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# Casella Replaces Profit Forecast With Expected Loss Even As Sales Rise 15%
- URL: https://www.bullished.co/casella-replaces-profit-forecast-with-expected-loss-even-as-sales-rise-15-fea36a65/
- Published: 2026-11-09T23:12:17.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-09T23:12:17.000Z
- Description: A Granite State landfill write-off hurt quarterly earnings, while higher fuel fees prompted a higher annual sales forecast.
- Author: Matteo Parrino
- Tags: Earnings, CWST, Industry: Industrials

Casella Waste Systems, which collects and disposes of waste and runs recycling services, replaced its annual profit forecast with an expected loss even as third-quarter sales [rose 15.2%](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000911177/000091117726000057/cwst-20261109.htm?ref=bullished.co) to $559.2 million. Monday's earnings release put the quarterly loss at $7.0 million, against a $10.0 million profit a year earlier, with an abandoned landfill project accounting for a $13.593 million write-off.

## Granite State Weighs On Earnings

Casella wrote off costs for the [Granite State project](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000911177/000091117726000057/cwst-ex991093026.htm?ref=bullished.co) because it judged the proposed landfill no longer viable, citing legal outcomes, legislative changes and an unsupportive political environment.

Operating income dropped to $15.6 million from $29.4 million. Beyond the landfill charge, Casella cited higher depreciation and amortization, acquisition expenses and organizational changes. Higher net interest expense also hurt net earnings, partly offset by proceeds from investment tax credits.

The earnings setback extended beyond those adjustments: adjusted net income fell 18.7% to $22.3 million. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.35, down from $0.43 and below the [Zacks average estimate](https://wtop.com/national/2026/11/casella-q3-earnings-snapshot/?ref=bullished.co) of $0.36.

Casella now expects a 2026 net loss of $4 million–$10 million, instead of net income of $0 million–$6 million. It raised the lower end of its sales outlook to $2.100 billion–$2.110 billion from $2.090 billion–$2.110 billion, and narrowed its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization forecast to $475 million–$481 million from $473 million–$483 million.

## Pricing And Acquisitions Expand Sales

Quarterly sales grew $73.9 million from a year earlier. Acquisitions, higher collection and disposal prices, landfill volumes and National Accounts growth in Resource Solutions contributed to the increase. Casella bought six businesses during the first nine months with combined annualized revenue exceeding $170 million.

Solid-waste pricing increased 5.5%, including 5.9% for collection and 4.8% for disposal. Landfill volumes rose 12.8%, although overall solid-waste volume fell 1.0%. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 11.4%, or $13.6 million, to $133.5 million through acquisitions and existing-business growth; its margin slipped to 23.9% from 24.7%.

Based in Rutland, Vermont, Casella operates primarily across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in eleven states. Its waste businesses earn collection and disposal fees, while Resource Solutions handles recycling, organic waste and resource management for larger customers and sells recovered materials.

A separate landfill decision predates these results. On October 1, Casella [moved the cutoff](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000911177/000091117726000052/cwst-20261001.htm?ref=bullished.co) for municipal waste acceptance at North Country Environmental Services in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, to December 31, 2026, from the end of 2027\. It cited remaining permitted capacity, fill rates and other operating factors.

## Fuel Fees And Cost Cuts

Ned Coletta, Casella's president and CEO, attributed the revenue-guidance increase to [“higher floating fuel fees”](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000911177/000091117726000057/cwst-ex991093026.htm?ref=bullished.co). He expects fourth-quarter benefits from organizational changes begun in late September and credit-card convenience fees implemented during the quarter.

Coletta said Mid-Atlantic results lagged plans, prompting leadership changes, route consolidation, fuel-fee rollouts and price increases. He reported October adjusted earnings margins approximately 1.5 percentage points above August and more than 3 percentage points above a year earlier. Management expects at least 3 percentage points of companywide adjusted earnings margin expansion over the next three years.

Cash measures also diverged. For the first nine months, operating cash flow rose $8.6 million, or 3.7%, to $241.8 million, but adjusted free cash flow—Casella's cash measure after certain expenditures—fell $8.4 million, or 7.0%, to $111.1 million. Casella retained annual forecasts of $370 million–$380 million in operating cash flow and $200 million–$210 million in adjusted free cash flow.

Casella is scheduled to discuss the results on Tuesday's earnings call, with its fourth-quarter cost reductions and Mid-Atlantic operating plans still ahead.

Learn

- [Item 2.02: results of operations →](https://www.bullished.co/learn/8-k-items-explained/#item-202-results-of-operations)  
From 8-K Items Explained: What Every Item Code From 1.01 To 9.01 Tells You, With Examples

### Sources

- [8-K Filing — CASELLA WASTE SYSTEMS INC (CWST)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000911177/000091117726000057/cwst-20261109.htm?ref=bullished.co) — SEC EDGAR
- [Exhibit cwst-ex991093026.htm — CASELLA WASTE SYSTEMS INC 8-K exhibit](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000911177/000091117726000057/cwst-ex991093026.htm?ref=bullished.co) — SEC EDGAR
- [Casella: Q3 Earnings Snapshot | 9news.com](https://www.9news.com/article/syndication/associatedpress/casella-q3-earnings-snapshot/616-f94a246a-c625-4e72-81c1-3d68fa96b7fa?ref=bullished.co) — Associated Press
- [Casella: Q3 Earnings Snapshot – WTOP News](https://wtop.com/national/2026/11/casella-q3-earnings-snapshot/?ref=bullished.co) — wtop.com
- [Casella: Q3 Earnings Snapshot](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/casella-q3-earnings-snapshot-214320736.html?ref=bullished.co) — Associated Press
- [Casella: Q3 Earnings Snapshot | wfaa.com](https://www.wfaa.com/article/syndication/associatedpress/casella-q3-earnings-snapshot/616-f94a246a-c625-4e72-81c1-3d68fa96b7fa?ref=bullished.co) — Associated Press
- [Casella: Q3 Earnings Snapshot | wusa9.com](https://www.wusa9.com/article/syndication/associatedpress/casella-q3-earnings-snapshot/616-f94a246a-c625-4e72-81c1-3d68fa96b7fa?ref=bullished.co) — Associated Press
- [8-K filed 2026-10-01 — CASELLA WASTE SYSTEMS INC (earlier disclosure)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000911177/000091117726000052/cwst-20261001.htm?ref=bullished.co) — SEC EDGAR