Waste Connections (WCN) Moves 5.5% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

Waste Connections (WCN) shares soared 5.5% in the last trading session to close at $165.51. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 0.2% gain over the past four weeks.

The stock registered this price increase as the company benefits from AI-backed operational prowess, enhanced employee retention, investments in renewable natural gas, commodity price recovery and expanding waste management infrastructure.

This solid waste services provider is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.52 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +5.6%. Revenues are expected to be $2.61 billion, up 6% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For Waste Connections, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1.5% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. And a positive trend in earnings estimate revision usually translates into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on WCN going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Waste Connections belongs to the Zacks Waste Removal Services industry. Another stock from the same industry, Republic Services (RSG), closed the last trading session 2.3% higher at $229.65. Over the past month, RSG has returned 2.1%.

For Republic Services, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -0.7% over the past month to $1.92. This represents a change of +1.1% from what the company reported a year ago. Republic Services currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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