Clean Harbors, Inc.
Orin's own judgment of how firmly the evidence points one way — not the chance the price goes up.
Clean Harbors is showing genuine operational acceleration — Q2 2026 revenue grew 11.9% YoY to $1.74B with EPS of $3.22 beating estimates by 14.6% — but the stock at $317.34 trades at 38.2x trailing earnings, a 76% premium to the peer median of 21.6x, pricing in sustained double-digit growth that FY2025's 2.4% revenue growth and 1.9% EPS decline do not yet confirm.
The recently completed EnviroServe ($470M) and ES&H acquisitions expand the footprint but push total debt higher from an already-elevated $3.45B at year-end 2025, while persistent insider selling (net -398K shares, -$102.6M over 24 months) and a smart money score that deteriorated from +0.11 in Q1 2026 to -0.02 as of Q2 2026 signal caution. The Q3 2026 print on October 28 is the critical near-term catalyst to validate whether the Q2 inflection is durable.
What could go wrong
- Valuation compression. At 38.2x P/E versus a peer median of 21.6x, any disappointment in Q3 2026 results or guidance could trigger a sharp de-rating given the 76% premium.
- Rising leverage. Total debt reached $3.45B at year-end 2025, up from $3.04B in 2024 and $2.49B in 2023, with the EnviroServe and ES&H acquisitions adding further balance sheet strain.
- Margin pressure. Gross margin compressed from 31.0% in 2024 to 29.5% in 2025, and FY2025 EPS declined 1.9% YoY despite revenue growth, suggesting cost integration headwinds.
- Insider and institutional divergence. Insiders sold a net 398K shares worth $102.6M over 24 months, and the smart money score turned negative at -0.02 as of Q2 2026 after being +0.11 in Q1 2026.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: Q2 2026 results · earnings vs estimates, 29 Jul · peer comparison · FY24 and FY25 fundamentals. Orin's read on CLH; not advice.
How has the share price moved?
Up 29.2% over twelve months, from $242.22 on 27 Oct 2025 to $312.92 at the Tue 27 Oct 2026 close. Its highest close in that time was $326.34 on 29 Jul 2026; the last close is 4.1% below it.
- Green line: the closing price each trading day.
- Grey line: the average closing price over the last 50 trading days.
- Dashed amber line: the same over the last 200 trading days — a slower, smoother line.
- Bars along the bottom: shares traded each day — green when it closed higher than the day before, rose when lower (the most, 2.6M, on 29 Oct 2025).
- Flags: the company's filings, on the day they were made (a 10-Q is the quarterly report and a 10-K the annual report; an 8-K reports a major event).
- Rose flags: large share sales by the company's own officers and directors, from the Form 4 each one files after trading.
On file
All CLH filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | $1.5B | 0.0% |
| Wellington Management Group | $942.6M | 0.2% |
| FMR | $897.0M | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Capital Management | $652.2M | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $592.5M | 0.0% |
| State Street | $472.6M | 0.0% |
| Geode Capital Management | $337.4M | 0.0% |
| Goldman Sachs Group | $268.9M | 0.0% |
| Durable Capital Partners | $266.6M | 2.6% |
| Select Equity Group | $217.6M | 1.1% |
86 of the 815 filers we track · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 196 Form 4 filings; open-market trades net −$102.4M. Of the 50 on hand, 1 was an open-market purchase and 10 sales — the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about CLH
Orin answers questions about CLH from its filings, transcripts and numbers — with the source behind every claim. Your own desk starts with 3 free days, card required.
Start 3 free days →How is it priced, against its own past and its sector?
Priced at 37.8× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close) — higher than in all 5 of its last 5 fiscal years (middle 26.7×); the typical Industrials company on the NYSE is at 33.7×.
| Measure | Now | Its usual | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 37.8×above usual | 26.7× | 33.7× |
| P/S | 2.65×above usual | 1.74× | — |
| EV/EBITDA | 15.8×above usual | 11.9× | — |
| P/B | 5.6×above usual | 4.2× | — |
- "Its usual" is the middle of its own last 5 fiscal years.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
P/S: the company's total market value divided by one year of revenue. Used when there is no profit to measure.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
P/B: the share price divided by the book value per share — what the company owns minus what it owes, as its accounts record it. When book value is tiny, P/B swings wildly and says little.
What do the analysts who cover it publish?
The analysts' average 12-month price target is $364 (from $335 to $390) — 16% above the Tue 27 Oct close price. That is their published opinion, not Orin's.
$364
$335 – $390 · +16% against the last close
- 10 buy or overweight
- 3 hold
- 0 underweight or sell
Price target: the share price an analyst publishes for about 12 months ahead. It is the opinion of the firm that wrote it; the average is across the firms that cover the company.
Overweight / underweight: analysts' rating words: overweight means the firm expects the stock to do better than the others it covers, underweight worse. Their words, not Orin's.
How is it priced next to the companies it is compared to?
Priced at 37.8× its last 12 months of profit. Only 2 of the 6 companies it is compared to have a P/E that says something (RSG 33.4×, WM 30.8×), so there is no typical P/E.
| Company | Market value | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross margin | Net margin | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLHClean Harbors, Inc. | $17B | 37.8× | 15.8× | 26.6% | 7.0% | 16% |
| CWSTCasella Waste Systems, Inc. | $6B | n/m | 18.3× | 25.4% | 0.3% | 0% |
| GFLGFL Environmental Inc. | $16B | lost money | 17.6× | 20.0% | −3.3% | −3% |
| NVRIEnviri Corporation | $659M | lost money | n/m | −6.4% | −34.4% | n/m |
| PESIPerma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. | $272M | lost money | n/m | −6.3% | −39.5% | −44% |
| RSGRepublic Services, Inc. | $72B | 33.4× | 15.3× | 39.1% | 12.9% | 18% |
| WMWaste Management, Inc. | $94B | 30.8× | 12.8× | 27.3% | 11.8% | 31% |
- CWST: P/E is not meaningful (n/m) — its profit over the last 12 months is so small against its price that the ratio says little.
- GFL, NVRI, PESI: lost money over the last 12 months, so no P/E.
- NVRI: return on equity is not meaningful (n/m) — book value is below zero.
- NVRI, PESI: EV/EBITDA is not meaningful (n/m) — its cash exceeds its market value plus debt, or the business lost money before depreciation.
- The list of companies is the data vendor's choice, so it can include a company a person would not have picked.
Market value: the share price times the number of shares — what the whole company is priced at.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
Gross margin: the share of each $1 of sales left after the direct cost of making what was sold.
Net margin: the share of each $1 of sales kept as profit after every cost. Below zero, the company lost money.
ROE: return on equity: one year of profit as a share of the shareholders' money in the business (its book value).
Is it priced high or low compared with its own past?
Priced at 37.8× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close). It has no full fiscal year on file since its history starts, so there is nothing of its own to compare with.
- Now37.8×
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
Fiscal year (FY): the company's own 12-month accounting year, which need not match the calendar year.
How has its sector been priced?
Industrials companies on the NYSE were priced at a typical 33.7× their yearly profit (Tue 27 Oct close).
- Now33.7×
- Each year is the middle of that calendar year's daily sector P/E; "Now" is the Tue 27 Oct close figure, the same one in the table above.
Sector P/E: the middle P/E of the companies in the same sector on the same stock exchange, as the data vendor works it out each day.
What does a cash-flow model say a share is worth?
A standard cash-flow model puts it at $122 a share — 61% below the $313.84 price it was computed against (27 Oct).
| Model | Value a share | Against the price then |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $122 | 61% below $313.84 |
| Levered | $89 | 72% below $313.84 |
Discounted cash flow: a model's estimate of what the company is worth today, from the cash it is forecast to make in future years. Small changes in the forecast move it a lot, and it says little about a company that loses money.
Standard / levered: two versions of the cash-flow model: the standard one counts the cash before the company pays its lenders, the levered one after.