Sifting through countless of stocks in the Commercial Services & Supplies industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc.

Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and internationally. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, recovery facility, or disposal site; owns and operates transfer stations; and owns, develops, and operates landfill gas-to-energy facilities that produce renewable electricity and renewable natural gas. It also operates materials processing and commodities recycling services, including cardboard, paper, glass, metals, plastics, construction and demolition materials, and other recycling commodities are recovered for resale or redirected for other purposes; recycling brokerage services, such as managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and other strategic business solutions. In addition, the company collects recyclable food and yard waste, as well as markets and sells mulch, compost, soil amendments, and renewable energy; offers remediation and construction, and industrial waste services; and manages and markets fly ash. Further, it provides Regulated Waste and Compliance Services (RWCS), which offers compliance programs, as well as collection, processing, and disposal of regulated and specialized waste, including medical, pharmaceutical, and hazardous waste; and Secure Information Destruction (SID) services that includes the collection of personal and confidential information for secure destruction and recycling of sorted office paper. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Clean Harbors, Inc. provides environmental and industrial services in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: Environmental Services and Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions. The Environmental Services segment collects, transports, treats, and disposes hazardous and non-hazardous waste, such as resource recovery, physical treatment, incineration, landfill disposal, wastewater treatment, lab chemicals disposal, and explosives management services; and offers CleanPack services, including collection, identification, categorization, specialized packaging, transportation, and disposal of laboratory chemicals and household hazardous waste. This segment also provides industrial maintenance and specialty industrial services; and utilizes specialty equipment and resources that performs field services. The Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions segment provides containerized waste, parts-washer, and vacuum services for automobile repair shops, car and truck dealers, metal fabricators, machine manufacturers, fleet maintenance shops, and other automotive, industrial, and retail customers; collects and transports for hazardous and non-hazardous containerized waste for recycling or disposal; machine cleaning and maintenance, and disposal and replenishment of clean solvent or aqueous fluids; and vacuum services to remove solids, residual oily water, and sludge and other fluids from customers' oil/water separators, sumps, and collection tanks, as well as removes and collects waste fluids found at large and small industrial locations, including metal fabricators, auto maintenance providers, and general manufacturers. This segment also manufactures, formulates, and packages lubricants and other products. Clean Harbors, Inc. was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Norwell, Massachusetts.

Latest Commercial Services & Supplies and Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors, Inc. Stock News

As of January 15, 2026, Waste Management, Inc. had a $88.6 billion market capitalization, compared to the Commercial Services & Supplies median of $662.7 million. Waste Management, Inc.’s stock is up 0.1% in 2026, up 0.9% in the previous five trading days and up 6.13% in the past year.

Currently, Waste Management, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 34.6. Waste Management, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $24.8 billion with a 10.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 14.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $7.505 per share for the current fiscal year. Waste Management, Inc. currently has a 1.5% dividend yield.

As of January 15, 2026, Clean Harbors, Inc. had a $14.3 billion market cap, putting it in the 82nd percentile of all stocks. Clean Harbors, Inc.’s stock is up 13.9% in 2026, up 7.9% in the previous five trading days and up 13.67% in the past year.

Currently, Clean Harbors, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 37.1. Clean Harbors, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $6.0 billion with a 6.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 1.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $7.254 per share for the current fiscal year. Clean Harbors, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

Learn more about A+ Investor here!

Sign Up to Receive a Free Special Report Showing How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Smarter Investment Decisions

Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Waste Management, Inc.	WM	A
Clean Harbors, Inc.	CLH	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Waste Management, Inc. has a Growth Score of 97, which is Very Strong. Clean Harbors, Inc. has a Growth Score of 87, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Growth Grade breakdown above, both Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc. have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s upward growth, further research should be conducted into both companies’ other financial metrics before deciding whether to invest.

Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Waste Management, Inc.	WM	C
Clean Harbors, Inc.	CLH	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Waste Management, Inc. has a Quality Score of 58, which is Average. Clean Harbors, Inc. has a Quality Score of 83, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Clean Harbors, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Clean Harbors, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Waste Management, Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Clean Harbors, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Waste Management, Inc.	WM	C
Clean Harbors, Inc.	CLH	D

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Waste Management, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 43, which is Neutral. Clean Harbors, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 34, which is Negative.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors or Inc. has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Other Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc. Grades

In addition to Growth, Quality and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Waste Management, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 97, Estimate Revisions Score of 43 and Quality Score of 58.

Clean Harbors, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 87, Estimate Revisions Score of 34 and Quality Score of 83.

Comparing Waste Management, Inc., Clean Harbors and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.