Waste Management ( NYSE: WM ) +1.2% in Tuesday's trading a day before the company issues its Q3 earnings results , as Jefferies assumes coverage with a Buy rating and $191 price target, expecting waste companies will see higher than historical average pricing going forward, even as inflation moderates.
The new "normal" for industry pricing should exceed the pre-COVID peak of 3% given the more rational and consolidated nature of the industry, Jefferies said.
Amid the favorable industry backdrop, Jefferies noted Waste Management ( WM ) boasts the best assets in the waste sector in terms of its positioning, scale and capacity, which should give it meaningful pricing power.
Waste Management ( WM ) also should see pricing accelerate in 2023 from record 2022 levels, given its exposure to inflation-based contracts (~40% of contracts) which reprice based on long-term inflation readings.
Waste Management ( WM ) has "significant pricing power, a unique collection of assets, and just raised guidance," Seeking Profits writes in an analysis published recently on Seeking Alpha .
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Waste Management rated new Buy at Jefferies on superior pricing power