Casella Reverses to a Loss After Landfill Impairment

The Tip Desk · November 12, 2026 · 4 min read

Third-quarter revenue reached $559.2 million as the company booked a $13.6 million Granite State charge and cut its 2026 profit outlook to a net loss.

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (CWST), a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, reported a $7.0 million net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2026, reversing $10.0 million of net income a year earlier.

The flip was driven largely by a $13.6 million landfill development impairment tied to the termination of the Granite State landfill project, which the company said was no longer viable given legal proceedings, legislative changes and the political environment, along with higher depreciation and amortization, acquisition and organizational-transformation costs, and higher interest expense, net.

Adjusted Net Income, a non-GAAP measure, was $22.3 million, down $5.1 million, or 18.7%, from the same period in 2025.

Revenue was $559.2 million, up $73.9 million, or 15.2%, from the year-ago quarter. That year-over-year rate slowed from 16.9% in the second quarter, after 9.6% growth in the first quarter. The company said growth was mainly driven by acquisitions, including rollover from prior deals, collection and disposal pricing, higher landfill volumes, and National Accounts growth in Resource Solutions.

Solid waste pricing was up 5.5% from a year earlier, with collection prices up 5.9% and disposal prices up 4.8%. President and CEO Ned Coletta separately cited 4.6% landfill pricing and 12.8% landfill volume growth. Adjusted EBITDA was $133.5 million, up $13.6 million, or 11.4%, from the same period in 2025, which the company attributed to both acquisition contribution and organic growth. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenues was 23.9%, compared with 24.7% a year earlier.

Operating income was $15.6 million. Interest expense, net, was $18.2 million. Diluted loss was $0.11 a share.

In the Mid-Atlantic, Coletta said the company moved in the third quarter to strengthen regional leadership, consolidate routes, roll out floating fuel fees and implement price increases. He said Mid-Atlantic results were slightly behind plan in the quarter, but that October Adjusted EBITDA margins were up approximately 150 basis points from August and up over 300 basis points year-over-year, and that the company expects those actions to drive sustained regional gains through the rest of 2026 and into 2027.

The company completed initial steps of an organizational transformation in late September and implemented credit-card convenience fees, with cost-reduction benefits expected in the fourth quarter. Coletta said the company believes it is well positioned for strong growth in 2027 and a minimum of 300 basis points of Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion over the next three years.

Cash and cash equivalents were $11.7 million at September 30, 2026, down from $123.8 million at year-end 2025. For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, net cash provided by operating activities was $241.8 million, up $8.6 million from the same period in 2025. Adjusted Free Cash Flow was $111.1 million for that nine-month period, down $8.4 million from a year earlier. Acquisitions, net of cash acquired, used $440.1 million in the nine months.

The company acquired six businesses in the first nine months of 2026 with over $170 million in aggregate annualized revenues, adding one deal and about $5 million of annualized revenue versus five deals and about $165 million after the first half.

For fiscal 2026, Casella raised revenue guidance to $2.100 billion to $2.110 billion from $2.090 billion to $2.110 billion, citing higher floating fuel fees. It narrowed Adjusted EBITDA guidance to $475 million to $481 million from $473 million to $483 million. Net-income guidance was lowered to a net loss of $10 million to $4 million from net income of $0 million to $6 million. The company reaffirmed Adjusted Free Cash Flow of $200 million to $210 million and operating cash flow of $370 million to $380 million. The ranges do not include acquisitions that have not closed.