One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$212.42 our estimate vs market $317.21
Wall Street consensus: $364.67 (71.7% higher than our fair-value estimate)
49% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Clean Harbors, Inc.
CLH · NYQ · Industrials · Waste Management
Current price
$317.21
52-week range
$201.34 - $335.94
Market cap
$16.74B
Balance sheet
Stretched
3.99x Stretched
Net debt $2.73B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 0.5% last year.
- Reward Returns 15.6% on equity, ahead of 50% of its peers.
- Risk Stock trades 48.7% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Net debt grew 2.1% over 3 years.
What this company does
Clean Harbors, Inc.
Clean Harbors is a specialty cleanup company that helps other businesses, from factories to auto repair shops, safely dispose of hazardous waste and recycle used oil. The company's main source of money is its environmental services division, which handles dangerous materials that companies are legally required to dispose of properly. This creates a steady and predictable business because their customers need these services to comply with the law and keep their own operations running smoothly.
How the company got here
Clean Harbors was started in 1980 by Alan McKim as a small, four-person tank cleaning business in Massachusetts. The company grew steadily by taking on emergency response jobs, like cleaning up a large oil spill from a tanker off Cape Cod in 1984. A major turning point was the acquisition of Safety-Kleen's chemical services division in 2002, which significantly increased the company's size and capabilities. Another key move was the full acquisition of Safety-Kleen in 2012, making Clean Harbors the largest re-refiner and recycler of used oil in North America. Through a series of strategic acquisitions over the years, the company has expanded its geographic reach and the variety of environmental and industrial services it offers.
What it actually does
Clean Harbors is a company that helps other businesses manage and dispose of waste, particularly hazardous materials. Think of them as the experts that factories, chemical plants, and even government agencies call to handle complex cleanup jobs and dispose of waste safely. They provide a wide range of services, from emergency spill response for events like oil spills to routine industrial cleaning and maintenance. They also recycle and re-refine used oil and provide parts cleaning services for automotive and industrial customers.
Environmental Services
This is the company's largest business segment, and it focuses on the collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal of both hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Customers from various industries, such as chemical, manufacturing, and government agencies, pay Clean Harbors to manage their waste streams from start to finish. This segment also includes industrial cleaning services, like high-pressure cleaning for manufacturing equipment, and field services for environmental cleanups, such as responding to chemical spills. This part of the business operates a large network of facilities, including landfills and incinerators, to handle the waste it collects.
Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions
This segment is a leading recycler of used oil and provides parts washing services. Customers, often in the automotive and industrial sectors, pay for services like having their used motor oil collected and their dirty machine parts cleaned. A key part of this business is its 'closed-loop' model, where it collects used oil, re-refines it into new lubricating oils, and then sells those products back to customers. This segment helps businesses reduce their environmental impact by turning waste into reusable products.
What management is betting on now
The company is focused on a long-term growth strategy called "Vision 2027," which aims to increase its earnings and cash flow through both organic growth (expanding its existing businesses) and strategic acquisitions. Management sees growing opportunities in helping customers comply with new environmental regulations and the trend of 'reshoring' (companies bringing manufacturing back to North America), which creates more industrial waste to be managed. They are also investing in their ability to handle and dispose of emerging contaminants like PFAS, often called 'forever chemicals,' positioning themselves as a key provider for this growing environmental concern. A continued focus on sustainability, both in their own operations and in the solutions they offer customers, is central to their strategy.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q4
$241.52M
FY2025 Q1
$-117.09M
FY2025 Q2
$118.01M
FY2025 Q3
$207.54M
FY2025 Q4
$233.34M
FY2026 Q1
$-92.15M
FY2026 Q2
$112.98M
FY2026 Q3
$246.36M
Revenue
$1.87B
Net income
$208.10M
Diluted EPS
3.93
Operating cash flow
$419.20M
Free cash flow
$246.36M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.74B
Net income
$170.46M
Diluted EPS
3.22
Operating cash flow
$239.17M
Free cash flow
$112.98M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.46B
Net income
$63.20M
Diluted EPS
1.19
Operating cash flow
$6.30M
Free cash flow
$-92.15M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.50B
Net income
$86.59M
Diluted EPS
1.62
Operating cash flow
$355.09M
Free cash flow
$233.34M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.55B
Net income
$118.80M
Diluted EPS
2.21
Operating cash flow
$301.99M
Free cash flow
$207.54M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.55B
Net income
$126.91M
Diluted EPS
2.36
Operating cash flow
$208.04M
Free cash flow
$118.01M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.43B
Net income
$58.68M
Diluted EPS
1.09
Operating cash flow
$1.60M
Free cash flow
$-117.09M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.43B
Net income
$83.97M
Diluted EPS
1.55
Operating cash flow
$303.94M
Free cash flow
$241.52M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $212.42 vs current price $317.21
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $364.67 (71.7% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $212.42 a share — about 33.0% below today's price of $317.21, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Stretched
Net debt $2.7B. Interest coverage 4.0x.
Net debt
$2.73B
Interest coverage
3.99x
Clean Harbors, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 4.0 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 3 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Stretched
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
CLH
BASELINE
Clean Harbors, Inc.
Total debt $3.25B Interest coverage 3.99x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $14.30B Interest coverage 5.79x +45% vs CLH Carries about 1.5x more debt cushion than CLH.
Total debt $23.36B Interest coverage 5.05x +27% vs CLH Carries about 1.3x more debt cushion than CLH.
Total debt $7.23B Interest coverage 0.76x -81% vs CLH Carries about 5.3x less debt cushion than CLH.
Total debt $420.26M Interest coverage -0.45x -100% vs CLH This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with CLH.
Total debt $5.22M Interest coverage -51.02x -100% vs CLH This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with CLH.
What you should know
The case for and against CLH
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 0.5% last year.
-
Returns 15.6% on equity, ahead of 50% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 48.7% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Net debt grew 2.1% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
38.45x
Forward P/E
30.93x
P/B
5.72x
P/S
2.68x
EV/EBITDA
16.09x
PEG ratio
0.27x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
32.3%
Operating margin
15.5%
Net margin
7.0%
ROE
15.6%
ROA
6.1%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
1.11x
Current ratio
2.13x
Quick ratio
1.71x
Total debt
$3.25B
Total cash
$516.72M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$6.06B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
12.2%
EPS TTM
8.25
EPS 5Y CAGR
-1.3%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$871.42M
Free CF TTM
$441.81M
FCF margin
7.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
—