CWST vs WCN
Casella Waste Systems Inc. and Waste Connections, Inc., side by side — 10 fiscal years reported in USD, drawn from SEC filings.
Most recent reported year
| Metric | CWST | WCN |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.8B | $9.5B |
| Net income | $7.9M | $1.1B |
| Gross margin | 33.8% | 42.4% |
| Net margin | 0.4% | 11.4% |
| Return on equity | 0.5% | 13.4% |
| Diluted EPS | $0.12 | $4.17 |
| Dividend / share | · | $1.29 |
| Payout ratio | · | 31.0% |
| Free cash flow | $84.7M | $1.2B |
| Equity | $1.6B | $8.2B |
| Net debt / equity | 0.64× | 1.06× |
| Current ratio | 1.26× | 0.62× |
| Revenue CAGR 5y | 18.9% | 11.7% |
| Profit CAGR 5y | −38.7% | 39.4% |
WCN bills 5.2× the revenue of CWST, and keeps more of each dollar of revenue as profit (11.4% against 0.4%).
The stronger figure of the pair is set in bold. That is arithmetic, not a recommendation — this page does not pick a winner. "·" marks a figure not available in our data.
10 years side by side
| Fiscal year | CWST | WCN |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $1.8B | $9.5B |
| FY2024 | $1.6B | $8.9B |
| FY2023 | $1.3B | $8.0B |
| FY2022 | $1.1B | $7.2B |
| FY2021 | $889.2M | $6.2B |
| FY2020 | $774.6M | $5.4B |
| FY2019 | $743.3M | $5.4B |
| FY2018 | $660.7M | $4.9B |
| FY2017 | $599.3M | $4.6B |
| FY2016 | $565.0M | $3.4B |
Bottom line
| Fiscal year | CWST | WCN |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $7.9M | $1.1B |
| FY2024 | $13.5M | $617.6M |
| FY2023 | $25.4M | $762.8M |
| FY2022 | $53.1M | $835.7M |
| FY2021 | $41.1M | $618.0M |
| FY2020 | $91.1M | $204.7M |
| FY2019 | $31.7M | $566.8M |
| FY2018 | $6.4M | $546.9M |
| FY2017 | $-21.8M | $576.8M |
| FY2016 | $-6.8M | $246.5M |
15 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −$7,630,074,000 | WCN |
| FY2024 | −$7,362,308,000 | WCN |
| FY2023 | −$6,757,409,000 | WCN |
| FY2022 | −$6,126,770,000 | WCN |
| FY2021 | −$5,262,150,000 | WCN |
| FY2020 | −$4,671,406,000 | WCN |
| FY2019 | −$4,645,389,000 | WCN |
| FY2018 | −$4,262,281,000 | WCN |
| FY2017 | −$4,031,179,000 | WCN |
| FY2016 | −$2,810,833,000 | WCN |
| FY2015 | −$1,570,787,000 | WCN |
| FY2013 | −$1,528,406,000 | WCN |
| FY2012 | −$1,441,406,000 | WCN |
| FY2011 | −$1,372,146,000 | WCN |
| FY2010 | −$975,080,000 | WCN |
WCN has reported the higher revenue in every one of these 15 fiscal years. The gap has widened since the earliest year compared.
15 of 17 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
15 fiscal years
| Fiscal year | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | −10.9 pp | WCN |
| FY2024 | −6.0 pp | WCN |
| FY2023 | −7.5 pp | WCN |
| FY2022 | −6.7 pp | WCN |
| FY2021 | −5.4 pp | WCN |
| FY2020 | +8.0 pp | CWST |
| FY2019 | −6.3 pp | WCN |
| FY2018 | −10.1 pp | WCN |
| FY2017 | −16.1 pp | WCN |
| FY2016 | −8.5 pp | WCN |
| FY2015 | +2.3 pp | CWST |
| FY2013 | −11.3 pp | WCN |
| FY2012 | −16.9 pp | WCN |
| FY2011 | −5.9 pp | WCN |
| FY2010 | +2.7 pp | CWST |
The higher net margin has changed hands between CWST and WCN over this period.
15 of 17 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
CWST's net margin has been more volatile than WCN's over the 15 comparable fiscal years — 7.1 percentage points of standard deviation against 6.2.
15 of 17 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in net margin changed hands between CWST and WCN over these 15 fiscal years — CWST led in 3 and WCN in 12.
15 of 17 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Standard deviation, each side
CWST's return on equity has been more volatile than WCN's over the 9 comparable fiscal years — 132.5 percentage points of standard deviation against 7.5.
9 of 16 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.
Year by year
The lead in return on equity changed hands between CWST and WCN over these 9 fiscal years — CWST led in 3 and WCN in 6.
9 of 16 comparable fiscal years — a year missing data on either side is not counted.