Waste Management (WM) Stock Forecast and Price Target (2026)
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
25 analysts covering Waste Management (WM) carry an average price target of $257.92 as of July 2026, +7.1% against the $240.84 price at the time of the pull. The published targets run from $220.00 to $285.00, a spread of 25% of the average, so the disagreement is narrow. The rating split is 19 buy, 9 hold, 0 sell. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
WM analyst price targets
WM analyst data as of July 2026, sourced from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a forecast Walnut endorses, and targets are typically set on a 12-month view. Verify current figures before deciding.
The average target of $257.92 sits roughly in line with the $240.84 price, +7.1%. The median is $263.00, and where the two differ the median is the steadier read, because one unusually high or low target cannot drag it.
What the WM target range actually tells you
The published targets span $220.00 to $285.00. That gap is 25% of the average target, which counts as narrow disagreement. A spread that tight means the analysts broadly agree on the model, so the consensus is a reasonably stable read rather than an average of wildly different views.
The useful move is to read the high target as one bull scenario and the low target as one bear scenario, then ask which set of assumptions you find more plausible. Both cases are worked through on the WM is it a buy page.
Recent analyst actions on WM
| Firm | Action | Target | Prior | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotiabank | Raised (Sector Perform) | $260.00 | $250.00 | July 16, 2026 |
| Citigroup | Raised (Buy) | $269.00 | $263.00 | July 10, 2026 |
| Oppenheimer | Lowered (Outperform) | $263.00 | $264.00 | July 8, 2026 |
| TD Cowen | Raised (Buy) | $275.00 | $270.00 | April 30, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Raised (Sector Perform) | $240.00 | $235.00 | April 30, 2026 |
| Barclays | Raised (Overweight) | $270.00 | $266.00 | April 30, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Lowered (Overweight) | $268.00 | $273.00 | April 30, 2026 |
| Baird | Raised (Outperform) | $260.00 | $248.00 | April 16, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Raised (Overweight) | $270.00 | $265.00 | April 10, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Raised (Overweight) | $273.00 | $250.00 | March 18, 2026 |
| Wolfe Research | Initiated (Peer Perform) | - | - | March 13, 2026 |
The most recent published rating actions on WM within the last six months, from Yahoo Finance. Each row is dated because a target only means something alongside the date it was set. Walnut is not an investment adviser and does not endorse any of these views.
In the last six months there have been 8 raises and 2 cuts among these actions. The direction of revisions is often more telling than the level, because it shows which way informed opinion is moving.
How analysts rate WM
Of the analysts with a published rating, 19 say buy, 9 say hold, and 0 say sell, so 68% carry a buy. That mix has been broadly steady over the last three months.
Read the distribution rather than the label. Sell ratings are rare across the entire market for structural reasons, so a stock with no sell ratings is unremarkable, while even a handful of them is worth understanding.
Why a WM price target is not a prediction
- It is a 12-month model output. An analyst picks assumptions for revenue, margin, and a multiple, and the target falls out of the arithmetic. Change one assumption and the target moves a lot.
- The distribution is skewed. Sell-side coverage carries far more buy ratings than sell ratings across the whole market, so the average is not a balanced vote.
- Targets follow price as often as they lead it. Revisions frequently arrive after a move, not before, which is why a rising target is weak evidence on its own.
- Nobody is scored on it. There is no cost to a target that never gets close, so treat accuracy as unverified unless you check the firm's record yourself.
What could move WM from here
In short: the drivers cited most often are Pricing power and recurring revenue, Sustainability, RNG, and recycling growth, Stericycle integration and healthcare waste. The risk cited most often against it is wM is defensive but not risk-free.
Both sides are worked through properly, with the high and low targets used as the bull and bear anchors, on the WM is it a buy page. This page deliberately stops at the numbers.
Investing in Waste Management with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how WM fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the price target for Waste Management (WM)?
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The average analyst price target for WM is $257.92 as of July 2026, across 25 analysts. That is +7.1% against the $240.84 price at the time of the data pull, so the consensus sits roughly in line with where the stock trades. The median target, which is less distorted by one extreme view, is $263.00. Targets move constantly; verify the current figure before relying on it.
How high could WM go?
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The highest published target is $285.00, which is +18.3% against the $240.84 price. That is one analyst's most optimistic case, not a ceiling and not a forecast. The lowest is $220.00. The gap between them is the honest answer to this question: analysts who all follow Waste Management closely disagree by 25% of the average target, so treat any single number as one scenario.
How many analysts cover WM?
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25 analysts publish estimates on WM as of July 2026. Of those with a published rating, 19 say buy, 9 hold, and 0 sell, so 68% carry a buy rating. More coverage usually means the consensus is better informed, though it also means the obvious points are already in the price.
Are analyst price targets for WM accurate?
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Treat them as informed opinion, not measurement. Two things are worth knowing. Sell-side ratings skew positive across the market, and WM is no exception at 68% buy ratings, so the distribution is not a balanced vote. And targets tend to follow the share price at least as often as they lead it, getting raised after a stock has already run. They are most useful as a read on what the informed consensus expects, and least useful as a prediction of where the price lands.
Has the WM price target been raised or cut recently?
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In the last six months there have been 8 raises and 2 cuts among the published actions on WM. The most recent was Scotiabank, which raised its target to $260.00 from $250.00 on July 16, 2026. The direction of revisions often tells you more than the level, because it shows which way the informed view is moving.
Will WM go up in 2026?
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Nobody knows, including the analysts publishing targets. What the numbers on this page tell you is where informed opinion currently sits and how much it disagrees with itself, which is genuinely useful and completely different from a prediction. The risk most often cited against Waste Management: WM is defensive but not risk-free. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice, and does not publish price targets of its own. The analyst figures on this page come from a July 2026 data pull of published third-party research, are approximate, and change constantly. Verify current figures with your broker before acting on them.