Waste Connections (WCN) Q1 FY2022 earnings: revenue $1.6 billion, up 17.9% on the year

Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN) reported revenue of $1.6 billion for Q1 FY2022, the quarter ended 31 March 2022, up 17.9% on the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was $180 million, up 12.5% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $0.69. The figures are the company's own, from the 10-Q it filed with the SEC on 4 May 2022.

Revenue$1.6 billionup 17.9%

Net income$180 millionup 12.5%

Diluted EPS$0.69

QuarterQ1 FY2022ended 31 March 2022

The quarter, against the one before and a year earlier

Line	Q1 FY2022	Q4 FY2021	A year earlier	Change on the year
Revenue	1,646	1,624	n/a	n/a
Cost of revenue	990	981	n/a	n/a
Gross profit	657	643	n/a	n/a
Gross margin	39.9%	39.6%	n/a
Selling, general and administrative	163	157	n/a	n/a
Operating income	274	249	n/a	n/a
Operating margin	16.6%	15.3%	n/a
Interest expense	41.3	38.6	n/a	n/a
Pre-tax income	229	212	n/a	n/a
Income tax	48.8	45.7	n/a	n/a
Effective tax rate	21.3%	21.5%	n/a
Net income	180	166	n/a	n/a
Net margin	11.0%	10.2%	n/a
Diluted EPS	$0.69	$0.63	n/a	n/a

$ million except per share.

Fourth quarters are the year less the first three quarters. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Those four are arithmetic on the filed numbers; everything else is as filed. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and share counts are as they are.

Cash flow and capital returned

Line	Q1 FY2022	Q4 FY2021	A year earlier	Change on the year
Operating cash flow	441	428	n/a	n/a
Capital expenditure	152	265	n/a	n/a
Free cash flow	289	163	n/a	n/a
Free cash flow margin	17.5%	10.1%	n/a
Cash from investing	-490	-659	n/a	n/a
Cash from financing	292	-7.9	n/a	n/a
Depreciation and amortisation	218	214	n/a	n/a
Share-based compensation	14.6	15.5	n/a	n/a
Buybacks	425	33.4	n/a	n/a
Dividends paid	59.4	59.4	n/a	n/a
Dividend per share	$0.23	n/a	n/a	n/a
Diluted shares, weighted	260m	262m	n/a	n/a
Shares outstanding at period end	257m	260m	n/a	n/a

Cash flow lines for the quarter; where the company files them year to date, the quarter is the difference between two filings.

Balance sheet at quarter end

Line	Q1 FY2022	Q4 FY2021	A year earlier	Change on the year
Shareholders' equity	6,754	6,989	n/a	n/a
Non-controlling interest	4.7	4.6	n/a	n/a
Debt	5,846	5,047	n/a	n/a
Operating lease liabilities	134	130	n/a	n/a
Finance lease liabilities	n/a	8.5	n/a	n/a
Other liabilities	2,675	2,522	n/a	n/a
Total liabilities and equity	15,414	14,700	n/a	n/a
Fixed assets	5,771	5,722	n/a	n/a
Goodwill	6,428	6,188	n/a	n/a
Intangible assets	1,389	1,351	n/a	n/a
Cash and equivalents	391	147	n/a	n/a
Receivables	728	710	n/a	n/a
Other assets	708	583	n/a	n/a
Total assets	15,414	14,700	n/a	n/a

Questions

What was Waste Connections' revenue in Q1 FY2022?

Waste Connections (WCN) reported revenue of $1.6 billion for Q1 FY2022, the quarter ended 31 March 2022, up 17.9% on the same quarter a year earlier.

How much did Waste Connections earn in Q1 FY2022?

Net income for Q1 FY2022 was $180 million, up 12.5% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $0.69.

When did Waste Connections report Q1 FY2022 results?

Waste Connections filed its 10-Q for the quarter ended 31 March 2022 with the SEC on 4 May 2022.

Quarterly results, the last 20 quarters

	Q4 FY2021 *	Q1 FY2022	Q2 FY2022	Q3 FY2022	Q4 FY2022 *	Q1 FY2023	Q2 FY2023	Q3 FY2023	Q4 FY2023 *	Q1 FY2024	Q2 FY2024	Q3 FY2024	Q4 FY2024 *	Q1 FY2025	Q2 FY2025	Q3 FY2025	Q4 FY2025 *	Q1 FY2026	Q2 FY2026	Q3 FY2026
Revenue	1,624	1,646	1,816	1,880	1,869	1,901	2,021	2,065	2,036	2,073	2,248	2,338	2,260	2,228	2,407	2,458	2,373	2,371	2,562	2,638
Cost of revenue	981	990	1,088	1,121	1,138	1,147	1,197	1,205	1,196	1,222	1,301	1,344	1,325	1,291	1,393	1,407	1,364	1,361	1,479	1,501
Gross profit	643	657	729	759	731	754	824	860	840	851	947	994	936	937	1,014	1,052	1,009	1,010	1,082	1,137
Gross margin	40%	40%	40%	40%	39%	40%	41%	42%	41%	41%	42%	43%	41%	42%	42%	43%	43%	43%	42%	43%
SG&A	157	163	168	187	178	194	216	196	193	221	229	223	211	250	243	236	230	251	260	254
Operating income	249	274	330	327	312	315	344	353	225	367	425	475	-199	390	460	440	421	364	438	542
Operating margin	15%	17%	18%	17%	17%	17%	17%	17%	11%	18%	19%	20%	-9%	18%	19%	18%	18%	15%	17%	21%
Interest expense	38.6	41.3	45.1	51.2	64.8	68.4	67.5	69.0	69.7	78.5	82.4	83.5	82.4	80.9	82.8	84.4	86.5	87.7	91.2	96.4
Pre-tax income	212	229	283	286	251	252	278	292	161	289	356	400	-282	313	389	375	341	284	384	451
Tax rate	22%	21%	21%	17%	23%	22%	25%	22%	22%	21%	23%	23%	n/a	23%	25%	24%	24%	23%	23%	20%
Net income	166	180	224	237	194	198	209	229	127	230	275	308	-196	242	290	286	258	219	296	359
Net margin	10%	11%	12%	13%	10%	10%	10%	11%	6%	11%	12%	13%	-9%	11%	12%	12%	11%	9%	12%	14%
Diluted EPS	$0.63	$0.69	$0.87	$0.92	$0.75	$0.77	$0.81	$0.89	$0.49	$0.89	$1.07	$1.19	-$0.76	$0.93	$1.12	$1.11	$1.01	$0.86	$1.17	$1.43
Operating cash flow	428	441	533	526	522	442	574	554	556	490	611	558	569	542	638	677	557	546	733	692
Capital expenditure	265	152	219	247	294	176	218	221	318	170	217	272	397	212	285	297	384	297	302	295
Free cash flow	163	289	314	280	228	267	356	333	237	320	394	286	172	329	353	380	173	249	431	397
Buybacks	33.4	425	0.0	0.0	0.0	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	0.0	n/a	0.0	0.4	442	63.3	284	331	330
Dividends paid	59.4	59.4	59.4	58.9	65.3	65.8	65.4	65.7	73.8	73.6	73.7	74.0	81.0	81.5	81.5	81.0	89.9	88.7	88.4	88.4
Shares outstanding	260m	257m	257m	257m	257m	257m	258m	258m	258m	258m	258m	258m	258m	258m	258m	256m	256m	254m	252m	250m
Filing	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q

Each quarter as filed, linked to its filing.

* The fourth quarter is the full year less the first three quarters, because the company files the year and not the quarter on its own. A fourth quarter's EPS, and its diluted share count where shown, are from the company's results press release for that quarter, checked against the company's filed figures or a second data source. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and the share count are as they are. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Cash flow lines filed year to date are the difference between two filings. Shares outstanding are at the period end where the balance sheet tags them, otherwise the count on the filing's cover page. A derived fourth-quarter EPS is left blank when a split in the year makes the arithmetic meaningless.

10-Q for the period ended 31 March 2022, filed 4 May 2022: the filing.