The stock market closed slightly lower on Wednesday. Investors reacted to July inflation, particularly the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, coming in at 3.7% year over year, above the Fed’s 2% target. This pushed Treasury yields higher and increased concern about future Fed policy.
Overall, S&P 500 was flat at 7,676, while Nasdaq fell 0.1% to 26,130.
Chart of the Day
Here is the one-year chart of Waste Management (WM) as of August 12, 2026, when the stock was at $226.
During the past year, Waste Management’s profit growth has been relatively modest, while its rich P/E weighed on the stock’s performance. Over the past four quarters, profit growth has averaged 7%, below its Estimated Long-Term Growth Rate of 11%.
Last quarter, profits increased 5% while revenue grew 4%, driven primarily by strong pricing in the core Collection & Disposal business. Core pricing increased 6%, while Collection & Disposal yield was 4%. Volumes in the Collection & Disposal business declined 2%, mainly due to difficult comparisons with the prior-year period, which benefited from wildfire cleanup activity.
2026 looks like a back-and-forth year for this waste disposal stock.
WM is part of the Conservative Growth Portfolio. It’s a buy-and-hold Blue Chip stock.
