Is the era of true "forever" stocks finally over? There's no denying more for-profit corporations are facing challenges they haven't in the past. There are some well-run outfits in industries that will simply never die, however, that you can feel good about buying and holding indefinitely.
One of these names from the industrial sector is WM (WM +0.36%). You know it better as Waste Management -- the waste collection specialist. Here's why demand for its services are only going to grow.
WM under the microscope
As Ben Franklin's old adage goes, "Nothing is certain but death and taxes." And the clever quip's point is well taken. Except there's at least one reasonable addition to the list. That's trash -- as long as human beings occupy the planet, they'll be producing garbage that needs to be dealt with somehow.
Even if it's not a high-growth business (single-digit revenue growth is the norm here), WM is most definitely in a business that's here to stay. That being said, this particular company may well be able to deliver future shareholder returns that outpace its more modest history.
NYSE: WM
Key Data Points
But first things first. As of the latest count, WM operates 257 conventional landfill sites, 342 transfer stations, several dozen recycling facilities, and a handful of medical waste incinerators that meet a very specialized need.
These assets produced $25.2 billion worth of revenue in 2025, up an impressive 14% year over year thanks to new healthcare-related services, turning $2.7 billion of that into income. While that bottom line was down just a little, that mostly reflects an increase in interest expenses; operating income actually improved by 6%.
The company's also looking for top-line growth of between 5.4% and 5.8% this year, by the way, extending a pace that's more or less been in place as far back as anyone can feasibly look.
An increasingly complicated business
It's boring, to be blunt. But that's not a reason not to own it. Neither is its relatively modest past and projected growth. The dividend payment that's now been raised for 23 years in a row isn't the crux of the reason to own this stock either, even though it's doubled over the course of just the past six years.
Image source: Getty Images.
Rather, the chief reason to take a swing on this surprisingly expensive ticker (currently priced at 30 times this year's expected earnings of $8.20 per share) is the likelihood that an ever-growing population and a decreasing amount of available space to put landfills paired with improved environmental protections is making waste disposal a surprisingly complex premium-commanding industry.
For instance, decommissioned solar panels are extremely difficult to cost-effectively recycle -- or even simply dispose of -- as are lithium-based electric vehicle batteries. And the processes for making both also create relatively toxic byproducts that must be managed with care.
Underestimated importance
It's not the only name in the waste management business, to be clear. It is the biggest though, which bolsters the bullish case. More than anything, however, the world is arguably underestimating just how important this industry is going to be in just a few decades.
For perspective, in 2018 The World Bank predicted global garbage production would grow 70% by 2050, led by the United States on a per-capita basis. Three years later, waste management and recycling specialist RoadRunner suggested the United States only had about 60 years until all of our existing landfills were full. The challenge and headache, of course, will get progressively worse en route to that point in time.
Somehow, WM is going to be one of the names that figures out how to handle the mess, and its customers will find it necessary to pay up for that service.
