Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The business services provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.42 billion. Republic Services had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 18.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Republic Services’ conference call:

• Strong third-quarter performance and raised 2026 outlook: Revenue grew 8.2%, adjusted EPS was $1.94, and year-to-date adjusted free cash flow reached $2.28 billion. Republic increased its full-year 2026 guidance to $17.425–$17.475 billion of revenue, $5.5–$5.575 billion of adjusted EBITDA, and $2.565–$2.585 billion of adjusted free cash flow.
• Volume trends improved across commercial businesses: Small- and large-container volumes each increased 50 basis points, marking the first quarter in more than three years with simultaneous growth in both categories. Management expects industry Recycling & Waste volumes to turn positive in 2027, although residential volumes declined 4.3% in the quarter.
• Environmental Solutions delivered significant growth and margin expansion: Revenue increased 21% year over year, or approximately 9% excluding several large emergency-response projects, while adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 440 basis points to 25.4%. Management cited broad-based demand across industrial and hazardous-waste operations and expects continued growth into 2027.
• Higher diesel, healthcare, and prior-year comparisons pressured margins: Elevated fuel costs reduced adjusted EBITDA margin by 50 basis points, while unusually high healthcare claims and the absence of a prior-year rebate reduced it by another 60 basis points. Fuel recovery fees offset the cash impact of diesel inflation but are dilutive to margins when fuel prices rise.
• Investment programs support longer-term growth: Republic has invested $1.1 billion in acquisitions year to date and expects at least $1.2 billion for 2026, while AI pricing tools are already deployed and AI routing is expected to scale beginning in 2027. Management continues to target roughly $100 million of run-rate EBITDA benefit from digital initiatives by the end of 2028.

Republic Services Stock Up 1.3%

RSG stock traded up $3.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $236.43. 1,505,575 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,525,937. The company has a market capitalization of $72.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Republic Services has a twelve month low of $196.41 and a twelve month high of $243.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Cascade Investment, L.L.C. purchased 324,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $222.89 per share, with a total value of $72,396,900.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 117,058,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,091,156,583.16. The trade was a 0.28% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders bought 6,254,462 shares of company stock valued at $1,380,321,958 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RSG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Republic Services from $233.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Republic Services from $256.00 to $246.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Republic Services in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Republic Services from $242.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.73.

Republic Services Company Profile

Republic Services, Inc is an environmental services company that provides waste collection, recycling and disposal solutions for residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. Its services include curbside collection, dumpster and roll-off container services, transfer station operations, landfill management and recycling processing.

The company also provides specialized environmental services, including hazardous waste management, emergency response, remediation and other sustainability-related solutions for businesses and government organizations.