Waste Connections shares jump on Q1 beat, margin expansion, and upbeat 2026 commentary

Waste Connections (WCN) is up 6.9% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears tied to the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings release, which showed better-than-expected revenue, adjusted profitability, and margin expansion. Management also pointed to potential upside drivers for the rest of 2026, alongside ongoing share repurchases and an active acquisition pipeline.

Details:

The company reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.371 billion, up 6.4% year over year.

Adjusted EBITDA was $769.5 million and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 32.5% (up 50 basis points year over year).

Adjusted net income was $1.23 per diluted share, versus $1.13 per diluted share in the prior-year quarter.

Management highlighted year-to-date share repurchases of over $360 million (about 1% of shares outstanding) and reiterated expectations for significant acquisition activity.

Sources:

Waste Connections Investor Relations, Investing.com, MarketBeat

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$WCN Insider Trading Activity

$WCN insiders have traded $WCN stock on the open market 3 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 3 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $WCN stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

EDWARD E GUILLET sold 9,000 shares for an estimated $1,569,927
III ROBERT NIELSEN (SR VP Operations) sold 2,000 shares for an estimated $335,180
DEREK TAN (SR VP Chief Accounting Officer) sold 1,173 shares for an estimated $200,618

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$WCN Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 331 institutional investors add shares of $WCN stock to their portfolio, and 366 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

FIL LTD removed 2,550,222 shares (-75.3%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $447,206,929
CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS added 1,420,921 shares (+28.2%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $249,172,706
1832 ASSET MANAGEMENT L.P. added 1,353,322 shares (+31.5%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $237,318,545
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 1,289,042 shares (+37.1%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $226,046,405
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA added 1,258,206 shares (+11.7%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $220,639,004
PICTET ASSET MANAGEMENT HOLDING SA removed 1,182,944 shares (-33.7%) from their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $192,157,423
MACQUARIE GROUP LTD removed 1,148,661 shares (-98.7%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $201,429,192

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$WCN Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $WCN in the last several months. We have seen 2 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Goldman Sachs issued a "Buy" rating on 11/24/2025
Wells Fargo issued a "Overweight" rating on 11/14/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $WCN, check out Quiver Quantitative's $WCN forecast page.

$WCN Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $WCN recently. We have seen 13 analysts offer price targets for $WCN in the last 6 months, with a median target of $202.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Tami Zakaria from JP Morgan set a target price of $195.0 on 04/10/2026
Brad Hewitt from Wolfe Research set a target price of $199.0 on 03/13/2026
Sabahat Khan from RBC Capital set a target price of $210.0 on 02/17/2026
William Grippin from Barclays set a target price of $240.0 on 02/13/2026
Shlomo Rosenbaum from Stifel set a target price of $213.0 on 02/13/2026
James Schumm from TD Cowen set a target price of $200.0 on 02/13/2026
Konark Gupta from Scotiabank set a target price of $197.0 on 02/13/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.