Clean Harbors Co-CEO Mike Battles To Retire At Year End, Leaving Eric Gerstenberg As Sole CEO
Third-quarter adjusted EBITDA rose 42% to $456 million as the company raised its 2026 outlook and announced the leadership handoff.
Clean Harbors, which provides environmental and industrial services across North America, said on its third-quarter earnings call Wednesday that co-CEO Mike Battles will retire from his role and board seat at year end, and that co-CEO Eric Gerstenberg becomes sole CEO on January 1.
A handoff endorsed by the board
Gerstenberg told analysts the transition is endorsed by Battles, himself and the entire board. He said he has built his career at the company over 37 years and expects it to "remain on the growth path we have been on for the past decade."
Battles called leading Clean Harbors "the highlight of my career" and said he "couldn't be more bullish about growth prospects for 2027 and beyond." Chief Financial Officer Eric Dugas thanked him for his leadership, mentorship and friendship over the past 12 years.
Several analysts congratulated both men. When an analyst from TD Cowen pressed Battles for a worst-case 2027 profit floor in its oil business, Battles deflected, saying he was not there to give 2027 guidance and that analysts should ask Dugas.
A record quarter behind the news
Third-quarter revenue rose 21% to $1.87 billion, and adjusted EBITDA climbed 42% to $456 million, Dugas said. The consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin hit 24.4%, the highest quarterly margin in company history. Earnings per share were $3.93, and net income rose 75%.
A large emergency response job, a cleanup after a fire at a Los Angeles-area food warehouse, generated about $120 million of revenue in the quarter. In the used-oil segment, adjusted EBITDA more than tripled to $126 million on tight supplies of base oil and lubricants.
The company raised its 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to $1.44 billion to $1.48 billion, with a $1.46 billion midpoint, $80 million above the prior midpoint. It also lifted its adjusted free cash flow outlook to $600 million to $660 million.
2027 guidance comes in February
Dugas said the company will give 2027 guidance with fourth-quarter results in February, after its annual budgeting process. Asked about next year, he offered guidelines rather than guidance: the environmental services segment should be a mid-single-digit grower at a minimum, with roughly 30 basis points of margin headwind from acquisitions.
The company's market value was $16.5 billion in Wednesday morning trading.
Gerstenberg said investor events start with the Baird Industrial Conference in Chicago in early November.
Sources
- Compared to Estimates, Clean Harbors (CLH) Q3 Earnings: A Look at Key Metrics — Yahoo Finance
- Clean Harbors (CLH) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- Clean Harbors Announces Third-Quarter 2026 Financial Results – Company Announcement - FT.com — Financial Times
- Clean Harbors (CLH) Broker Upgrades Raise The Question Of Whether Shares Are Fully Valued — Yahoo Finance
