What happened?
Shares of waste management company Casella (NASDAQ:CWST) fell 5.3% in the morning session after the company reported a third-quarter net loss and an 18.7% drop in adjusted net income.
According to a company press release, Casella Waste Systems recorded a third-quarter net loss of $7.0 million, down from net income of $10.0 million in the third quarter of 2025. The decline was driven by operating factors as well as higher net interest expense, while adjusted net income decreased 18.7% to $22.3 million. Beyond the bottom-line loss, revenue rose 15.2% year on year to $559.2 million but fell short of Wall Street estimates of $563.4 million. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.35 also missed consensus expectations of $0.38, weighed down by an operating margin that contracted to 2.8% from 6.1% in the prior-year period.
After the initial drop, the shares shed some of the losses and rose to $95.68, down 3.4% from the previous close.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Casella Waste Systems? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What is the market telling us
Casella Waste Systems’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 11 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 6 months ago when the stock gained 8.2% on the news that the company reported strong first-quarter 2026 results that beat analyst expectations and raised its full-year financial guidance.
The waste management company announced revenue of $457.3 million for the quarter, a 9.6% increase year-over-year that surpassed analyst estimates. The outperformance was even more pronounced on the bottom line, with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.20 crushing the Wall Street consensus of $0.12. Adjusted EBITDA, a key measure of profitability, also came in ahead of expectations at $97.07 million. Buoyed by the strong start to the year, Casella raised its full-year 2026 guidance, lifting its revenue forecast to a midpoint of $2.07 billion and its Adjusted EBITDA outlook to a midpoint of $478 million, signaling confidence in its continued performance.
Casella Waste Systems is down 3% since the beginning of the year, and at $95.68 per share, it is trading 10.9% below its 52-week high of $107.34 from February 2026. Despite the year-to-date decline, investors who bought $1,000 worth of Casella Waste Systems’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,099.
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