Waste Connections Q3 profit rises 25%, shares jump 9.5%

Shares of Waste Connections Inc. (TSX:WCN) closed up 9.52 per cent at $258.95 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, after the garbage and recycling company reported third-quarter net income of US$359.2 million, up 25 per cent from a year earlier, and raised its full-year 2026 outlook for a second time.

The stock gained $22.50 on the TSX, according to TMX Money and CNBC market data, while its New York Stock Exchange shares rose US$16.60, or 9.86 per cent, to US$184.88. The company released the results after markets closed on Wednesday in a news release on its investor relations website. All financial figures are in U.S. dollars and are reported under U.S. GAAP unless they are labelled adjusted.

Source: Waste Connections third-quarter 2026 news release, Oct. 21, 2026.

Revenue rose about 7.3 per cent to US$2.638 billion from US$2.458 billion. Diluted earnings were US$1.43 a share, compared with US$1.11 a year earlier, when results included US$63.5 million in charges, mainly from the write-down of contracts and a non-operating oilfield waste facility permit, the company said. Adjusted net income was US$398.9 million, or US$1.58 a share, up from US$372.0 million, or US$1.44 a share.

“Another top to bottom beat in the period was driven by continued strength in operational execution along with improving trends in landfill activity and commodity-driven revenue,” president and chief executive Ronald J. Mittelstaedt said in the release. The company said its solid waste unit volumes improved by 70 basis points from the previous quarter, led by landfill volumes, and that it absorbed a late-quarter surge in diesel prices.

The company, which is based in The Woodlands, Texas, and serves about nine million customers in 46 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces, now expects 2026 revenue of about US$10.09 billion, net income of about US$1.18 billion and adjusted EBITDA of about US$3.345 billion. It expects capital spending of about US$1.25 billion and adjusted free cash flow of US$1.40 billion to US$1.45 billion. The outlook excludes acquisitions that have not yet closed.

Waste Connections also raised its quarterly dividend by 10 per cent to US$0.385 a share from US$0.35, which the company called its 16th straight double-digit annual increase. The dividend will be paid on Nov. 19, 2026, to shareholders of record on Nov. 5; shareholders who hold their shares through Canadian brokers will be paid in Canadian dollars at the Bank of Canada’s daily average exchange rate on Nov. 5, according to a separate release. The company said it has bought back more than US$1 billion of its shares so far this year, about 2.5 per cent of those outstanding, and has closed acquisitions with about US$130 million in annualized revenue.

The jump made Waste Connections one of the strongest large stocks on a day when the S&P/TSX composite index fell 351.54 points as gold miners and technology shares slid. It had been up more than 9 per cent at midday, when trucking firm Mullen Group was also rising on a record third-quarter profit.

Related: TSX closes down 351 points as gold and tech stocks slide

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