Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. CWST scored 39.2, WCN scored 53.2 — WCN leads.
Compare another set
CWST
Casella Waste Systems, Inc.
Waste Management · Quality-Growth
39.2
$83.78 · $5.3B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
14.0
WCN leads
WCN
Waste Connections, Inc.
Waste Management · Quality-Growth
53.2
$152.83 · $38.4B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
Fastest growthCWST+18.0%
Strongest balance sheetCWST0.92
Highest qualityWCN63 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
CWST
stronger →← stronger
WCN
33
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
63
87
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
61
21
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
39
WCN is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
CWST
WCN
$105mC
FCF
$1.2bC+
+18.0%B+
Rev
+5.7%C+
0.92C+
D/E
1.22C
2.7xB
P/S
—
3.29D
PEG
1.51C+
—
P/E
36.9xC
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
CWST
WCN
108% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
84% above
~30%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~23%/yr
-60%
1-yr DCF upside
-50%
-52%
5-yr DCF upside
-46%
-37%
10-yr DCF upside
-39%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
CWST
Why this score
Diluting shareholders
WCN
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
The companies
CWSTCasella Waste Systems, Inc.
Waste Management · $83.78 · beta 0.78
Why now
Waste Management · market cap $5.3b. Down 22% from 52-week high of $107.96 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +18%, comfortably above the S&P median. 10 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $108.40 (implying +29% upside).
Moat
Free cash flow runs well ahead of reported net income, mostly because of depreciation and amortization ($325m) — non-cash charges that hold down reported earnings while cash generation stays strong.
Risk
Net margin 0.3% is thin — operating leverage cuts both ways; input-cost inflation or pricing pressure hits the bottom line first. ROE 0% is below the long-run sustainable threshold of ~10% — capital efficiency would need to improve for the equity base to compound at the market rate.
WCNWaste Connections, Inc.
Waste Management · $152.83 · beta 0.48
Why now
Waste Management · market cap $38.4b. 15% off the 52-week high of $179.74. 25 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $198.08 (implying +30% upside).
Moat
ROE 13% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 116% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Trailing P/E 37x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where CWST and WCN diverge
On the headline score the gap is 14.0 points in favor of WCN. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
QualityCWST 33.5 · WCN 63.4WCN +29.9
GrowthCWST 87.4 · WCN 61.3CWST +26.1
ValueCWST 20.6 · WCN 38.6WCN +18.0
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is WCN or CWST the better stock?
WCN scores higher: WCN 53.2, CWST 39.2 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do WCN and CWST differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where WCN leads by 30 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are WCN and CWST scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.