Waste Connections is a stock to buy. x.com 

Waste Management, Republic Services and Waste Connections own a moat money can't buy: permission to run landfills. US landfills fell from 7,924 in 1988 to roughly 1,500 today while garbage grows every year, and local resistance blocks new permits, so scarcity brings pricing power. The big three in the $130 billion North American market don't fight each other; they absorb the $68 billion held by small haulers. Waste Connections wins by targeting exclusive franchise and rural markets. x.com  x.com  … Show more

Waste Connections earns local-monopoly economics by dominating secondary and rural markets rather than big cities. Route density, exclusive franchise agreements, strategically located disposal capacity and a BBB+ balance sheet underpin the model. It trades at 28.7x earnings versus 30.2x historically, about a 5% discount, with eight straight years of dividend growth and an 11.4% 10-year EPS CAGR. The 12-month total return estimate is about 25%. x.com 

Waste Management's premium multiple rests on free cash flow growth, not its roughly 10% EPS growth. WM expects free cash flow to rise about 29% this year to around $3.8 billion, and it trades at 23.9x P/FCF versus 25.5x historically, with a forecast 25% annual total return and a target around $260. Its hard-to-replicate landfills, transfer stations and routes give it pricing power; it expects about $2 billion of buybacks and raised its dividend 14.5%. Multiple compression is the main risk. x.com  … Show more

Waste Management is still not cheap for a slow-growth company and needs to fall roughly another 10%. The shares became overvalued and, despite being only about 12% off their high, are just returning toward fair value, against @Mindset4Money_X's view that the stock is the cheapest it has been in a long time. x.com 

Waste Management is arguably the most durable name on the list because trash has to be collected in all economic conditions and cannot be put off. It has pricing power, an immense moat and an insulated industry, with decent growth, and it is becoming stronger than ever while the market pays it little attention. x.com 

Waste Management is one of the best defensive compounders in the market. x.com 

Waste Management, Amazon, S&P Global (or Moody's) and Berkshire Hathaway are among the very few stocks that can reasonably be called buy-and-hold-forever. Each has proven its durability and capacity to compound, and that is not expected to change any time soon. x.com 

These 12 stocks are quality compounders sharing pricing power, recurring demand, strong returns on capital and disciplined management. Domino's earns royalties, AutoZone serves an aging fleet, Progressive underwrites with data, Waste Management owns routes and landfills, Grainger is embedded in operations, S&P Global and FICO are mission-critical, Rollins has recurring pest control, Copart an auction network, Visa a fee network, HEICO niche aerospace parts, Costco loyal members. x.com  x.com  … Show more

Waste Management delivers market-beating returns with half the market's volatility. Its ROIC is 12.0% versus a 10.1% peer average, total return since 2016 is 399% versus 193% for the Dow, it has raised its dividend for 23 straight years, and its beta is 0.56. x.com