and lower margin, I just want to confirm that's really just a mix issue and not -- there's nothing weird going on with pricing. You feel like pricing in ES has kind of stabilized or settled out in a good spot here. Is that fair, accurate? Jon Vander Ark: Yes, very much. And this is kind of how we forecast and talked about it, that we would see this leveling out in the second quarter, and that would be a base to build from. And this pipeline, some things happen right away like ER, but most of these things, you get a longer sales pipeline. So we can see into the fact that we'll have momentum into the second half, just like we saw in the back half of last year what the results will be in the first half of this year. Seth Weber: Got it. Okay. And then just on free cash flow, if my math is right, it looks like free cash conversion goes a lot lower in the second half. Is that just a timing issue relative some stuff got pulled into the first half or something? Or perhaps my math is wrong, but it looks like free cash conversion goes lower. Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes. It's the normal seasonality of the business. And if you take a look, all years are somewhat like we paid proportionately less cash taxes in the first half of the year, and our CapEx tends to be more back-end loaded. So this is consistent with what you've seen in prior periods, and it's right on top of our plan. Operator: The next question will come from Will Grippin with Barclays. William Grippin: Wanted to just come back to your fuel recovery fee assumptions in the second half. It sounds like you're assuming, I think you said $4 diesel and kind of a neutral EBITDA impact. I would have thought, just based on your disclosed sensitivity and assuming diesel is either stable from here or perhaps coming down a bit, that we should see actually a net margin uplift in the second half. Is that correct? And are you sort of just being conservative here? Or what am I missing in that? Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes. So that sensitivity was the fuel recovery fees, and it was the direct impact of diesel fuel. We've talked about this. We talked about in the last quarter, there are other costs that we incur, transportation surcharges and other indirect expense charges that we get as well as from an overall cash perspective, increased CapEx when you've got the increased oil prices for landfill liner for example. So we try and recover from a comprehensive or a holistic perspective the cash impact of changes in diesel prices. And so we've expanded, and you'll see it when you see the 10-Q, expanded to include some of those other cost increases so that you get to a relatively neutral EBITDA impact from changes in diesel prices. William Grippin: Okay. But there wouldn't be any sort of like margin catch-up or anything because you have a lagged effect in the first half, so -- if diesel comes down. Yes. Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes. So you do see that. There is a lag, right? So again, we actually wound up having a net negative from a net fuel perspective in the first quarter. As you saw, diesel prices rise in the month of March, and we didn't start recovering those costs until April. So if you see fuel costs come down precipitously in the second half of the year, we could get that back. But it's really just a timing issue. It's not something that's sustained. William Grippin: Okay. And last one for me. But within the ES business, I would be curious to hear what you've been seeing in terms of recent emergency response trends. We've been hearing that this year has maybe been historically low, sort of below baseline levels for emergency response activity. Is that consistent with what you've been seeing? Jon Vander Ark: It was pretty slow for us last year, actually. And I'd say it's slightly on the pickup this year, but versus historic norm, yes. If you think about many years, there's kind of large, big jobs you can point to across a number of different providers, and we're just not seeing that level of kind of transformational type or big jobs that you would call out. Operator: The next question will come from David Manthey with Baird. David Manthey: What was the approximate annual revenue run rate of acquisitions that you completed in the first quarter and then the same for the second quarter? Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes, we're not -- So in total, if you just take a look at what we guided to through the acquisitions completed in the first quarter, was that 70 basis points contribution. Again, that was a combination of rollover as well as in year. If you take a look at what we just added in the second quarter, it was basically an additional 30 basis points of contribution to the top line. David Manthey: Okay. But does that take you to the $1 billion? Or does that take you higher than the $1 billion? Brian DelGhiaccio: That takes you to about the $1 billion. One of the deals that we include that we closed on here most recently was something where we already had a 50% ownership interest in. So as we complete that deal, when you see that flow through, we were already consolidating that entity. So there's no incremental revenue, but there will be incremental EBITDA. David Manthey: Okay. I see. And then second, you've kind of framed the second and third quarter EBITDA margin as flat with all of the expansion coming in the fourth quarter. It looks like it will be -- should be 50 to 70 basis points depending on the range of the guidance. But could you tell us just how much of that is already locked in because of the normalizing comps and the actions you've already taken and maybe some of the lagging CPI price benefits versus what's dependent on future actions and future demand? Brian DelGhiaccio: Well, I think you have to take into consideration what's already happened through the first half of the year. So we had 50 basis points of margin expansion in the first quarter, relatively flat in the second. So year-to-date, you're at plus, call it, 25. If you're flat in the third quarter, then that kind of squeezed out what you need in the fourth quarter to get to the overall year, which we're saying is in the 10 basis point ZIP code. So not -- the entire year's worth of margin expansion isn't coming in the fourth quarter. Some of it already came in the first. Operator: The next question will come from Shlomo Rosenbaum with Stifel. Shlomo Rosenbaum: I just want to probe a little bit more about the pipeline of activity that you're seeing in ES and the nature of it. You said you have pretty good visibility. Can you just give us a little layer deeper into what's building, where you're winning? How much is kind of you're winning versus the overall market just getting a little bit better? And then I have one follow-up. Jon Vander Ark: Yes. I think it's across end markets. Obviously, anything manufacturing related, it's probably about half of that business probably refined oil and gas and semiconductors and a range of different industries there. Listen, our strongest value proposition is going to be an integrated offering, where we can bring to bear field services, hazardous waste landfills, solid waste landfills, water remediation, even hazardous liquids. We've got great partnerships on incineration. So the more complex and broad the job is, the more competitive we're going to be versus a single oil spill is going to be a pretty competitive environment where we're going to be less competitive in that space. So I'd say it's -- the pipeline is robust. It's not hanging on a single job or a single opportunity. It's broad-based geographically and across end markets. Shlomo Rosenbaum: Okay. Great. And then could you talk -- did anything change in terms of your expectations for incremental revenue and EBITDA from both the Polymer Centers and RNG for the year? Brian DelGhiaccio: No, it's consistent with what we originally guided to. So this year, when you take a look at our entire sustainability portfolio, we're expecting about $40 million of incremental revenue with about $20 million of incremental EBITDA. Operator: The next question will come from Kevin Chiang with CIBC. Kevin Chiang: Just 2 -- maybe 2 clarification questions. Just back to ES, if I look at the sequential improvement in revenue and EBITDA, we saw about a 28% incremental margin lift. Is that kind of the right way to think about the back half incremental margins as you return to growth on the top line there? Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes. I mean I think when you think on the increment, you're in the ZIP code there of what we would expect to see on those incremental revenues, in part, when you think about the mix. So as we get some more of the waste solutions, which is that post-collection-centric type volumes, they tend to carry a relatively higher margin but also just eating into some of the capacity we have on the field and industrial services side. Kevin Chiang: Okay. That's helpful. And just you mentioned 1 of the acquisitions you made was a 50% ownership. Does that impact the equity investment line at all on the income statement? I just missed how that was being accounted for before. Brian DelGhiaccio: No, we were consolidating it, so we had the revenue and then we were basically paying out the 50% interest through subcontract costs. Basically, we'll eliminate that subcontract cost line item. Operator: The next question will come from James Schumm with TD Cowen. James Schumm: I actually -- on that subcontractor cost, I was actually looking at that line item and your components of OpEx, and it looked like that jumped more than usual. Usually, there's a seasonal jump in the second quarter, but this looked like it was more than usual. And I was wondering if that was due to fuel, indirect fuel expenses and if there's an opportunity that, that could come down in the second half or whenever fuel prices decline. Jon Vander Ark: Yes, a lot of that would be the increase in fuel, and we have fuel -- they have fuel recovery mechanisms that we negotiate with them just like we have in our contracts. And to Brian's comment earlier, we've got a pretty good overall hedge. There's a little bit of lag and drag as fuel moves up and down. But when you think about direct fuel costs and then those indirect fuel costs, we feel pretty good about being covered across different fuel prices. James Schumm: Okay. And then you -- I think you said you have 250 EV trucks. You've been running these for several quarters now. Just curious to hear how has the performance been? What are the pros and cons? I mean we know that the capacity of those trucks are somewhat limited by -- with all the batteries. But maybe at a time like now when fuel prices are high, maybe that's helping you out. So just sort of broad-based over the past couple of years, how happy are you with those? And any color there would be appreciated. Jon Vander Ark: Yes. The performance is exceeding our expectations. So obviously, some learning curve when you get the first ones off the line of the factory, but that's true of any new vehicle. That's not -- doesn't have anything to do with the powertrain. The battery performance and uptime and things have been really, again, exceeding our expectations. And in terms of capacity, that's true largely when you retrofit a diesel truck. That's where you get too much weight with a battery, and you start to take down payload and really limit the routes that, that truck can cover. When you have a truck that designs studs up as an EV, that allows you to take out enough weight out of the vehicle where you're not sacrificing a lot of payload. Operator: The next question will come from Tobey Sommer with Truist. Henry Roberts: Henry on for Tobey here. Maybe just to start really quick. You laid out some of the pieces, but maybe I missed. But anything on the pricing side, incremental improvement expectations there that drove part of the guidance increase? Brian DelGhiaccio: No. The -- when you look at the components of the increase in revenue, again, the $150 million at the midpoint, approximately 1%, exclusively driven by increased fuel recovery fees due to the change in diesel prices, the incremental acquisitions for deals closed to date and then the increase in commodity prices. The combination of both price and volume are in line with our initial expectations. Henry Roberts: Understood. And then thinking about CapEx for next year, how are you, I guess, thinking about that relative to this year? Maybe some of the sustainability investments come in. And then maybe more specific around those for the longer term, if you can kind of lay out how you think about that on a multiyear basis. Brian DelGhiaccio: I would say relatively consistent as a percent of revenue of what you're seeing in 2026. Operator: The next question will come from Stephanie Moore with Jefferies. Stephanie Benjamin Moore: Actually, that's a good segue into what I wanted to talk about. Maybe taking again a longer-term view. I mean, I think over the last couple of years, you've built a pretty nice sustainability portfolio across RNG, in plastics. And so 2 parts, wanted to get an update on just the returns of those investments, how they're trending as they stand today. But also, I think more importantly, are there any other areas within sustainability or even outside sustainability that might be outside of your core business now that you're kind of exploring, investing in, again, over the medium to long term? So kind of a higher level question there. Jon Vander Ark: Yes. Look, we've been really happy with the demand side of the Polymer Centers in that we could sell each of those out 3 or 4 times over, and we're largely exceeding our pricing assumptions. We have the supply, and so that was a strategic advantage and one of the reasons we got into it. From a learning standpoint, we're probably too optimistic on the timing in terms of how we could get to full capacity. Now the good side is that when we hit full capacity, we're above our nameplate capacity. So we had originally talked about 4 Polymer Centers. We think we'd probably get there with 3 in the short to medium term just because we're getting more capacity out of those when they're running at full steam. So we're excited about that over time. In terms of where we go to next, listen, anything that goes into a landfill, we're going to challenge. We would -- landfill ultimately is a cost, and we would rather take volume out of that and get a second life and the second revenue stream for that. And that allows us to extend the life of landfills, which in many urban areas, we're running out of airspace and the industry is. So parts of New England and coastal California and other places, if you can get an extra 5, 6, 7, 10 years in those landfills, that's enormously valuable while getting a second revenue stream. So organic material, flexible packaging, those are all things that we're taking a look at. And we'll make sure that both is going to be environmentally sustainable but economically sustainable. It's got to have a return for us to invest. Operator: The next question will come from Noah Kaye with Oppenheimer. Noah Kaye: Sorry, it's getting a little bit more fine with the points on the modeling here, but for our models for the back half, you mentioned that the total price volume outlook hasn't changed. Any moving parts within that? I mean could volumes be a little bit worse, pricing a little bit better? Because obviously, we're going to have still an overhang on volumes from a comp perspective here in 3Q, but just trying to get a little bit more granular if possible. Jon Vander Ark: I would say only on the margin, Noah, and what you see is, if you're going to grow, you're going to take on new units that are below your portfolio average. And so nominally, that would put lower pressure on yields. So we'll probably end up more toward the lower side of our yield guidance because we're doing slightly better on volumes. Same thing with service increases, right? You're going to see service increases come in at a slightly lower rate, which again puts downward pressure on yield. But those are all additional activities, which are good for the business overall, and that's why you see the margin being strong because we still got a good overall price-cost spread. Noah Kaye: Helpful. And then there's been a lot of questions asked about ES today. And I kind of want to pull back for a minute and just ask you about how the business has performed over a longer period of time. And we're about 4 years into integrating US Ecology, and just curious where you'd assess the business is at now versus the deal model. And if you think about kind of controllable levers of improvement beyond just the macro, what sort of remains as clear opportunity? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. We're more excited about that business today than we were when we purchased US Ecology 4 years ago, and we've substantially exceeded the pro forma and driven really good returns for our shareholders there. I think we probably underestimated the challenge of integration of some legacy assets that both we had as well as legacy US Ecology had and getting the systems and tools and processes put together. And we're playing the long game, so we're going to make the right decision for the long term even if that sacrifices some short-term performance. We haven't gotten it always perfect in the commercial side in terms of price volume, but I think that team keeps learning and growing. And on balance, if you look at the progress, you're taking a business that had in the 14%, 15% EBITDA margin and made substantial improvement. And I think that improvement going forward won't be a straight line. Nothing that you're building ever is going to be perfect. It's not a mature business yet, but the upward path is to the up and to the right on the margin standpoint. And again, we're very excited about both the top and bottom line prospects of that business. Operator: The next question will come from Connor Cerniglia with Bernstein. Connor Cerniglia: You all highlighted AI-driven benefits in pricing and routing. There was a recent industry headline about automated AI-enabled systems being deployed at landfills. Can you talk about whether or not you've evaluated those technologies yet? And any early views on how landfill automation could impact your operations over time? Jon Vander Ark: I think automation and AI will impact everything we do. I expect that to matriculate, it already is, matriculate into our vehicles and into our heavy equipment. I think the idea of getting to autonomy at scale, a truck driving down the road or operating at a landfill truly autonomous, you could do it. I'm not sure that there's going to be substantial cost savings because, in the end, somebody is likely going to be programming or driving that. So you're not going to see a huge labor arbitrage in that part of the business. But if you look at other parts of the business in recycling centers, the more technology we put in -- I mean, we have a fraction of the employees that we did a decade ago in many of our recycling centers through robots and automation. And so I think that we'll continue to invest and grow there. But automation, just like everything else we do has got to have a return, right? We've got to make sure that we're solving a problem and not just automating for automation's sake. Connor Cerniglia: And then maybe switching to residential. You mentioned residential volumes should improve sequentially from here. Can you maybe just refine the trajectory of the volume recovery? It seems like volumes maybe continue in the, call it, down 3% to 4% range before you lap the large contracts in Q1 of next year and then maybe you see volumes kind of closer down to 1%, 2%. Is that the right way to think about the trajectory? Or maybe I'm a bit too specific. Any commentary there would be helpful. Brian DelGhiaccio: Yes, we would expect sequential improvement in the volume performance, still negative, but in the, call it, 3% to 3.5% range in the second half of the year. And then that moving in '27 at this point, probably still down circa 2% based on what we expect right now. But as we've talked about, the other lines of business, small container, permanent large container, the landfill MSW, we're seeing those improve, which will -- again, when you take a look at the total volume performance, we would expect total company volume performance to sequentially improve quarter-on-quarter from here on out. Operator: The next question will come from Tami Zakaria with JPMorgan. Tami Zakaria: One question for today. New York is proposing that landfills treat leachate for PFAS before discharging to waterways. I think the public comment period is open. Do you plan to provide comments? And more broadly, are you planning or preparing in terms of maybe changes to your operations, the strategy should something like this go into effect? Jon Vander Ark: Yes. Obviously, there's been a lot of dialogue at both the federal and state level about PFAS, and we are very active and engaged in those conversations. We're not opposed to regulation, but it's got to be sensible regulation. And what we are opposed to is blaming a landfill for all the inbound volume that contains PFAS. PFAS is pervasive, and so it shows up in every landfill because it's in all types of waste streams. And penalizing the landfill, we think, is the wrong solution. We're actually the right point to remediate that because we're capturing that leachate and we're able to treat it in many cases, pretreat it in some cases, discharge it and work with our utility partners at the local level to make sure that we have the right solutions. So I'd say it's something we -- again, we're mindful of. We're in state capitals. We're in federal capitals, but it isn't something, I think, is a fundamental risk to the business. We will manage through this just like all the regulation the industry has done in the past. Operator: At this time, there appear to be no further questions. Mr. Vander Ark, I'll turn the call back over to you for closing remarks. Jon Vander Ark: Thank you, Nick. As we close today's call, I want to thank the entire Republic Services team. Their dedication to our customers and communities continues to strengthen our business and differentiate Republic in the marketplace. I'm proud of what we've accomplished in the first half of the year and confident in our ability to build on this momentum as we continue creating long-term value for our customers, employees and shareholders. Have a good evening and be safe. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the conference call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Republic Services, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Republic Services wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Republic Services (RSG) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Never miss an important update on your stock portfolio and cut through the noise. Over 7 million investors trust Simply Wall St to stay informed where it matters for FREE. Republic Services stock sits at an interesting crossroads for valuation focused investors. Over the past five years the share price has risen strongly, while the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) intrinsic value estimate points to meaningful upside and traditional market multiples paint a more expensive picture. Republic Services has returned 91.1% over the past five years, which puts a lot of prior optimism into the current share price. Recent investments in automation, recycling and acquisitions can support future cash flow expectations, while continued heavy spending and deal activity may add execution and balance sheet risk for valuation. The company scores 3 out of 6 on our valuation checks, which is a mixed picture rather than a clear bargain or clear overvaluation. The issue now is whether Republic Services' current price already reflects its cash flow potential, or if the intrinsic value estimate still leaves a reasonable margin of safety for new money. Republic Services delivered -6.9% returns over the last year. See how this stacks up to the rest of the Commercial Services industry. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model uses Republic Services' projected cash flows to estimate what the stock might be worth today. For Republic Services, the latest twelve month free cash flow is about $2.63b, and the projections used in the model assume growing cash flows rather than a shrinking business. Given those assumptions, the DCF model points to an estimated intrinsic value of about $300.60 per share. This estimate is above the current share price, which implies the stock screens as undervalued by around 28.7%. Because Republic Services recently raised its 2026 free cash flow guidance after stronger than expected results, the gap between the cash flow based value and the market price may reflect investors waiting to see how well these higher targets and ongoing investments are delivered. On this cash flow view, Republic Services stock currently appears undervalued relative to the DCF based intrinsic value estimate. Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Republic Services is undervalued by 28.7%. Track this in your watchlist or portfolio, or discover 49 more high quality undervalued stocks. Head to the Valuation section of our Company Report for more details on how we arrive at this Fair Value for Republic Services. The P/E ratio suits Republic Services because earnings remain a key anchor for how investors look at mature, cash generative companies. Right now the stock trades on a P/E of about 30.0x, which sits above the broader Commercial Services industry average of 19.4x and slightly below the peer group average of 33.2x. On Simply Wall St’s more tailored fair P/E estimate of 23.8x, which factors in Republic Services' size, margins and risk profile, the current 30.0x looks rich. The gap suggests investors are paying a premium relative to what this framework indicates for the business, even after accounting for quality and growth characteristics. On this earnings multiple view, Republic Services stock appears overvalued compared with its fair P/E benchmark. See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown. Simply Wall St Narratives for Republic Services connect the earlier valuation puzzle to specific assumptions about the company’s future growth, margins and earnings that would need to hold for the stock to be worth materially more or less than today’s price. Instead of stopping at a single output from a ratio or model, they set out the future conditions behind that number so you can monitor whether Republic Services' actual progress lines up with what is implied. You can add your voice to the Simply Wall St community by sharing a Republic Services Narrative that lays out your number based case and tracks how it holds up as the company reports new results. If you have a view on whether Republic Services' raised guidance and continued deal spending end up supporting the current valuation, this is your chance to put that thesis on record and follow it over time. Do you think there's more to the story for Republic Services? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying! Republic Services sits between two conflicting signals. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) intrinsic value estimate suggests the stock screens as undervalued, while the P/E based view flags it as overvalued relative to a tailored fair ratio. That split largely reflects different weight on long term cash generation versus what investors are currently willing to pay for growth and quality. The key question from here is whether Republic Services can convert its investment and acquisition program into steady, sustainable cash flows without stretching execution or the balance sheet. That outcome would determine whether the apparent discount is an opportunity or compensation for those risks. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include RSG. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Waste management company Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) reported Q2 CY2026 results topping the market’s revenue expectations , with sales up 4.6% year on year to $4.43 billion. The company expects the full year’s revenue to be around $17.25 billion, close to analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.85 per share was 1.7% above analysts’ consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy RSG? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $4.43 billion vs analyst estimates of $4.36 billion (4.6% year-on-year growth, 1.5% beat) Adjusted EPS: $1.85 vs analyst estimates of $1.82 (1.7% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $1.42 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.39 billion (32.1% margin, 2.3% beat) Adjusted EPS guidance for the full year is $7.26 at the midpoint, roughly in line with what analysts were expecting EBITDA guidance for the full year is $5.54 billion at the midpoint, in line with analyst expectations Operating Margin: 20.3%, in line with the same quarter last year Market Capitalization: $65.7 billion Republic Services’ second quarter saw positive momentum, with both revenue and adjusted earnings per share exceeding Wall Street expectations. Management attributed the performance to consistent execution in core waste and recycling operations, robust pricing strategies that outpaced cost inflation, and steady progress in digital initiatives. CEO Jon Vander Ark highlighted the company’s ability to deliver on customer service and maintain retention levels above 94%, noting, “Our focus on delivering world-class essential services continues to support organic growth and enhance customer loyalty.” Pricing discipline, advances in automation, and investments in sustainability initiatives were cited as key contributors to margin stability despite challenging year-over-year volume comparisons. Looking ahead, Republic Services’ outlook for the remainder of the year is shaped by a mix of technology-driven efficiency gains, sustainability investments, and a cautious stance on volume recovery. Management emphasized the growing impact of artificial intelligence in optimizing pricing and routing, with Vander Ark stating, “AI is going to transform us broadly across the business.” The company expects continued margin expansion in its Environmental Solutions segment and is closely monitoring macroeconomic trends, especially in construction and industrial activity. Ongoing investment in electric vehicle fleets and polymer recycling centers are also expected to underpin future growth and operational leverage. Management emphasized the strength of pricing across its portfolio and the rapid advancement of digital and sustainability initiatives, which helped offset headwinds from lower landfill volumes and residential contract losses. Pricing outpaces inflation: Republic Services maintained strong core price increases, with management using AI-based tools to optimize customer-level pricing and defend margins even as overall volumes remained subdued. Digital platform expansion: The RISE digital platform, enhanced with AI-driven routing and customer service tools, is being scaled across large container operations and call centers, improving route efficiency and enhancing customer experience. Sustainability investments progress: Increased production at Polymer Centers and the commissioning of new renewable natural gas (RNG) projects advanced the company’s 2030 sustainability goals, with demand for recycled plastics exceeding initial expectations. Environmental Solutions pipeline: The Environmental Solutions segment saw sequential revenue and margin gains, supported by emergency response jobs and growing demand for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) remediation services, with management expecting further growth in the second half. Active acquisition strategy: Over $860 million deployed in strategic acquisitions during the first half, with a robust pipeline targeting both recycling and environmental services. Management expects more than $1.2 billion in total acquisition investment for the year. Republic Services’ guidance is grounded in ongoing pricing discipline, digital transformation, and sustainability initiatives, while monitoring for improvements in industrial and construction activity. AI and digital efficiency: Management expects artificial intelligence to drive further pricing optimization and route efficiency, enhancing long-term margin performance. The rollout of digital tools is anticipated to improve customer retention and lower operating costs, particularly as the RISE platform expands. Sustainability and regulatory tailwinds: The company projects incremental revenue and EBITDA from continued investment in polymer recycling and RNG projects, with strong demand for recycled plastics and growth in environmental solutions, particularly for PFAS remediation. Evolving regulations on waste and recycling could provide both challenges and new opportunities for service expansion. Acquisition and integration risks: While the acquisition pipeline remains healthy, management noted that integration costs and timing of acquisitions could weigh on near-term margins. The company is also closely tracking recovery in construction and industrial end markets, which are key for volume stabilization and future growth. In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will closely watch (1) the pace of AI-driven digital tool deployment and its impact on pricing and customer retention, (2) the operational ramp-up at new Polymer Centers and renewable natural gas projects, and (3) stabilization in waste volumes as industrial and construction activity recovers. Execution on sustainability projects and integration of recent acquisitions will be additional markers for Republic Services’ progress. Republic Services currently trades at $214.56, up from $209.59 just before the earnings. Is the company at an inflection point that warrants a buy or sell? 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Interested in Republic Services, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Republic Services raised its 2026 outlook after Q2 revenue grew 4.6% and adjusted EBITDA increased 4.5%. New guidance calls for $17.2 billion–$17.3 billion in revenue, $5.525 billion–$5.55 billion in adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EPS of $7.23–$7.28. Pricing more than offset volume pressure, with core pricing on related revenue up 6.4%, while total-revenue volume declined 1.6% due largely to weaker construction activity, prior-year landfill comparisons and residential contract losses. Republic is expanding through acquisitions, technology and sustainability investments. AI-enabled pricing and routing could provide about $100 million in long-term opportunity, while the company invested nearly $1.2 billion in acquisitions and continued developing renewable natural gas, recycling and electric-truck initiatives. 3 Waste Stocks Turning AI Investments Into Growth Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) raised its full-year 2026 outlook after reporting second-quarter revenue growth of 4.6% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 4.5%, supported by pricing, acquisitions and recycling-related contributions. The company said adjusted EBITDA margin held at 32.1%, while adjusted earnings per share totaled $1.85. Chief Executive Officer Jon Vander Ark said the company generated $1.58 billion in adjusted free cash flow during the first half of the year and continued to invest in technology, automation, sustainability initiatives and acquisitions. Republic also returned more than $1 billion to shareholders during the first half through dividends and share repurchases, buying back about 1% of its outstanding shares. → Sandisk Just Delivered a Blowout Quarter—Here's Why the Stock Is Falling Trash to Treasure: 3 Waste Removal Stocks to Minimize Volatility Republic said second-quarter organic growth was led by pricing. Average yield on total revenue was 3.4%, while average yield on related revenue was 4%. Core price on total revenue was 5.3%, and core price on related revenue was 6.4%, according to Chief Financial Officer Brian DelGhiaccio. Open-market pricing rose 7.8%, while restricted pricing increased 4.1%. By business category, core price on related revenue included increases of 8.1% in small container, 6.9% in large container and 6.3% in residential. → 4 Oil and Gas ETF Plays as Prices Stay Sky-High Can RSG Stock Turn Guidance Into Gains in 2026? Volume declined 1.6% on total revenue and 1.9% on related revenue. Management said much of the decline reflected difficult comparisons with prior-year event-driven landfill volumes, which accounted for 1.3 percentage points of the total-revenue volume decline. Excluding the prior-year event impact, volume performance improved by 50 basis points from the first quarter. Landfill municipal solid waste volume increased 1.1%, but this was more than offset by a 2.2% decline in large-container volumes, which Republic attributed primarily to continued softness in construction-related activity. Residential volume fell 4.3% because of known contract losses. The company said residential declines should narrow in 2027, although it would continue to prioritize pricing and returns over retaining lower-value business. → No Hangover: Revisiting Microsoft One Week After Earnings Vander Ark said the broader recycling and waste market has experienced nearly four years of negative growth tied to construction and industrial activity, but he sees sequential improvement. Commercial construction has shown a slight rebound, residential construction remains challenged, and industrial activity has begun to gain momentum, he said. Republic’s 32.1% adjusted EBITDA margin included 90 basis points of expansion in the underlying business. That improvement was offset by a 50-basis-point impact from prior-year landfill event volumes, a 30-basis-point impact from net fuel and a 10-basis-point impact from lower recycled commodity prices. Recycling commodity prices averaged $136 per ton in the second quarter, down from $149 per ton a year earlier. Recycling processing and commodity sales nevertheless increased by $8 million as higher volumes at Republic’s Polymer Centers offset lower commodity prices. Current commodity prices are about $140 per ton, and the company used that level in its second-half outlook, implying a full-year average of roughly $135 per ton. The environmental solutions business posted a sequential revenue increase of $53 million, driven by higher event volumes and seasonal activity. Its adjusted EBITDA margin improved 100 basis points sequentially to 20.2%. Republic expects year-over-year revenue growth and margin expansion in environmental solutions during the second half. Management said the environmental solutions pipeline is broad-based across end markets and geographies, with manufacturing-related activity representing roughly half of the business. Vander Ark said the company is particularly competitive on complex projects that can use its field services, hazardous-waste landfills, solid-waste landfills, water remediation capabilities and hazardous-liquid services. Republic also said its PFAS-related business exceeded $100 million in revenue in 2025 and is on pace to exceed that amount again this year. Vander Ark said PFAS demand is being supported across the company’s hazardous landfill, water-treatment and solid-waste landfill assets. Republic raised its 2026 guidance to: Revenue of $17.2 billion to $17.3 billion. Adjusted EBITDA of $5.525 billion to $5.55 billion. Adjusted earnings per share of $7.23 to $7.28. Adjusted free cash flow of $2.54 billion to $2.575 billion. DelGhiaccio said the approximately $40 million increase at the midpoint of adjusted EBITDA guidance was driven primarily by higher recycling commodity prices, contributing about $25 million, with the remainder coming from incremental acquisitions. The revenue outlook also includes higher fuel recovery fees through July, though the company said those fees are largely offset by fuel costs, transportation surcharges and other indirect fuel-related expenses. Republic expects third-quarter margins to be relatively flat compared with the prior year, followed by expansion in the fourth quarter. The company continues to target 60 to 70 basis points of margin expansion in its underlying business for the full year. Republic is deploying artificial intelligence tools in pricing, routing and call-center operations. Vander Ark said the company’s pricing technology incorporates dozens of customer-specific variables to optimize pricing while considering customer retention. The company expects AI-enabled pricing and routing investments to support about $100 million of opportunity over time, with progress expected toward that target by the end of 2027. In sustainability initiatives, Republic began operations at two renewable natural gas projects during the second quarter and expects two more to start by year-end. Construction of a third Polymer Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is progressing, with commissioning scheduled to begin early next year. The company operated more than 250 electric collection vehicles at the end of the second quarter and expects to exit 2026 with more than 300 electric trucks. Vander Ark said vehicle battery performance and uptime have exceeded the company’s expectations. Republic invested $860 million in acquisitions during the first half and said it has since closed nearly $1.2 billion in acquisition investments, all of which is included in its updated guidance. The company expects its acquisition pipeline to support continued activity in recycling, waste and environmental solutions into 2027. Republic Services, Inc is a leading provider of non-hazardous solid waste and recycling services in the United States. The company offers a broad range of waste management solutions to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers, positioning itself as a full-service partner for everyday waste collection as well as specialized disposal needs. Republic's core operations include curbside and commercial collection, transfer and hauling, materials recovery and recycling facilities, and landfill disposal. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Republic Services Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Republic Services, Inc. RSG reported better-than-expected second-quarter 2026 results. RSG’s adjusted earnings of $1.85 per share grew 4.5% year over year and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.81 by 2.2%. Revenues increased 4.6% to $4.43 billion and beat the consensus mark of $4.36 billion by 1.5%. Republic Services, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Republic Services, Inc. Quote Pricing remained the key support, with core price on total revenues rising 5.3%. The adjusted EBITDA margin held steady at 32.1% despite a 50-basis-point headwind from prior-year event-driven landfill volumes. Average yield on total revenues was 3.4% in the quarter, while fuel recovery fees added 1.8%. Total volume reduced revenues 1.6%, reflecting difficult comparisons from landfill event volumes in the prior-year period. On related business revenues, core price rose 6.4%, including 7.8% open-market pricing and 4.1% restricted pricing. Related-business volume declined 1.9%, while average yield increased 4%. Management expects core price to be 6.2-6.4% for the remainder of the year. Underlying landfill trends provided some support. Municipal solid waste volume increased 1.1%, while special waste declined 0.3%. Excluding prior-year wildfire-related volumes, special waste increased 10.7%. Large-container volume fell 2.2% amid continued softness in construction activity. Collection revenues rose to $2.99 billion from $2.82 billion a year earlier. Small-container revenues increased to $1.37 billion, large-container revenues rose to $839 million and residential revenues advanced to $767 million. Landfill revenues, net of intercompany activity, were $517 million compared with $516 million a year ago. Environmental Solutions revenues, net, declined to $458 million from $462 million, while recycling processing and commodity sales increased to $122 million from $114 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $1.42 billion from $1.36 billion a year earlier. Recycling & Waste adjusted EBITDA rose to $1.33 billion, with the margin expanding to 33.5% from 33.1%. Environmental Solutions adjusted EBITDA declined to $93 million from $113 million, while the margin fell to 20.2% from 24.4%. Still, the segment improved sequentially, with revenues rising $53 million from the first quarter and margin increasing 100 basis points as event volumes and seasonal activity strengthened. Operating costs totaled $2.56 billion, or 57.9% of revenues, unchanged as a percentage of revenues from a year ago. Fuel costs rose to $171 million from $116 million, while transportation and subcontract costs increased to $333 million from $302 million. Cash provided by operating activities reached $2.38 billion in the first six months of 2026 from $2.13 billion a year ago. The adjusted free cash flow increased to $1.58 billion from $1.42 billion. Republic invested about $860 million in acquisitions during the first half and returned $1.04 billion to shareholders through repurchases and dividends. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 4.5 cents to 67 cents per share, marking its 23rd consecutive annual dividend increase. Management highlighted broader deployment of artificial intelligence across pricing, routing and customer service. Early pilots of AI-enabled routing are confirming expected benefits, while predictive pricing tools are designed to improve price retention and reduce customer attrition. Republic ended the quarter with more than 250 electric collection vehicles in operation and expects to surpass 300 by year-end. Two renewable natural gas projects began operations during the quarter, with two more expected by year-end. Construction of the third Polymer Center in Allentown, PA, also continues. Republic lifted its 2026 revenue outlook to $17.20-$17.30 billion from the earlier $17.05-$17.15 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is raised to $5.53-$5.55 billion from the previous $5.48-$5.53 billion. Adjusted earnings are projected at $7.23-$7.28 per share, an update from the previously provided $7.20-$7.28. The adjusted free cash flow is expected to be $2.54-$2.58 billion, a raise from the previous $2.52-$2.56 billion. The updated outlook incorporates higher fuel recovery fee revenues through July, increased recycling commodity revenues based on current prices and contributions from acquisitions completed to date. Fiserv carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Fiserv, Inc. FISV reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.84 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.89 by 2.6%. Adjusted earnings declined 26% from the year-ago quarter as profitability contracted sharply. GAAP revenues of $5.29 billion beat the consensus mark of $5.05 billion by 4.8% but decreased 4% year over year. Corpay, Inc. CPAY posted impressive second-quarter 2026 results. CPAY reported adjusted earnings per share of $7, rising 36% year over year and surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.60 by 6.1%. Revenues increased 21% to $1.33 billion, beating the consensus mark by 2.6%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Republic Services, Inc. (RSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Fiserv, Inc. (FISV) : Free Stock Analysis Report Corpay, Inc. (CPAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Revenue Growth: 4.6% increase in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA Growth: 4.5% increase, with margin maintained at 32.1%. Adjusted Earnings Per Share: $1.85 for the quarter. Adjusted Free Cash Flow: $1.58 billion on a year-to-date basis. Average Yield: 3.4% on total revenue and 4% on related revenue. Organic Volume: Decreased 1.9% on related revenue and 1.6% on total revenue. Core Price: 5.3% on total revenue and 6.4% on related revenue. Recycling Commodity Prices: $136 per ton in Q2, compared to $149 per ton in the prior year. Environmental Solutions Revenue: Increased $53 million sequentially. Environmental Solutions Adjusted EBITDA Margin: 20.2%, a sequential improvement of 100 basis points. Total Debt: $14.2 billion, with total liquidity of $2.8 billion. Leverage Ratio: Approximately 2.6 times at the end of the quarter. Full Year 2026 Guidance: Revenue expected between $17.2 billion and $17.3 billion; adjusted EBITDA between $5.525 billion and $5.550 billion; adjusted EPS between $7.23 and $7.28; adjusted free cash flow between $2.540 billion and $2.575 billion. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with GTIM. Is RSG fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 06, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Republic Services Inc (NYSE:RSG) delivered solid Q2 2026 results with revenue growth of 4.6% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 4.5%, demonstrating business model resilience. Strong pricing power was evident with core price on related revenue at 6.4%, exceeding cost inflation and driving underlying margin expansion of 90 basis points. The company raised its full-year 2026 guidance for revenue, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EPS, and adjusted free cash flow, reflecting confidence in continued momentum. Strategic investments in AI and digital tools are advancing, with early pilots confirming expected value in pricing optimization and route efficiency, supporting long-term operating leverage. Sustainability initiatives are progressing well, with increased polymer center production, two new RNG projects operational, and over 250 electric collection vehicles in operation, positioning the company for profitable growth. The acquisition pipeline remains strong, with over $1.2 billion invested in strategic acquisitions year-to-date and expectations for continued value-creating M&A activity. Customer retention remained high at over 94%, and employee turnover is at its lowest on record, indicating strong operational health and customer loyalty. Organic volume declined 1.9% on related revenue, impacted by tough prior-year comparisons from event-driven landfill volumes and continued softness in construction-related activity. Residential volume declined 4.3% due to known contract losses, with expectations of continued negative volume trends into 2027. Recycling commodity prices decreased to $136 per ton from $149 per ton in the prior year, negatively impacting revenue and margins. Adjusted EBITDA margin was flat at 32.1%, with headwinds from landfill event volumes, net fuel costs, and lower recycled commodity prices offsetting underlying improvements. Fuel recovery fee revenue increased due to higher diesel prices, but the company expects a neutral EBITDA impact, with potential timing lags in cost recovery. Environmental Solutions revenue decreased slightly year-over-year, with margin improvement but ongoing challenges in demand and pricing dynamics. The company faces potential regulatory risks related to PFAS, with proposed regulations in New York that could impact landfill operations and leachate treatment costs. Q: Can you break down the increase in the 2026 EBITDA guidance midpoint between M&A and core operations, and is flat to slightly down margins in Q3 still a good placeholder? A: Brian Delghiaccio, CFO, stated that the majority of the ~$40 million increase in EBITDA guidance is due to higher commodity prices, contributing about $25 million, with the remainder from incremental acquisitions. He noted that Q3 margins should be relatively flat year-over-year, with margin expansion expected in the fourth quarter. Q: How are you thinking about volume trends beyond 2026 as you lap the loss of residential contracts, and is low to mid-single-digit volume decline the right framework? A: Jon Vander Ark, CEO, explained that the market is sequentially improving after nearly four years of negative growth in Recycling & Waste. He stated that residential volume declines will narrow into 2027, but the company will always prioritize price over volume, even if it means slightly pruning the residential book to maintain value. Q: What are the learnings from your increased use of AI in pricing, and how much more runway is there? A: Jon Vander Ark, CEO, detailed that AI enables precise, optimized pricing by analyzing dozens of variables per customer to maximize long-term value, not just short-term gains. He emphasized this is an order-of-magnitude improvement in sophistication and that AI will favor scale players who can invest in these tools across large customer bases. Q: Are there any changes to your underlying assumptions for the core solid waste business in the revised 2026 guidance, specifically around volume or cost inflation? A: Brian Delghiaccio, CFO, confirmed that price, volume, and inflationary costs are in line with initial expectations. The guidance update was driven by higher fuel recovery fees, incremental acquisitions (now contributing 100 basis points to top-line growth), and an increase in commodity price assumptions from $115 to $135 per ton. Q: Can you provide more color on the Environmental Solutions performance and the potential magnitude of growth in the second half of the year? A: Brian Delghiaccio, CFO, noted that Environmental Solutions saw an increase in emergency response jobs, partially offset by lower landfill tons. The business showed sequential improvement each month in Q2, and the company projects top-line growth and margin expansion in the second half, with a sequential margin improvement of 100 basis points to 20.2% in Q2. Q: What is the current run rate of the PFAS business, and what opportunities are you seeing in disposal, wastewater treatment, and remediation? A: Jon Vander Ark, CEO, stated that the PFAS business exceeded $100 million last year and is well ahead of that pace this year. The company is leveraging its full suite of assets, including hazardous and solid waste landfills and water treatment capabilities, and expects to comfortably beat its numbers again next year as the pipeline builds. Q: How should we think about the margin opportunity for Environmental Solutions on a multiyear basis, and is the high-20s margin target still feasible? A: Jon Vander Ark, CEO, affirmed that the long-term aspiration for high-20s margins hasn't changed. He expects Environmental Solutions to expand margins at a faster pace than the enterprise's 30-50 basis points annual target, though the exact pace will depend on the competitive and demand environment, particularly industrial activity. Q: Has your estimate for AI-driven benefits changed from the $100 million mentioned previously, and could 2027 see accelerated margin expansion? A: Jon Vander Ark, CEO, confirmed that learnings in pricing and routing validate the $100 million opportunity, but he doesn't expect to be ahead of the 30-50 basis points margin expansion in 2027. The pace of rollout will be deliberate to ensure durable changes, particularly in routing where driver adoption takes time. Q: Can you clarify the fuel recovery fee assumptions in the second half, and should we expect a net margin uplift if diesel prices stay stable? A: Brian Delghiaccio, CFO, explained that the guidance only includes fuel recovery fees through July, with August through year-end assuming diesel costs return to just below $4 per gallon. He noted that the company aims for a relatively neutral EBITDA impact from diesel price changes, considering other indirect costs like transportation surcharges and landfill liner CapEx. Q: What is the approximate annual revenue run rate of acquisitions completed in the first and second quarters, and does that reach the $1.2 billion target? A: Brian Delghiaccio, CFO, stated that acquisitions completed in Q1 contributed 70 basis points to top-line growth, with Q2 adding another 30 basis points, bringing the total to about $1 billion. He clarified that one recent deal was a buyout of a 50% ownership interest, which adds incremental EBITDA but no incremental revenue since it was already consolidated. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Republic Services (RSG) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.85 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.81 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.77 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +2.21%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this waste management company would post earnings of $1.64 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.7, delivering a surprise of +3.66%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. Republic Services, which belongs to the Zacks Waste Removal Services industry, posted revenues of $4.43 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.55%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $4.24 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Republic Services shares have lost about 2.3% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 12.8%. While Republic Services has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Republic Services was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.95 on $4.38 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $7.29 on $17.2 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Waste Removal Services is currently in the bottom 31% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Another stock from the same industry, TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. (TOMZ), has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.11 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +38.9%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 16.7% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc.'s revenues are expected to be $1.84 million, up 78.6% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Republic Services, Inc. (RSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. (TOMZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Reported Earnings Per Share of $1.84 and Adjusted Earnings Per Share of $1.85 Generated Year-to-Date Cash Flow from Operations of $2.38 Billion and Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $1.58 Billion Invested Approximately $860 Million in Value-Creating Acquisitions During the First-Half of 2026 Increased Full-Year 2026 Financial Guidance Increased Quarterly Dividend by Approximately 7 Percent PHOENIX, Aug. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE: RSG) today reported net income of $566 million, or $1.84 per diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 2026, versus $550 million, or $1.75 per diluted share, for the comparable 2025 period. Excluding certain expenses and other items, on an adjusted basis, net income for the three months ended June 30, 2026, was $569 million, or $1.85 per diluted share, versus $556 million, or $1.77 per diluted share, for the comparable 2025 period. "Our second quarter results reflect the strength and resilience of our business model, as we continue to execute our strategy and deliver differentiated value for our customers," said Jon Vander Ark, president and chief executive officer. "Pricing in excess of cost inflation and our disciplined cost management supported accelerated growth in revenue and EBITDA. Given our strong operating performance and momentum across the business, we are increasing our full-year financial guidance." Second-Quarter and Year-to-Date 2026 Highlights: Total revenue growth of 4.6 percent includes 3.7 percent organic growth from our recycling and waste business, 0.2 percent decline from our environmental solutions business, and 1.1 percent growth from acquisitions. Core price on total revenue increased revenue by 5.3 percent. Core price on related business revenue increased revenue by 6.4 percent, which consisted of 7.8 percent in the open market and 4.1 percent in the restricted portion of the business. Revenue growth from average yield on total revenue was 3.4 percent, and volume decreased revenue by 1.6 percent. Revenue growth from average yield on related business revenue was 4.0 percent, and volume decreased related business revenue by 1.9 percent. Net income was $566 million, or a margin of 12.8 percent. EPS was $1.84 per share, an increase of 5.1 percent over the prior year. Adjusted EPS, a non-GAAP measure, was $1.85 per share, an increase of 4.5 percent over the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, was $1.42 billion. Adjusted EBITDA margin, a non-GAAP measure, was 32.1 percent of revenue, which remained consistent with the prior year. The Company overcame 50 basis points of margin headwind from event driven landfill volumes received in the prior year. Year-to-date cash invested in acquisitions was $860 million. Year-to-date cash returned to shareholders was $1.04 billion, which included $651 million of share repurchases and $385 million of dividends paid. The Company's average recycled commodity price per ton sold at its recycling centers during the second quarter was $136. This represents a decrease of $13 per ton over the prior year. The Company completed and commenced operations on two renewable natural gas projects during the quarter. Republic was recognized by several leading organizations during the quarter, including: Updated Full-Year 2026 Financial Guidance Republic's financial guidance is based on current economic conditions and does not assume any significant changes in the overall economy for the remainder of 2026. Please refer to the Reconciliation of Full-Year 2026 Financial Guidance section of this document for detail relating to the computation of non-GAAP measures as well as the Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements section of this document. The Company provided additional details as follows: Revenue: Increased original guidance to a range of $17.200 billion to $17.300 billion Adjusted EBITDA: Increased original guidance to a range of $5.525 billion to $5.550 billion Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share: Updated original guidance to a range of $7.23 to $7.28 per share Adjusted Free Cash Flow: Increased original guidance to a range of $2.540 billion to $2.575 billion Company Increases Quarterly Dividend Republic continues to increase cash returns to shareholders, and previously announced that its Board of Directors approved a 4.5-cent increase in the quarterly dividend. The quarterly dividend of $0.670 per share for shareholders of record on October 2, 2026, will be paid on October 15, 2026. Presentation of Certain Performance Metrics and Non-GAAP Measures Adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted net income - Republic, adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted tax impact, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA by business type, adjusted EBITDA margin by business type and adjusted free cash flow are described in the Performance Metrics and Reconciliations of Certain Non-GAAP Measures section of this document. About Republic Services Republic Services, Inc. is a leader in the environmental services industry. Through its subsidiaries, the Company provides customers with the most complete set of products and services, including recycling, solid waste, special waste, hazardous waste and field services. Republic's industry-leading commitments to advance circularity and support decarbonization are helping deliver on its vision to partner with customers to create a more sustainable world. For more information, please visit RepublicServices.com. You should read the following information in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto appearing in our Annual Report on Form 10-K as of and for the year ended December 31, 2025. All amounts below are in millions and as a percentage of our revenue, except per share data. REVENUEThe following table reflects our total revenue by line of business for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025: The following table reflects changes in components of our revenue, as a percentage of total revenue, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025: Average yield is defined as revenue growth from the change in average price per unit of service, expressed as a percentage. Core price is defined as price increases to our customers and fees, excluding fuel recovery fees, net of price decreases to retain customers. We also measure changes in core price, average yield and volume as a percentage of related-business revenue, defined as total revenue excluding recycled commodities, fuel recovery fees and environmental solutions revenue, to determine the effectiveness of our pricing and organic growth strategies. The following table reflects core price, average yield and volume as a percentage of related-business revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025: The following table reflects changes in average yield and volume, as a percentage of related business revenue by line of business, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025: 5.1 %(3.2) %4.5 %(4.7) %5.3 %(3.1) %Small-container5.0 %(0.2) %6.0 %(0.9) %4.8 %(0.3) %6.1 %(1.1) %Large-container3.8 %(2.2) %5.5 %(3.4) %4.2 %(2.4) %5.6 %(3.3) %Landfill:Municipal solid waste5.6 %1.1 %5.5 %(2.1) %5.3 %1.2 %6.1 %(2.8) %Construction and demolition waste3.3 %(37.4) %3.9 %47.3 %4.0 %(29.9) %4.0 %30.9 %Special waste— %(0.3) %— %22.4 %— %4.3 %— %14.5 % COST OF OPERATIONS The following table summarizes the major components of our cost of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 (in millions of dollars and as a percentage of revenue): These cost categories may change from time to time and may not be comparable to similarly titled categories used by other companies. As such, you should take care when comparing our cost of operations by cost component to that of other companies and of ours for prior periods. SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES The following table summarizes our selling, general and administrative expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 (in millions of dollars and as a percentage of revenue): These cost categories may change from time to time and may not be comparable to similarly titled categories used by other companies. As such, you should take care when comparing our selling, general and administrative expenses by cost component to those of other companies and of ours for prior periods. PERFORMANCE METRICS AND RECONCILIATIONS OF CERTAIN NON-GAAP MEASURES The following tables calculate EBITDA, EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin by business type, adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted tax impact, adjusted net income - Republic, adjusted diluted earnings per share, and adjusted free cash flow, which are not measures determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP), for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025. Our definitions of the foregoing non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin The following table calculates adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 (in millions of dollars and as a percentage of revenue): Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin by Business Type The following table summarizes revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin by business type for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 (in millions of dollars and adjusted EBITDA margin as a percentage of revenue): The amounts shown for Recycling & Waste represent the sum of our Group 1 and Group 2 reportable segments, and Environmental Solutions represents our Group 3 reportable segment. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share The following table calculates adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted tax impact, adjusted net income - Republic, and adjusted diluted earnings per share for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 (in millions of dollars except per share data): We believe that presenting EBITDA and EBITDA margin is useful to investors because they provide important information concerning our operating performance exclusive of certain non-cash and other costs. EBITDA and EBITDA margin demonstrate our ability to execute our financial strategy, which includes reinvesting in existing capital assets to ensure a high level of customer service, investing in capital assets to facilitate growth in our customer base and services provided, maintaining our investment grade credit ratings and minimizing debt, paying cash dividends, repurchasing our common stock, and maintaining and improving our market position through business optimization. Although depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion are considered operating costs in accordance with U.S. GAAP, they represent the allocation of non-cash costs generally associated with long-lived assets acquired or constructed in prior years. We believe that presenting adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA margin by business type, adjusted pre-tax income, adjusted tax impact, adjusted net income - Republic, and adjusted diluted earnings per share provide an understanding of operational activities before the financial impact of certain items. We use these measures, and believe investors will find them helpful, in understanding the ongoing performance of our operations separate from items that have a disproportionate impact on our results for a particular period. We have incurred comparable charges, costs and recoveries in prior periods, and similar types of adjustments can reasonably be expected to be recorded in future periods. Restructuring charges. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2026, we incurred restructuring charges of $4 million and $6 million, respectively, and during the three and six months ended June 30, 2025, we incurred restructuring charges of $6 million and $9 million, respectively. The charges in these periods related primarily to the design and implementation of our new accounts receivable system. (Gain) loss on business divestitures and impairments, net. During the six months ended June 30, 2026, we recorded a net gain on business divestitures and impairments of $1 million. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2025, we recorded a loss on business divestitures and impairments of $3 million and $1 million, respectively. Adjusted Free Cash Flow The following table calculates our adjusted free cash flow, which is not a measure determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, for the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 (in millions of dollars): We believe that presenting adjusted free cash flow provides useful information regarding our recurring cash provided by operating activities after certain expenditures or recoveries. It also demonstrates our ability to execute our financial strategy and is a key metric we use to determine compensation. The presentation of adjusted free cash flow has material limitations. Adjusted free cash flow does not represent our cash flow available for discretionary payments because it excludes certain payments that are required or to which we have committed, such as debt service requirements and dividend payments. Purchases of property and equipment as reflected on our consolidated statements of cash flows represent amounts paid during the period for such expenditures. A reconciliation of property and equipment expenditures reflected on our consolidated statements of cash flows to property and equipment received during the period follows for the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 (in millions of dollars): The adjustments noted above do not affect our net change in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents as reflected in our consolidated statements of cash flows. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE As of June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, accounts receivable were $2,029 million and $1,897 million, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $59 million and $66 million, respectively, resulting in days sales outstanding of 41.7, or 31.8 days net of deferred revenue, compared to 41.8, or 30.8 days net of deferred revenue, respectively. CASH DIVIDENDS In April 2026, we paid a cash dividend of $192 million to shareholders of record as of April 2, 2026. As of June 30, 2026, we recorded a quarterly dividend payable of $191 million to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 2, 2026, which was paid on July 15, 2026. SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM During the three months ended June 30, 2026, we repurchased 1.6 million shares of our common stock for $337 million at a weighted average cost per share of $206.70. As of June 30, 2026, the remaining authorized purchase capacity under our October 2023 repurchase program was approximately $1.0 billion. RECONCILIATION OF FULL-YEAR 2026 FINANCIAL GUIDANCE Adjusted EBITDA The following is a summary of our anticipated adjusted EBITDA, which is not a measure determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, for the year ending December 31, 2026 (in millions of dollars): We believe that presenting adjusted EBITDA provides an understanding of operational activities before the financial impact of certain items. We use this measure, and believe investors will find it helpful, in understanding the ongoing performance of our operations separate from items that have a disproportionate impact on our results for a particular period. We have incurred comparable charges, costs and recoveries in prior periods, and similar types of adjustments can reasonably be expected to be recorded in future periods. Our definition of adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share The following is a summary of anticipated adjusted diluted earnings per share, which is not a measure determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, for the year ending December 31, 2026: We believe that presenting adjusted diluted earnings per share provides an understanding of operational activities before the financial impact of certain items. We use this measure, and believe investors will find it helpful, in understanding the ongoing performance of our operations separate from items that have a disproportionate impact on our results for a particular period. We have incurred comparable charges, costs and recoveries in prior periods, and similar types of adjustments can reasonably be expected to be recorded in future periods. Our definition of adjusted diluted earnings per share may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Adjusted Free Cash Flow Our anticipated adjusted free cash flow, which is not a measure determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, for the year ending December 31, 2026, is calculated as follows (in millions of dollars): We believe that presenting adjusted free cash flow provides useful information regarding our recurring cash provided by operating activities after certain expenditures or recoveries. It also demonstrates our ability to execute our financial strategy and is a key metric we use to determine compensation. The presentation of adjusted free cash flow has material limitations. Adjusted free cash flow does not represent our cash flow available for discretionary payments because it excludes certain payments that are required or to which we have committed, such as debt service requirements and dividend payments. Our definition of adjusted free cash flow may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Our financial guidance is based on current economic conditions and does not assume any significant changes in the overall economy for the remainder of 2026. INFORMATION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains certain forward-looking information about us that is intended to be covered by the safe harbor for "forward-looking statements" provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Words such as "guidance," "expect," "will," "may," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "project," "intend," "should," "can," "likely," "could," "outlook" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include information about our plans, strategies, and expectations of future financial performance and prospects. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, such expectations may not prove to be correct. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements are the impacts of the overall global economy and changing interest rates, impacts from international trade restrictions and tariffs, our ability to effectively integrate and manage companies we acquire, and to realize the anticipated benefits of any such acquisitions, the impact of prolonged work stoppages or other labor disruptions, the amount of the financial contribution of our sustainability initiatives, acts of war, riots or terrorism, and the impact of these acts on economic, financial and social conditions in the United States and Canada, as well as our dependence on large, long-term collection, transfer and disposal contracts. More information on factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated is included from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, particularly under Part I, Item 1A – Risk Factors. Additionally, new risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all such risk factors, or to assess the impact such risk factors might have on our business. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/republic-services-inc-reports-second-quarter-2026-results-302845408.html