美國廢棄物管理公司 (WM) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the WM second-quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

大家好，感謝各位稍候。歡迎參加 WM 第二季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，今天的會議將被錄音。

I will now hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Ed Egl, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我將把會議交給今天的第一位講者，投資人關係副總裁 Ed Egl。請開始。

(inaudible) earnings conference call. With me this morning are Jim Fish, Chief Executive Officer; John Morris, President; David Reed, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Tara Hemmer, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. (inaudible) strategic update.

(聽不清) 財報電話會議。今天早上與我一同出席的有：執行長 Jim Fish；總裁 John Morris；執行副總裁兼財務長 David Reed；以及執行副總裁兼營運長 Tara Hemmer。(聽不清) 策略更新。

John will cover an operating overview (inaudible) our prepared remarks, each of these members of our leadership team will be available during the Q&A portion of the call. Before we get started, please note that we have filed a Form 8-K that includes the earnings press release and is available on our website at www.wm.com. The Form 8-K, the press release and the schedules in the press release include important information.

John 將就營運概況進行說明（聽不清）。在我們的事先準備講稿之後，領導團隊的每位成員都將在問答環節中出席。在開始之前，請注意我們已提交一份 Form 8-K，其中包含財報新聞稿，並可於我們網站 www.wm.com 取得。Form 8-K、新聞稿以及新聞稿中的附表包含重要資訊。

During the call, you will hear forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations, projections or opinions about future periods. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Some of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in today's press release and in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Qs.

在本次電話會議中，您將聽到前瞻性陳述，這些陳述係基於對未來期間的當前預期、預測或觀點。所有前瞻性陳述均受風險與不確定性影響，可能導致實際結果出現重大差異。其中部分風險與不確定性已於今日新聞稿及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中討論，包括我們最新的 Form 10-K 與 Form 10-Q。

John will discuss our results in the areas of yield and volume, which unless stated otherwise, are more specifically references to internal revenue growth or IRG from yield or volume. During the call, Jim, John and David will discuss operating EBITDA, which is income from operations before depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion.

John 將討論我們在價格（yield）與量（volume）方面的結果；除非另有說明，這些更具體是指由價格或量所帶來的內生營收成長（IRG）。在本次電話會議中，Jim、John 與 David 將討論營運 EBITDA，即扣除折舊、耗竭、攤銷與填埋場回填（accretion）前的營業利益。

Beginning this year, landfill accretion expense was moved from operating expense to depreciation, depletion, amortization and accretion to enhance comparability and better reflect operating performance. For comparability purposes, 2025 actuals have been updated to reflect this change. Any comparisons, unless stated otherwise, will be with the prior year period.

自今年起，填埋場回填費用已自營運費用移至折舊、耗竭、攤銷與回填項下，以提升可比性並更妥善反映營運表現。為了可比性，2025 年實際數已更新以反映此變更。除非另有說明，任何比較均以去年同期為基準。

Net income, EPS, income from operations and margin, operating EBITDA and margin and SG&A expense and margin have been adjusted to enhance comparability by excluding certain items that management believes do not reflect our fundamental business performance or results of operations. These adjusted measures, in addition to free cash flow are non-GAAP measures.

淨利、每股盈餘（EPS）、營業利益及其利潤率、營運 EBITDA 及其利潤率，以及 SG&A 費用及其利潤率，均已進行調整以提升可比性，排除管理層認為無法反映我們基本業務表現或營運結果的特定項目。這些調整後指標以及自由現金流，均屬非 GAAP 指標。

Please refer to the earnings press release and tables, which can be found on the company's website at www.wm.com for reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures and additional information about our use of non-GAAP measures. This call is being recorded and will be available 24 hours a day beginning approximately 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time today.

請參閱公司網站 www.wm.com 上的財報新聞稿與表格，以取得與最可比 GAAP 指標的調節表，以及我們使用非 GAAP 指標的更多資訊。本次電話會議將被錄音，並將自今日美東時間約下午 1:00 起提供 24 小時收聽。

To hear a replay of the call, access the WM website at www.investors.wm.com. Time-sensitive information provided during today's call, which is occurring on July 29, 2026, may no longer be accurate at the time of a replay. Any redistribution, retransmission or rebroadcast of this call in any form without the express written consent of WM is prohibited.

如需收聽重播，請至 WM 網站 www.investors.wm.com。今日電話會議（發生於 2026 年 7 月 29 日）所提供的具時效性資訊，在重播時可能已不再準確。未經 WM 明確書面同意，以任何形式重新散布、轉傳或轉播本次電話會議均被禁止。

Now I'll turn the call over to WM's CEO, Jim Fish.

現在我將把電話會議交給 WM 的執行長 Jim Fish。

Okay. Thanks, Ed, and thank you all for joining us. We're pleased to report another quarter of strong earnings growth, margin expansion and robust cash flow generation. In the second quarter, operating EBITDA grew 5.5% or 9.1%, excluding last year's wildfire cleanup contributions. Operating EBITDA margin expanded by 40 basis points, overcoming a 60 basis point headwind from wildfire volumes and a 40 basis points headwind from higher energy surcharges.

好的。謝謝你，Ed，也感謝各位加入我們。我們很高興報告本季再度實現強勁的獲利成長、利潤率擴張以及穩健的現金流創造。第二季營運 EBITDA 成長 5.5%；若排除去年野火清理業務的貢獻，則成長 9.1%。營運 EBITDA 利潤率擴張 40 個基點，克服了野火相關量帶來的 60 個基點逆風，以及較高能源附加費帶來的 40 個基點逆風。

The strong underlying margin expansion was led by the collection and disposal business, where continued price discipline, cost optimization and business mix improvements drove better profitability. Importantly, this earnings growth, combined with lower capital spending and working capital benefits led to a 35% free cash flow growth for the quarter.

強勁的核心利潤率擴張主要由收運與處置業務帶動；持續的價格紀律、成本優化與業務組合改善推動了更佳的獲利能力。更重要的是，這項獲利成長，加上資本支出下降與營運資金效益，使本季自由現金流成長 35%。

Taken together, our higher earnings, margin expansion and free cash flow results once again demonstrate the strength and consistency of our operating model and our team. Additionally, our second quarter results reinforce the power and value of WM's integrated business model. Our collection and disposal operations serve as a powerful foundation, providing the scale, network, customer relationships and operational discipline that serve the broader enterprise.

綜合來看，我們更高的獲利、利潤率擴張與自由現金流成果，再次展現了我們營運模式與團隊的實力與一致性。此外，第二季結果也強化了 WM 整合式商業模式的力量與價值。我們的收運與處置營運是強大的基礎，提供規模、網路、客戶關係與營運紀律，支撐整體企業的發展。

We continue to expand the value created by that foundation and strengthen the long-term earnings profile of the company through our investments in recycling, renewable energy and Healthcare Solutions. For example, our recycling automation projects are driving a sustained 30% improvement in labor cost per ton compared to legacy facilities.

我們持續透過在回收、再生能源與醫療保健解決方案（Healthcare Solutions）的投資，擴大該基礎所創造的價值，並強化公司長期獲利結構。例如，我們的回收自動化專案，正推動每噸人力成本相較於傳統設施持續改善 30%。

And in the second quarter, we processed 12% more recyclables year-over-year. We also produced an additional 1.6 million MMBtu of renewable natural gas, leading to combined recycling and renewable energy operating EBITDA growth of nearly 33% and a 30 basis point uplift to total company margin.

而在第二季，我們處理的可回收物量較去年同期增加 12%。我們也額外生產了 160 萬 MMBtu 的再生天然氣，使回收與再生能源合計的營運 EBITDA 成長接近 33%，並帶動公司整體利潤率提升 30 個基點。

Healthcare Solutions delivered a strong quarter, expanding operating EBITDA margin by 200 basis points through cross-selling and cost synergy capture, which reinforces our confidence in the platform's long-term growth and earnings potential. Stepping back, WM's advantage is how all these businesses work together.

醫療保健解決方案在本季表現強勁，透過交叉銷售與成本綜效的落實，使營運 EBITDA 利潤率擴張 200 個基點，進一步強化我們對該平台長期成長與獲利潛力的信心。從更宏觀的角度來看，WM 的優勢在於這些業務如何協同運作。

Our network allows us to operate more efficiently, deliver better customer outcomes and invest in attractive growth opportunities from a position of strength as our complementary assets and capabilities reinforce one another and allow us to capture more value across the waste stream and generate attractive returns for shareholders.

我們的網路讓我們能更有效率地營運、提供更佳的客戶成果，並在具優勢的地位下投資於具吸引力的成長機會；我們互補的資產與能力彼此強化，使我們能在整個廢棄物流中擷取更多價值，並為股東創造具吸引力的報酬。

This integrated approach is supported by disciplined capital allocation. We're directing capital to opportunities where our existing network, customer relationships and operating capabilities give us a clear advantage, including the $235 million of solid waste tuck-in acquisitions we closed during the quarter. These transactions strengthen our route density, expand our customer base and enhance the value of our existing disposal network, making them a natural extension of the integrated model we've built.

這種整合式作法由嚴謹的資本配置所支撐。我們將資本投入到那些我們既有網路、客戶關係與營運能力能帶來明確優勢的機會上，包括本季完成交割的 2.35 億美元固體廢棄物補強型（tuck-in）併購。這些交易強化了我們的路線密度、擴大客戶基礎，並提升既有處置網路的價值，是我們所建立整合模式的自然延伸。

Looking ahead, we continue to see an attractive pipeline of solid waste acquisition opportunities. Given our quick work returning leverage to within our targeted range following the acquisition of Stericycle, we expect to increase core acquisitions in the future.

展望未來，我們仍看到具吸引力的固體廢棄物併購機會管線。鑑於我們在收購 Stericycle 後迅速將槓桿比率回到目標區間內，我們預期未來將增加核心併購。

As we close out the second quarter, our results reflect the strength of WM's integrated operating platform and the consistency of our strategy. We continue to execute well in the core business, extend the value of our network through disciplined investments in recycling, renewable energy and health care solutions and strengthen our market position through targeted acquisitions.

在第二季結束之際，我們的成果反映了 WM 整合式營運平台的實力以及策略的一致性。我們持續在核心業務上執行到位，透過對回收、再生能源與醫療保健解決方案的嚴謹投資延伸網路價值，並透過目標式併購強化市場地位。

Together with our balanced approach to capital allocation, these actions support continued growth in earnings, cash flow and long-term shareholder value. I want to thank our employees for their dedication and hard work, which make these results possible. And now I'll turn the call over to John to discuss our operational results and progress against our strategic priorities.

結合我們均衡的資本配置方針，這些行動支持獲利、現金流與長期股東價值的持續成長。我要感謝我們員工的投入與辛勤付出，讓這些成果得以實現。接下來我將把電話會議交給 John，請他說明我們的營運成果以及在策略優先事項上的進展。

Thanks, Jim, and good morning, everyone. The second quarter again demonstrated the durability of our earnings growth formula. Despite a tough comparison due to elevated wildfire-related activity last year, we delivered strong underlying profitability through above-average price-to-cost spread, disciplined expense management and efficiency gains. Our team continues to deliver outsized performance in optimizing our business.

謝謝你，Jim，各位早安。第二季再次展現了我們獲利成長公式的韌性。儘管去年因野火相關活動增加而形成艱難的比較基期，我們仍透過高於平均的價格相對成本擴張、嚴謹的費用管理與效率提升，交出強勁的核心獲利能力。我們的團隊持續在優化業務方面展現超出預期的表現。

Operating expenses remained below 60% of revenue for the sixth consecutive quarter despite a combined 120 basis point headwind from last year's wildfires and increased fuel prices. This performance reflects the benefits of our technology investments, automation initiatives, process discipline and performance management. The impact is especially evident in our collection business.

儘管受到去年野火及燃料價格上升合計120個基點的不利影響，營業費用仍連續第六個季度維持在營收的60%以下。此表現反映了我們在科技投資、自動化計畫、流程紀律與績效管理方面所帶來的效益。其影響在我們的收運業務中特別明顯。

Despite ongoing inflationary pressures, including labor cost increases of approximately 4%, we limited the increase in collection operating costs to less than 1.7% compared to the second quarter of 2025. This highlights our ability to offset inflation through productivity improvements and pricing designed to recover cost increases while continuing to deliver high levels of customer service.

儘管通膨壓力持續，包括勞動成本約上升4%，我們仍將收運營運成本的增幅限制在相較2025年第二季不到1.7%。這凸顯我們能透過生產力提升與定價（旨在回收成本上升）來抵銷通膨，同時持續提供高水準的客戶服務。

Our results reflect the value being created by the technology investments we've made over the past decade. WM has long been a leader in innovation from deploying our proprietary onboard computing system to deploying AI and machine learning across our operations today.

我們的成果反映了過去十年所進行的科技投資正在創造的價值。WM 長期以來一直是創新的領導者，從部署我們自有的車載運算系統，到如今在營運中全面導入 AI 與機器學習。

One example is our SmartTruck, which now generates more than $300 million of annual run rate EBITDA through service upgrades, optimized routing and lower operating costs. Importantly, we are still in the early innings of capturing the full value of these capabilities. By combining AI, automation and operational data at scale, we're improving execution, reducing costs and enhancing the customer experience.

其中一個例子是我們的 SmartTruck，目前透過服務升級、路線最佳化與降低營運成本，已帶來超過3億美元的年度化 EBITDA（run rate）。重要的是，我們仍處於充分擷取這些能力全部價值的早期階段。透過在規模化的情況下結合 AI、自動化與營運數據，我們正在提升執行力、降低成本並改善客戶體驗。

We are also continuing to innovate for the future through AI-enabled tools, autonomous long-haul vehicles and remote-operated heavy equipment, all of which we expect to support higher revenue capture, lower operating costs and sustained margin expansion over time. We're applying the same disciplined operating approach that has driven success in the collection and disposal business to Healthcare Solutions, and the results are increasingly evident.

我們也持續透過 AI 賦能工具、自主長途車輛以及遠端操作重型設備等方式為未來創新；我們預期這些將隨時間推進，支持更高的營收擷取、更低的營運成本與持續的利潤率擴張。我們正將同樣帶動收運與處置業務成功的嚴謹營運方法，應用到 Healthcare Solutions，而成果也愈發明顯。

In the second quarter, Healthcare Solutions operating EBITDA margin expanded 200 basis points to 19%, while SG&A expense declined 15% and improved 290 basis points as a percentage of revenue, demonstrating the earnings power we expected at acquisition. Momentum is building in the second half with improving revenue quality supporting top line growth and core price expected to exit 2026 above 5.5%.

第二季，Healthcare Solutions 的營運 EBITDA 利潤率擴張200個基點至19%，同時 SG&A 費用下降15%，且占營收比重改善290個基點，展現了我們在收購時所預期的獲利能力。隨著營收品質改善支撐營收成長，下半年動能正在累積，且核心價格預期在2026年結束時將高於5.5%。

Cross-selling initiatives are also contributing, generating $32 million of annual operating EBITDA to date, and we remain on track to deliver more than $300 million of synergies by the end of 2027. This progress reinforces our confidence in the long-term value of this business.

交叉銷售計畫亦有所貢獻，迄今已帶來3,200萬美元的年度化營運 EBITDA，我們仍按計畫在2027年底前實現超過3億美元的協同效益。此進展強化了我們對該業務長期價值的信心。

Turning to overall revenue growth in the second quarter. Both core price and yield exceeded our expectations and supported our continued success in maintaining strong price-to-cost spread. On volumes, second quarter comparisons were impacted by last year's elevated wildfire-related activity as Collection and Disposal volumes declined 0.4%, excluding those impacts.

接著談第二季整體營收成長。核心價格與收益率（yield）均超出我們預期，並支持我們持續維持強勁的「價格相對成本」差距。在量的方面，第二季比較受到去年野火相關活動偏高的影響；若排除該影響，收運與處置量下滑0.4%。

While overall volumes remained softer than we anticipated entering the year, we saw encouraging trends across several areas of the business. Special waste volumes increased 4.5%, excluding prior year wildfire activity and industrial collection volumes continue to demonstrate modest growth.

雖然整體量仍較我們年初預期疲弱，但我們在業務的數個領域看到令人鼓舞的趨勢。若排除前一年野火活動影響，特殊廢棄物量成長4.5%，而工業收運量持續呈現溫和成長。

Residential volume declines improved 200 basis points sequentially to negative 2.9% as anticipated. We expect the residential losses to continue to moderate over the coming quarters. Our focus remains on disciplined profitable growth through prioritizing returns over lower margin volume.

住宅量的下滑如預期按季改善200個基點至負2.9%。我們預期住宅端的流失將在未來幾季持續趨緩。我們的重點仍是透過優先考量報酬、而非低利潤量，來推動嚴謹且具獲利性的成長。

Looking ahead to the balance of 2026, our outlook continues to reflect strong pricing execution and disciplined operating performance. Collection and Disposal yield is tracking toward the high end of our guidance range and energy surcharge revenue is higher than expected.

展望2026年剩餘期間，我們的展望仍反映強勁的定價執行與嚴謹的營運表現。收運與處置的收益率正朝向我們指引區間的高端推進，能源附加費收入也高於預期。

At the same time, volume trends have been softer than planned with Collection and Disposal volumes expected to be relatively flat in the second half, resulting in full year decline approaching 1% or approximately 50 basis points, excluding the impact of 2025 wildfire cleanup activity.

同時，量的趨勢較計畫疲弱；預期收運與處置量在下半年將大致持平，導致全年降幅接近1%或約50個基點（排除2025年野火清理活動的影響）。

We're also seeing modest pressure from lower recycling brokerage activity and the timing of RNG plant connections to pipelines. And as a result, we are narrowing our full year revenue outlook by about 0.5% to $26.275 billion to $26.475 billion. Importantly, this update does not change our confidence in the profitability and cash flow outlook for the year, supported by strong pricing, disciplined execution and the underlying strength of the business.

我們也看到來自回收經紀活動下降以及 RNG 工廠連接管線時點的溫和壓力。因此，我們將全年營收展望收斂約0.5%，至262.75億至264.75億美元。重要的是，此次更新不改變我們對今年獲利能力與現金流展望的信心；該展望由強勁定價、嚴謹執行與業務基本面強勁所支撐。

Taken together, our second quarter performance reinforces the strength of our operating model and our confidence in the path ahead. With that, I want to thank our entire team for their continued strong performance. And now I'll turn the call over to David to walk through our financial results in more detail.

綜合而言，我們第二季的表現再次印證了營運模式的強韌性，以及我們對未來路徑的信心。在此，我要感謝全體團隊持續展現的優異表現。接下來我將把電話會議交給 David，請他更詳細說明我們的財務結果。

Thanks, John, and good morning. Operating EBITDA margin was one of our standout aspects of our second quarter results. As Jim noted, margin expanded 40 basis points, driven by a strong price-to-cost spread and continued cost reductions from technology and automation in our Collection and Disposal business.

謝謝你，John，大家早安。營運 EBITDA 利潤率是我們第二季結果中最突出的亮點之一。如 Jim 所提，利潤率擴張40個基點，主要由強勁的價格相對成本差距，以及我們在收運與處置業務中透過科技與自動化持續降本所帶動。

These improvements added 140 basis points of margin growth, while recycling, renewable energy and Healthcare Solutions contributed a combined 40 basis points to the company margin. These benefits were partially offset by approximately 40 basis points from higher technology investments and the timing of risk management costs in our corporate and other segment.

這些改善帶來140個基點的利潤率成長；同時，回收、再生能源與 Healthcare Solutions 合計為公司利潤率貢獻40個基點。上述效益部分被抵銷，抵銷因素包括科技投資增加約40個基點，以及公司與其他部門風險管理成本的時點影響。

As noted, our results overcame a 60 basis point headwind from prior year wildfire cleanup activity and a 40 basis points headwind from energy surcharges. Despite these headwinds, we delivered strong earnings growth and margin expansion in the quarter, demonstrating the durability of our business model and our ability to consistently create value.

如前所述，我們的結果克服了前一年野火清理活動帶來的60個基點不利影響，以及能源附加費帶來的40個基點不利影響。儘管面臨這些逆風，我們仍在本季實現強勁的獲利成長與利潤率擴張，展現我們商業模式的耐久性，以及我們持續創造價值的能力。

Turning to SG&A. Expenses improved 60 basis points to 9.9% of revenue in the second quarter, returning to below 10% for the first time following our 2024 acquisition of the Healthcare Solutions business. Diligent cost management across the company and ongoing synergy capture from the integration drove this result, and we anticipate full year SG&A as a percent of revenue of around 10%, including SG&A in Healthcare Solutions improving to a run rate of between 15% and 16% of revenue compared to more than 24% of revenue when we acquired the business.

接著談 SG&A。第二季費用占營收比重改善60個基點至9.9%，在我們於2024年收購 Healthcare Solutions 業務後，首次回到10%以下。此結果由全公司嚴謹的成本管理與整合過程中持續擷取的協同效益所驅動；我們預期全年 SG&A 占營收比重約為10%，其中 Healthcare Solutions 的 SG&A 也將改善至占營收15%至16%的年度化水準，相較我們收購時占營收超過24%。

Our earnings growth continues to drive robust cash generation. In the first 6 months of the year, operating cash flow was $3.23 billion an increase of more than 17% compared to the same period in 2025. As planned, capital spending was more than 18% lower than prior year, reflecting normalized spending on collection vehicles and lower sustainability capital as we near the end of our planned investments.

我們的獲利成長持續帶動強勁的現金創造。今年前6個月，營運現金流為32.3億美元，較2025年同期增加超過17%。如計畫所示，資本支出較前一年降低超過18%，反映收運車輛支出回歸常態，以及在我們接近既定投資尾聲之際，永續相關資本支出下降。

Free cash flow totaled $2.02 billion growing more than 56% in the first six months of the year, representing operating EBITDA conversion approaching 52%. We allocated the majority of our free cash flow to shareholder returns in the first half of the year, repurchasing $1 billion of our shares and paying $764 million in dividends. As forecasted, we are within our target leverage range of between 2.5x to 3x, finishing the quarter at 2.96x. We expect leverage to come down in the back half of the year.

自由現金流合計20.2億美元，今年前六個月成長超過56%，代表營運 EBITDA 轉換率接近52%。上半年我們將大部分自由現金流用於股東回饋，回購10億美元股份並支付7.64億美元股利。如預測，我們的槓桿倍數維持在2.5倍至3倍的目標區間內，本季末為2.96倍。我們預期槓桿在下半年將下降。

And finally, pulling together the outlook for 2026, as you heard this morning, we delivered excellent second quarter results and remain confident in the strength and consistency of our business. We're on track to achieve our full year operating EBITDA and free cash flow guidance. At the same time, we are increasing our 2026 margin expectations by 20 basis points to between 31% and 31.2%, demonstrating our ability to flex cost, drive productivity and continue growing earnings in a dynamic operating environment.

最後，綜整2026年的展望：如各位今早所聽到的，我們交出優異的第二季成績，並對業務的強度與一致性仍具信心。我們正按計畫達成全年營運 EBITDA 與自由現金流指引。同時，我們將2026年利潤率預期上調20個基點至31%至31.2%，展現我們在多變的營運環境中調整成本結構、提升生產力並持續推升獲利的能力。

While earnings calls naturally focus on the current quarter and year, our focus extends well beyond the near term. We are executing a long-term strategy designed to drive growth and shareholder value for years to come. That means creating the industry's best employee experience, delivering differentiated service to our customers, expanding our disposal advantage, increasing our technology leadership and continuing to allocate capital in ways that maximize returns.

雖然財報電話會議自然聚焦於當季與當年度，但我們的關注遠不止於短期。我們正在執行一項長期策略，旨在於未來多年推動成長並提升股東價值。這意味著打造業界最佳的員工體驗、為客戶提供差異化服務、擴大我們在處置端的優勢、提升我們的科技領導地位，並持續以能使報酬最大化的方式配置資本。

As a result, we remain confident in achieving our 2026 objectives and in our ability to deliver sustainable long-term growth and shareholder value well into the future. In closing, I want to thank the entire WM team for their hard work in the first half of 2026. We are well on our way to another year of strong results. With that, Olivia, let's open the line for questions.

因此，我們仍然有信心達成2026年的目標，並有能力在未來很長一段時間內持續帶來可持續的長期成長與股東價值。最後，我想感謝整個WM團隊在2026年上半年的辛勤付出。我們正穩步邁向又一個強勁成果之年。接下來，Olivia，我們開放提問。

(Operator Instructions)

(接線員指示)

Toni Kaplan, Morgan Stanley.

Toni Kaplan，摩根士丹利。

I was hoping you could talk about maybe the Healthcare business. Just what are you seeing in terms of sort of volume or price there? And how should we think about growth going forward? I think it was just a little bit lighter than what we were expecting.

我想請你談談醫療保健業務。就那邊的量或價格而言，你們看到的是什麼情況？以及我們應該如何看待未來的成長？我覺得它比我們預期的稍微弱一些。

Toni, yes, good question. And look, I would tell you, overall, I'll give you may be a bit more than you just asked for. I'll give you more of a holistic picture here. But overall, the WM HS story is a good one. It was one of the drivers of our strong EBITDA pricing, SG&A performance for Q2.

Toni，是的，問得好。我想說的是，整體而言，我可能會多回答一些你沒問到的內容。我會給你一個更全面的觀點。但總體來看，WM HS的故事是正面的。它是我們第二季強勁EBITDA定價與SG&A表現的推動因素之一。

So we were pleased with that. I think we can finally say the business is integrated, and that was -- maybe took a bit longer than we initially thought when we bought it. But we can say it's integrated now that we're seeing things like DSO dropping DSOs down 5 days, which was a nice improvement and continuing to drop.

所以我們對此感到滿意。我想我們終於可以說這項業務已完成整合；這件事——在我們收購時原本以為會更快，但確實花了比最初預期更久。但現在我們可以說它已整合完成，因為我們看到像是DSO下降、應收帳款週轉天數縮短了5天，這是很好的改善，而且還在持續下降。

We did talk about customer credits last quarter, and we said they would peak in Q4. They did. They came down in Q1 and came down again in Q2. And then that really turns into a tailwind, a pretty significant tailwind for us in the back half of the year, which we had indicated last quarter. That will affect both top line and bottom line. And so that's a positive for us.

我們上季談到客戶抵減（customer credits），並表示它們會在第四季達到高峰。確實如此。第一季下降，第二季又再下降。而這在今年下半年會轉為順風，對我們而言是相當顯著的順風，我們在上季也有提到。這會同時影響營收端與獲利端。因此這對我們是正面的。

I think to your question about volume, again, that was really going to be -- always going to be more of a back half of the year story, and we're already starting to see that. We had our quarterly business reviews with all of our area leaders, including WM HS last week. And we're hearing that cross-selling -- cross-selling did pick up again in Q2, up to $32 million, I think, was the number.

至於你問到的量（volume），同樣地，這本來就會——一直都會——更偏向下半年的故事，而我們已經開始看到這點。上週我們與所有區域主管進行季度業務回顧，其中也包括WM HS。我們聽到交叉銷售——交叉銷售在第二季又回升了，我記得數字是增加到3,200萬美元。

We said $50 million when we originally gave those -- that synergy number of $300 million. $250 million would be cost related and $50 million would be related to cross-selling, and we're up to $32 million. Fully expect to get to that $50 million number, and it probably is going to happen in the first quarter -- by the first quarter of next year. So that's been a positive, and that certainly is going to affect volume in the back half of the year.

當初我們提出3億美元的協同效益（synergy）時，曾說其中2.5億美元與成本相關，5,000萬美元與交叉銷售相關，而我們目前已達到3,200萬美元。我們完全預期會達到5,000萬美元，且很可能會在明年第一季——在明年第一季之前——達成。所以這是正面的，而且這確實會影響下半年的量。

We also heard our national accounts team talking positively about WM HS volume that's starting to grow. I think they gave a $15 million win number on the call last week. We're seeing things like speed to close improve nicely. And then I guess, lastly, even though you didn't ask about it, but look, the cost synergy line has been a success story all along.

我們也聽到全國客戶（national accounts）團隊對WM HS的量開始成長持正面看法。我想他們在上週的電話會議中提到新增訂單（win）約1,500萬美元。我們也看到像是成交速度（speed to close）有明顯改善。最後我想說，即使你沒有問到，但成本協同這條線一路以來都是成功案例。

We did talk a bit in our scripts about SG&A and our SG&A within WM HS has dropped from 24%, 25% when we first bought it down to 18% at the end of the quarter. We expect that to be 15% to 16% by the end of the year. And you really don't have to look any further than our overall number that we talked about. I mean, 9.9% gets us back below 10% where we were before we bought the Stericycle business.

我們在講稿中也稍微提到SG&A，而WM HS的SG&A占比已從我們剛收購時的24%、25%，降到本季末的18%。我們預期到年底會降到15%到16%。其實你不必看得太遠，只要看我們剛提到的整體數字即可。也就是9.9%，讓我們回到收購Stericycle業務之前的10%以下。

I think it kicked us up to almost 11% the quarter after we bought them, and now we've chopped away at that, and we're back down at 9.9% and continuing to go down from there. So that's a real positive. And lastly, I think I would tell you that OpEx, after rolling the business into our existing field operations, we've really seen a benefit from OpEx, and that's been part of the success story with OpEx as well.

我記得在收購後的下一季，它把我們推高到接近11%，而現在我們已逐步把它削減下來，回到9.9%，而且還會繼續下降。所以這是非常正面的。最後我想說，OpEx方面，在把該業務併入我們既有的現場營運後，我們確實看到OpEx帶來的效益，而這也成為OpEx成功故事的一部分。

So overall, I think long answer to your short question. But overall, I think we feel like we've fixed the business now and integrated it, and this is really turning into exactly what we hoped when we bought it initially.

所以整體而言，對你簡短的問題，我給了比較長的回答。但總體來看，我們覺得現在已把這項業務修復並完成整合，而它正逐步成為我們當初收購時所希望達成的樣子。

Okay. Terrific. And maybe just a follow-up on C&D. I think it sounded like you sound like it's going to accelerate in the back half of the year and be towards the higher end of your expectation. I guess, are the -- what trends are you sort of seeing that, that gives you the confidence in the recovery and/or does something have to change in the market to get you to that level?

好的。太好了。另外想追問一下C&D。聽起來你認為它會在下半年加速，並落在你們預期的較高端。我想問的是——你們看到哪些趨勢讓你們對復甦有信心？或者市場需要出現什麼變化，才能達到那個水準？

Toni, I think when you look at overall landfill volumes, you saw that we still have positive landfill volumes across MSW in the quarter, moderated a little bit from Q1 to Q2, but still positive. I think a bright spot was certainly special waste because even net of the wildfires, which was significant volume, particularly in Q2 last year, we're still showing positive 4.5% volume there. I think that's a pretty good indicator of at least what's happening specifically in the industrial sector.

Toni，我想當你看整體掩埋場（landfill）量時，你會看到本季我們在MSW方面仍有正的掩埋量成長，從第一季到第二季略有放緩，但仍為正。我認為一個亮點肯定是特殊廢棄物（special waste），因為即便扣除野火帶來的量——那在去年第二季是相當顯著的量——我們在那裡仍呈現4.5%的正成長。我認為這是至少反映工業部門具體情況的一個相當不錯的指標。

Noah Kaye, Oppenheimer.

Noah Kaye，奧本海默。

Maybe just want to understand a little bit more on the revenue guide pieces following up on your prepared remarks, David. So it sounds like we're going to have some uplift here, obviously, from energy surcharges that weren't contemplated in the guide. If I run rate that from 2Q, I don't know maybe it's $300 million higher.

David，想在你準備好的發言之後，進一步了解營收指引的幾個組成部分。聽起來我們會因為能源附加費（energy surcharges）而有一些上修，而這在指引中顯然原本沒有納入。如果我用第二季的水準年化推算，我不確定，可能會高出3億美元。

So kind of we're looking at something like $450 million pre-impact of surcharges and it seems like roughly $350 million of that would be just from lower solid waste volumes and then the balance is from recycling brokerage and RNG. Is that the right way to think about it? Is there any change to WM HS? Can you kind of help refine those moving pieces for us?

所以我們大概是在看類似4.5億美元的金額（未計入附加費的影響），而其中約3.5億美元似乎只是來自固體廢棄物量較低，剩下的則來自回收經紀（recycling brokerage）與RNG。這樣理解對嗎？WM HS有任何變化嗎？你能否幫我們把這些變動因素再細化一下？

So thanks. Good question. Let me take a bit of it, and then I'll pass it over to David. First of all, if you think about the revenue for the second quarter, really kind of break down revenue into 3 pieces. First of all, the half -- about half of it was on the collection, disposal side.

謝謝。問得好。我先回答其中一部分，然後再交給David。首先，如果你看第二季的營收，基本上可以把營收拆成三個部分。第一，大約一半來自收運（collection）與處置（disposal）端。

And really, that was related to what happened in the first quarter with the winter weather. What we said at the end of the first quarter was we thought -- what we normally see when we have a bad winter is that we recover it in Q2, especially on things like roll-off and some of the landfill volumes. And we just didn't see that recovery in the second half. What is that attributed to? It's a little bit hard to say.

而且坦白說，那與第一季冬季天氣所發生的情況有關。我們在第一季末所說的是——我們通常看到在冬天表現不佳時，會在第二季回補，特別是在像是開放式貨櫃（roll-off）以及部分掩埋場處理量等項目上。但我們在下半年並沒有看到那樣的回升。這要歸因於什麼？這有點難說。

Is it the economy? I mean we don't see a hugely growing economy, but we also don't see any red flags. So that was about half of the revenue piece for the quarter. The other half, you can break into two pieces. Part of it -- about half of that was our brokerage business, which was slower on volumes, doesn't really have much impact. It's a bit of a pass-through business. It doesn't really have much impact on the EBITDA line. And then the other half was related to RNG, specifically a couple of plants.

是經濟因素嗎？我的意思是，我們沒有看到經濟大幅成長，但也沒有看到任何警訊。所以這大約占了本季營收因素的一半。另一半你可以拆成兩塊。其中一部分——大約那一半的一半——是我們的經紀（brokerage）業務，處理量較慢，其實影響不大。它有點像是轉手（pass-through）型的業務。對 EBITDA 這條線的影響不大。而另外一半則與 RNG 有關，特別是幾座廠。

Those two plants are built. So they're standing ready, but we're not able to push gas into the pipeline yet. And that's related to a couple of third parties the gas lines are being kind of prepared for the gas to come in, but it's not something that we have a ton of control over. We do think that we will be there and we will be pushing gas out of those plants by the end of the year. That's the hope. So that's really the breakdown of revenue. And then I'll let David talk a bit more specifically about the back half of the year.

那兩座廠已經建好了。所以它們已經就緒，但我們還無法把氣體送進管線。這與幾個第三方有關——氣體管線正在做一些準備工作以便接氣，但這不是我們能完全掌控的事情。我們確實認為到年底前我們會到位，並且會從那些廠把氣體送出。這是我們的期望。所以這就是營收的拆解。接下來我讓 David 更具體談談今年下半年。

Yes. So I mean, as you just heard, this is really a volume-driven adjustment. And so with our pricing plans, our cost management and our ongoing optimization plans, we really feel like we're mitigating the earnings impact. On the volume side on the Collection and Disposal business, you referenced the energy surcharges. So call it, the $250 million of lower revenue due to volume is being offset by the higher energy surcharges.

是的。所以如你剛剛聽到的，這其實是一個由處理量驅動的調整。因此，透過我們的定價計畫、成本管理以及持續的最佳化計畫，我們確實覺得正在減輕對獲利的影響。在收運與處置（Collection and Disposal）業務的處理量面，你提到了能源附加費。所以可以這麼說，因處理量造成的 2.5 億美元營收下滑，正被較高的能源附加費所抵銷。

We're estimating for 2026 about $175 million of higher energy surcharges, so to get to a net impact of $75 million. The things that are going well, again, to help close the gap from an earnings perspective that also give us confidence on our EBITDA and free cash flow guidance, again, is that better-than-planned pricing execution, the cost and controls. We also have an improving Healthcare Solutions outlook, as Jim just alluded to, and then also lower cost in our corporate and other.

我們估計 2026 年能源附加費將增加約 1.75 億美元，因此淨影響為 7,500 萬美元。從獲利角度來看，進展良好的事項——同樣有助於縮小差距，也讓我們對 EBITDA 與自由現金流指引更有信心——包括優於計畫的定價執行、成本與管控。此外，如 Jim 剛剛提到的，我們的醫療保健解決方案（Healthcare Solutions）展望正在改善，另外我們在公司層級及其他項目的成本也更低。

Yes. Great. I mean that plays into the next question, which is there are some puts and takes for the raise in margins here with some of the noncore solid waste pieces. But it feels also like core solid waste margins are performing better versus the guide. And I want to understand kind of what the main drivers of that are?

是的。很好。我的意思是，這也帶到下一個問題：在一些非核心固體廢棄物（solid waste）項目上，毛利率上調有一些此消彼長的因素。但感覺核心固體廢棄物的毛利率表現也比指引更好。我想了解其主要驅動因素是什麼？

And then in particular, as you look at the full year, any change to corporate expense expectations? Or is this really a story about better leverage in C&D?

另外，從全年來看，公司費用（corporate expense）的預期有任何變動嗎？還是這其實主要是 C&D（Collection and Disposal，收運與處置）槓桿更好的故事？

I think, Noah. It's John. I think you hit it right there at the end, which is if you look at the margins and the OpEx for the quarter and you think about the wildfire and fuel impact on margins, it really does highlight exactly what a great job the team has been doing on controlling costs for all the things I talked about through my prepared remarks.

我想，Noah。我是 John。我覺得你最後那句點得很準：如果你看本季的毛利率與營業費用（OpEx），再考量野火與燃料對毛利率的影響，這確實凸顯了團隊在我準備稿中提到的各項事項上，成本控管做得有多好。

And we -- and despite the volume challenges that David referenced that we'd see in the back half of the year, the only thing that's changing really is the volume -- excuse me, the revenue adjustment we just spoke to. But obviously, upping margins and keeping our EBITDA and free cash flow targets intact, I think, just speaks to the strength and the resiliency of the business model we've built.

而且我們——儘管 David 提到我們在今年下半年會看到處理量方面的挑戰——真正改變的只有處理量——抱歉，是我們剛剛談到的營收調整。但顯然，提高毛利率並維持我們的 EBITDA 與自由現金流目標不變，我認為這正說明了我們所建立的商業模式的強度與韌性。

And I think on corporate and other, we saw improved performance sequentially from Q1 to Q2. It's largely driven by timing of certain expenses, which can create some of that variability quarter in, quarter out. But I think what's important, if you step back is from a full year perspective, while we see variability in various segment contributions, we remain confident in our full year outlook of overall operating EBITDA. And like we alluded to a lot of times with the operating costs in terms of flexing according to the conditions of the business, we do the same thing on SG&A as well.

我想在公司層級及其他項目方面，我們看到從第一季到第二季的表現按季改善。這主要是由某些費用的認列時點所驅動，這可能造成季度之間的一些波動。但我認為重要的是，如果你退一步從全年角度來看，雖然我們看到各事業部貢獻存在波動，我們仍對全年整體營運 EBITDA 的展望有信心。而且就像我們多次提到的，營運成本會依業務狀況彈性調整，我們在銷售、一般及管理費用（SG&A）上也同樣如此。

Kevin Chiang, CIBC.

Kevin Chiang，CIBC。

Maybe just more of a macro volume question. Just wondering the tone, maybe a little bit softer on volumes. Just wondering, as you've talked to your customers over the past 90 days, whether you've seen a change in sentiment just given how volatile the overall macro has been and commodity prices have been all over the place here. Just are you sensing that from your customers versus maybe what they would have been messaging entering 2026?

也許這是一個更偏宏觀的處理量問題。只是覺得語氣上，處理量可能稍微偏弱一些。想請問在過去 90 天你們與客戶交流時，鑑於整體宏觀環境波動很大、商品價格也大起大落，你們是否看到客戶情緒有變化？相較於他們在進入 2026 年時可能傳達的訊息，你們是否有感受到這種變化？

We're really not. I'll tell you, Kevin, I just looked at our volumes this morning and two of the best indicators for us of the health of the economy are roll-off, which is our industrial line of business and then special waste. So John talked about special waste being 4.5% positive if you exclude the wildfires and continuing to show strength.

其實沒有。我跟你說，Kevin，我今天早上剛看了我們的處理量，而對我們來說衡量經濟健康狀況的兩個最佳指標是開放式貨櫃（roll-off）——也就是我們的工業線業務——以及特殊廢棄物（special waste）。所以 John 談到特殊廢棄物若排除野火影響，仍有 4.5% 的正成長，並持續展現強勁。

And looking at the -- over the last 4 weeks compared to the same four-week period from the prior year on roll-off volumes, industrial volumes, they were -- it looked like they were up 50 basis points. That's a pretty good indication that the economy is doing okay. As I said kind of early on in the first question, we don't see it blowing and going, but we also don't see it kind of falling off a cliff in any way.

再看——過去 4 週相較於去年同期同樣 4 週的開放式貨櫃處理量、工業處理量——看起來上升了 50 個基點。這是經濟表現還可以的一個相當不錯的指標。就像我在第一個問題一開始說的，我們沒有看到它非常火熱地成長，但也沒有看到它以任何方式出現斷崖式下滑。

So I'm not sure the macro economy is really a driver here. Some of it has been a bit of national accounts lost business on the commercial side. So it is a bit of a mixed picture for us if you look at it by line of business. But if it gives you any comfort, we're not seeing the economy show signs of weakness.

所以我不確定宏觀經濟是否真的是這裡的驅動因素。其中一部分是商業端有一些全國性客戶（national accounts）流失的業務。因此如果按業務線來看，對我們而言確實是一個有點混合的圖像。但如果這能讓你安心一些，我們沒有看到經濟出現疲弱的跡象。

Okay. That's helpful. Just wondering, as we kind of enter the back half of this year, we've seen a little bit of volatility in D3 RIN prices and maybe arguably upside volatility given we saw a couple of 52-week highs in the past couple of months. Does that change how you think about, let's say, hedging out your exposure as we look out into 2027? I know you typically think of like, call it, 80%, 40%, 20% kind of 1-, 2-, 3-year split. Does that change just given the recent volatility in RIN prices we've seen?

好的。這很有幫助。想再請問，當我們進入今年下半年時，我們看到 D3 RIN 價格有一些波動，甚至可以說有上行波動，因為過去幾個月我們看到幾次創下 52 週新高。這會改變你們對沖（hedging）曝險的想法嗎，尤其是展望到 2027 年？我知道你們通常會用大概 80%、40%、20% 這種 1 年、2 年、3 年的分配方式來思考。鑑於近期 RIN 價格的波動，這會有任何改變嗎？

No, not at all. Our approach remains the same. And just to give you some context on where we are today, we have 90% of our volume locked up for 2026. So very little impact from the rise in RIN prices in 2026. However, it will have an impact in 2027 and should be positive.

不，完全不會。我們的方法維持不變。為了讓你了解我們目前的狀況，我們已經鎖定了 2026 年 90% 的處理量。所以 2026 年 RIN 價格上升帶來的影響非常小。不過，它會在 2027 年產生影響，而且應該是正面的。

And as we look at 2027, we have roughly 1/3 of our RINs presold. So we're doing a nice job of making sure that we are locking in some of our offtake and making sure that we have a little bit of an opportunity to see some of the upside. Really pleased with where we're at.

而展望 2027 年，我們大約有 1/3 的 RIN 已經預售。因此，我們在確保鎖定部分承購量（offtake）、同時也保留一些機會去參與上行空間方面做得不錯。對我們目前所處的位置非常滿意。

Trevor Romeo, William Blair.

Trevor Romeo，William Blair。

First one I had was just on the free cash flow outlook. I think just maintaining the guidance despite some strength in the first half. So I think if you look at the last few years, you've generated more than half of the kind of the year's free cash flow in the back half. I think this year, you're already over 50% in the first half.

我第一個問題是關於自由現金流的展望。我想你們在上半年表現偏強的情況下，仍維持原先指引。所以我想如果回顧過去幾年，你們在下半年產生了超過全年度一半的自由現金流。但今年你們在上半年就已經超過 50%。

So maybe you could just help us kind of with the cadence you're expecting? Are there any items, working capital or otherwise that would make conversion step down in the second half? Or is there may be some conservatism there?

所以也許你們可以協助我們理解你們預期的節奏？下半年是否有任何項目（營運資金或其他）會讓現金轉換率下降？或者這裡是否有一些保守因素？

Sure. Sure. I'll jump in. We're very pleased with the performance of free cash flow through the first 6 months, and we do feel like we're in a strong position to deliver our full year expectations. As we alluded to in our remarks, Q2 was up 35%.

當然。當然。我先來回答。我們對前 6 個月自由現金流的表現非常滿意，也確實覺得我們處於有利位置，能夠達成全年預期。如同我們在談話中提到的，第二季成長了 35%。

First half was up 57%. Our guide does call for free cash flow being up 29% year-over-year. This will be our third year in a row between 20% and 30% increases. And as we exit this year, we will have doubled the free cash flow in the last three years. So those are all really strong points to highlight.

上半年成長了 57%。我們的指引是自由現金流年增 29%。這將是我們連續第三年維持在 20% 到 30% 的增幅。而在今年結束時，我們的自由現金流將在過去三年翻倍。所以這些都是非常值得強調的亮點。

This growth is driven by strong earnings growth, lower CapEx, which we alluded to. Working capital, you highlighted that. It has been really strong the first half of this year, including things like accounts payable. So we're keeping an eye on that. There could be some upside there, but we're obviously -- we're tracking kind of what our historical trends with AP, and that's one element that's keeping us within our guidance range. But we'll give further update in the fourth -- excuse me, in the third quarter as the year continues to progress.

這樣的成長主要由強勁的獲利成長、較低的資本支出（CapEx）（我們也提到過）所驅動。你也提到了營運資金。今年上半年營運資金表現非常強勁，包括應付帳款等項目。所以我們也在密切關注。這裡可能還有一些上行空間，但我們顯然——我們正在追蹤應付帳款（AP）的歷史趨勢，而這也是讓我們維持在指引區間內的一個因素。不過隨著年度持續推進，我們會在第四——抱歉，在第三季提供進一步更新。

Okay. And then maybe a follow-up on the recycling business, which really good results in the quarter. I think, Jim, you mentioned you processed 12% more recyclables year-over-year. So maybe how much of that is new facilities versus improving throughput at your existing facilities?

好的。接著可能追問一下回收業務，本季結果非常好。我想 Jim，你提到你們處理的可回收物量年增 12%。所以其中有多少是來自新設施、又有多少是來自既有設施的處理量（throughput）提升？

And then maybe just a quick update on kind of where the commodity markets stand with green shoots in the fiber market you called out earlier in the year, and we've already seen some improvement in prices in the first half. But where do you think -- where are you expecting that to come out for the full year at this point?

另外也請快速更新一下大宗商品市場的狀況：你們今年稍早提到纖維市場出現一些復甦跡象，而我們在上半年也已看到價格有所改善。但你認為——就目前而言，你們預期全年會落在什麼水準？

Thanks, Trevor. Yes, we're very pleased with the performance of our recycling facilities. And at this point, we've built out 38 of our 39 that we originally had in our capital plan. Our last one will come online in 2027. And it really is coming from all angles.

謝謝你，Trevor。是的，我們對回收設施的表現非常滿意。截至目前，我們原先資本計畫中的 39 座設施，已完成建置 38 座。最後一座將在 2027 年上線。而這確實是多方面共同帶動的成果。

Our new facilities are performing really well. If you look at our two new facilities in Canada, really strong performance in that extended producer responsibility market. And then we are seeing volume improvements at our automated facilities. And you're seeing that show up. We were just talking a little bit earlier about our internalization rate, and some of that is coming from the recycling facilities that we've built.

我們的新設施表現非常好。如果你看我們在加拿大的兩座新設施，在延伸生產者責任（EPR）市場的表現非常強勁。同時，我們也看到自動化設施的處理量有所提升。而你也看得到這些反映在數據上。我們稍早也談到一些內部化率（internalization rate），其中一部分就來自我們建置的回收設施。

All in, this is just a really great story in our automation journey. We had committed to roughly 1,200 roles that were hard to fill, and we've exceeded that number at this point. And you're seeing it translate into our EBITDA performance despite the fact that commodity prices were down year-over-year. So the trajectory is really strong on the recycling business and will be so that we can support our customers.

整體而言，這是我們自動化旅程中非常好的故事。我們原本承諾要補足大約 1,200 個難以招募的職缺，而目前已經超過這個數字。即便大宗商品價格年減，你也看到這些成果轉化為我們的 EBITDA 表現。因此回收業務的發展軌跡非常強勁，也將持續如此，以便我們能支援客戶。

On the outlook for commodity prices, we had started the year with a full year outlook at $70 a ton. We're a bit higher in Q2, which you saw, and we're seeing OCC prices creep up, which we had somewhat expected for the back half of the year, and we're starting to see a little bit of positive movement on plastics. So I think what you'll see from us is that our full year outlook on commodity prices might be slightly higher, but it will likely be offset by some operating issues primarily related to the fire that we had at one of our Arizona facilities.

至於大宗商品價格展望，我們在年初給出的全年展望是每噸 70 美元。第二季略高一些，你也看到了；我們也看到 OCC（舊瓦楞紙箱）價格逐步上升，這與我們對下半年某種程度的預期一致，同時塑膠也開始出現一些正向變動。所以我想你會看到的是：我們對全年大宗商品價格的展望可能會略微上調，但很可能會被一些營運問題所抵銷，主要與我們亞利桑那州其中一座設施發生的火災有關。

Tami Zakaria, JPMorgan.

Tami Zakaria，JPMorgan。

I think you recently purchased a landfill in Florida. Can you just remind us whether it was already planned? If not, how much tonnage do you expect this to run rate at and over what time frame? And how strategic this might be in that region overall?

我想你們最近在佛羅里達州收購了一座掩埋場。你能否提醒我們這是否原本就已規劃？如果不是，你們預期這座掩埋場的穩態（run-rate）處理量會是多少、在什麼時間範圍內達成？以及這在該區域整體策略上有多重要？

Tami, you broke up a little bit. I think I got most of it, though. I think first, I'll start where you finished, which is strategically. We've got obviously a terrific set of assets down in South Florida and I have been down there, gosh, for 50 years. And the real estate we bought is obviously an extension of our investment in that market.

Tami，你的聲音有點斷斷續續。不過我想我大致都聽到了。我先從你最後提到的策略面開始。我們在南佛羅里達顯然擁有一組非常出色的資產，而我在那邊——天啊——已經 50 年了。我們買下的這塊不動產，顯然是我們在該市場投資的延伸。

We've had the Medley landfill down there for decades and the real estate we purchased is tied to the opportunity we see to continue to perform in that market. So what was the other part of your question?

我們在那裡的 Medley 掩埋場已經營運了數十年，而我們收購的不動產與我們所看到、能夠持續在該市場維持表現的機會相連結。所以你問題的另一部分是什麼？

When do you expect that to be operational? And what run rate tonnage would you expect in that landfill?

你們預期何時會開始營運？以及你們預期那座掩埋場的穩態處理量會是多少？

I don't know the tonnage there off top of my head, what I would tell you is we do have a decent amount of airspace left at Medley landfill, but we didn't want to -- we want to take the opportunity to obviously get the property under the WM moniker now. So we've got a number of years before we're going to be required to move over, which frankly gives us the latitude to go about doing what we have to do between now and then and get that site ready well in advance of when day 1 comes.

我一時想不起來那邊的處理量數字；但我可以告訴你的是，Medley 掩埋場還有相當可觀的剩餘容量（airspace），但我們不想——我們希望把握機會，現在就先把該物業納入 WM 的品牌名下。因此，在我們必須轉移過去之前，還有好幾年的時間；坦白說，這也讓我們有空間在此期間完成我們需要做的事情，並在「第一天」到來之前很早就把場址準備好。

The way I would think about it is just extending our competitive advantage in that market, and the Miami market is clearly one that's going to grow long term.

我會把這件事視為延伸我們在該市場的競爭優勢；而邁阿密市場顯然是一個長期會成長的市場。

I think, too, part of the extension of that competitive advantage was what the Florida team did with building out that rail line. So we built out a couple of years ago, probably 2 years ago, built out a rail line with a rail partner. And we -- so we're moving volume at actually either the same or lower transportation cost from South Florida up to a landfill that has over 100 years of life in Central Florida.

我想，競爭優勢延伸的另一部分，也包括佛州團隊在建置那條鐵路線上所做的工作。所以我們在幾年前——大概兩年前——與一家鐵路合作夥伴一起建置了一條鐵路線。而我們——因此我們把南佛羅里達的量運到佛州中部一座剩餘壽命超過 100 年的掩埋場，運輸成本實際上持平甚至更低。

And so all of that is part of kind of the strategy of furthering our really strong disposal position. It's a bit of what we talked about at Investor Day last year, how important that moat is around our business, which is disposal, whether it's recycle centers, whether it is transfer stations or in this case, whether it's landfills. And with the steps that we've taken in South Florida now, including the purchase of this property, we really have a good position in disposal for the long term.

因此，這些都算是我們進一步強化非常強勁處置布局策略的一部分。這也有點像我們去年投資人日談到的：我們業務周圍那道「護城河」有多重要，而那道護城河就是處置能力——不論是回收中心、轉運站，或像這次一樣的掩埋場。而隨著我們現在在南佛羅里達採取的各項措施（包括收購這處資產），我們在長期的處置端確實已經占據了很好的位置。

Understood. That's very helpful. And my second question is I was hoping to get some help with the modeling. How should we think about C&D volume growth or volume decline in 3Q versus 4Q?

了解。這非常有幫助。我的第二個問題是，我希望在模型假設上請教一下。我們應該如何看待第三季相較第四季的 C&D（建築與拆除）量的成長或下滑？

I think we're kind of saying it's flattish in the back half. Collection, disposal should be flattish in the back half of the year. And so it takes us for the whole year to about negative 0.8%, I believe. Our original guidance was positive 0.4%. So a bit of a falloff, most of which, as I explained, was related to not recovering the volume loss from that strong winter.

我想我們的說法是，下半年大致持平。收運與處置在今年下半年應該都會大致持平。因此全年大約會到負 0.8%，我記得是這樣。我們原先的指引是正 0.4%。所以確實有些回落，而其中大部分，如我先前解釋的，是因為沒有把那個強勁冬季造成的量損失補回來。

Faiza Alwy, Deutsche Bank.

德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）的 Faiza Alwy。

Yes. I had a few clarifying questions just on the guidance change on the revenue line. So one, I just want to confirm, I think, David, you said that you're anticipating $175 million of fuel -- higher fuel surcharge revenues. And I believe you already got $100 million this quarter. So one, I want to confirm that, and that seems a little bit conservative. So it sounds like you're anticipating that fuel prices would kind of normalize at some point this year?

是的。我有幾個釐清問題，主要是關於營收項目指引的變動。第一，我想確認一下，我記得 David 你說你們預期燃油——燃油附加費收入會更高，約 1.75 億美元。而我相信你們這一季已經拿到 1 億美元。所以第一，我想確認這點，而且這看起來有點保守。聽起來你們是預期燃油價格會在今年某個時點回歸正常？

And then secondly, I believe you said $250 million of lower volumes, which seems to be a combination of the lower solid waste, lower brokerage and lower RNG. So I just want to understand what the positive then $25 million delta is.

第二，我相信你提到有 2.5 億美元的量下滑，似乎是固體廢棄物量較低、經紀（brokerage）較低以及 RNG 較低的組合。所以我想了解，那麼正向的 2,500 萬美元差額是什麼？

Yes, I'll start with the second part. The $250 million is really just in the Collection and Disposal business on volume impact to lower revenue. The $175 million for higher energy surcharges, which equates to about a 20 basis point margin headwind really is kind of carrying us through Q3, and then we start to see some decel or normalization of diesel prices and other prices that go into the calculation of the energy surcharge. So depending on your view of kind of how long we're going to be at this higher level that I just wanted to give that clarity as well.

是的，我先回答第二部分。這 2.5 億美元其實只是收運與處置（Collection and Disposal）業務中，因量的影響而導致的營收下滑。而燃油／能源附加費較高帶來的 1.75 億美元，折算約為 20 個基點的毛利率逆風，基本上是支撐我們到第三季，之後我們開始看到柴油價格以及其他納入能源附加費計算的價格出現一些降速或正常化。所以這也取決於你對我們會在這個較高水準維持多久的看法，我也想把這點說清楚。

Okay. And then the positive -- it sounds like there's a positive $25 million delta.

好的。那正向的——聽起來有一個正向的 2,500 萬美元差額。

Not from our side, sorry, I'm not sure what you're referring to.

不是我們這邊，抱歉，我不太確定你指的是什麼。

Okay. No, I think you said $250 million lower revenues, right, and then $175 million of the surcharges, so that's $75 million and then -- sorry.

好的。不，我的意思是你說營收少 2.5 億美元，然後附加費多 1.75 億美元，所以差 7,500 萬美元，然後——抱歉。

Sorry, a net-net $75 million impact on that piece on the Collection and Disposal side. And then on the sustainability businesses, we called for about $75 million of a reduction related to the volumes, both on the recycling brokerage, which Jim alluded to, which doesn't have necessarily that much of an EBITDA impact. And then we also talked about the lower RNG volume associated with some of the plant delays and the pipeline interconnects. Those are the two pieces.

抱歉，淨額來看，在收運與處置這一塊的影響是 7,500 萬美元。然後在永續相關業務方面，我們提到大約有 7,500 萬美元的下修是與量有關，包含回收經紀量（Jim 也提到過），那一塊不一定對 EBITDA 有那麼大的影響。另外我們也談到，因部分工廠延遲與管線互聯（pipeline interconnects）而導致 RNG 量較低。就是這兩個部分。

Okay. Got it. And then just on the volume piece within solid waste, like is this -- I know you made some comments around -- you're not sure if this is related to macro. Like do you think it's related to just the higher fuel surcharges? And like if you could give us a bit more context around where you're seeing kind of where the volume recovery didn't happen?

好的。了解。那再回到固體廢棄物裡面的量：這是不是——我知道你提到一些評論——你們不確定是否與總體環境有關。你覺得這跟燃油附加費較高有關嗎？另外你能否再多給一些背景，說明你們看到量的回補沒有發生是出現在哪裡？

Is it more around the residential commercial side, more industrial side, any particular regions? Just any additional color there would be helpful.

是比較偏住宅／商業端，還是比較偏工業端，或是特定區域？任何額外的補充說明都會很有幫助。

Yes. I don't think it's so much of a kind of a price elasticity issue here with higher fuel surcharges, particularly when we look at the volume, we -- as John mentioned, we did see a nice -- a fairly nice pickup in industrial volumes. I mean we've been negative in industrial for 5 consecutive quarters. And so to see that kind of get back to flat and slightly positive, as I mentioned, over the last 4 weeks, that is -- that's a good news picture for us.

是的。我不認為這主要是因燃油附加費較高而產生的價格彈性問題，特別是當我們看量的時候——如 John 提到的，我們確實看到工業量有不錯——相當不錯的回升。我們工業端已經連續 5 個季度是負成長。所以看到它回到持平、甚至如我提到的在過去 4 週略為轉正，對我們來說是個好消息。

The volume negativity was, for the most part, was in the commercial line of business. And that commercial line of business was driven more than anything else by some lost national accounts. Typically, when we lose national accounts, it ends up being as a result of kind of price. So -- but when we win national accounts, it ends up being something other than price, which tends to be things like data and analytics.

量的負成長主要是在商業線（commercial line of business）。而商業線的下滑，最主要是因為流失了一些全國性客戶（national accounts）。通常我們流失全國性客戶，最後往往是因為價格因素。所以——但當我們贏回全國性客戶時，通常是因為非價格因素，往往是像資料與分析這類能力。

So our national accounts team is pretty optimistic about what national accounts holds for the back half of the year. But the front half of the year, we did see some -- and last -- back half of last year did see some losses in commercial, which impacted that commercial line of business. So to answer your question, I don't think this volume has anything to do with the fuel surcharge.

因此，我們的全國性客戶團隊對今年下半年的全國性客戶表現相當樂觀。但在今年上半年，以及去年下半年，我們確實在商業端看到一些——一些流失，影響了商業線的表現。所以回答你的問題，我不認為這次的量與燃油附加費有任何關係。

Jerry Revich, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行（Wells Fargo）的 Jerry Revich。

I'm wondering if you folks can just talk about with the digital investments that you folks have made over the years and lots of AI processes that you've spoken about in the past. Anything that you're able to do now that the AI models have accelerated over the past six months and even three months that you folks are thinking about as an opportunity for WM to accelerate some of the initiatives that you folks laid out at the Analyst Day?

我想請教各位，關於你們多年來所做的數位投資，以及你們過去談過的許多 AI 流程。在過去六個月、甚至三個月 AI 模型加速發展之後，你們現在是否有任何能做的事情，或你們認為 WM 有機會加速在分析師日所提出的一些計畫？

Yes, Jerry, I think the example I gave in my prepared remarks about our SmartTruck platform, which is a combination of artificial intelligence and other forms of technology, certainly, $300 million of run rate EBITDA is significant. And I would tell you that we look at it not just from an AI perspective, but if you look at our road map and how we're going to modernize the business, it's really a technology road map that includes artificial intelligence, right?

是的，Jerry，我在事先準備的發言中提到的例子——我們的 SmartTruck 平台，它結合了人工智慧與其他形式的技術——其 3 億美元的 EBITDA 年化 run rate 當然相當可觀。我也想說，我們不只是從 AI 的角度看它；如果你看我們的路線圖，以及我們將如何讓業務現代化，那其實是一個包含人工智慧在內的技術路線圖，對吧？

We talked about -- Tara talked about the great results we're having even in a $70 recycling market on the recycling business. A lot of that has to do with the technology investments we've made to modernize those plants and a component of that is artificial intelligence, right?

我們也談到——Tara 談到即使在回收市場價格只有 70 美元的情況下，我們在回收業務仍取得很好的成果。其中很大一部分來自我們為了讓這些工廠現代化所做的技術投資，而其中一個組成就是人工智慧，對吧？

So I don't look at it as just AI, I don't think we do as a team. I think we look at it as more of a broad technology road map. And I will tell you that when you look at the operating performance of the business, collection, disposal, recycling and you look at what we're able to do to compress the operating cost pressure. I made the comment in my opening remarks that we're under 1.7% on the collection side. I think that's a combined demonstration of where this technology road map and investments are paying off.

所以我不把它只看作 AI，我想我們團隊也不是這樣看。我認為我們把它視為更廣泛的技術路線圖。而我也想說，當你看業務的營運表現——收運、處置、回收——以及我們能做些什麼來壓縮營運成本壓力時，我在開場發言中提到，收運端我們低於 1.7%。我認為這是技術路線圖與投資正在發揮效益的綜合展現。

Got it. And then, Tara, can I ask for the landfill gas outlook? Can you just give us an update on the earnings ramp '27 versus '26? Nice to see D3 RIN prices moving in the right direction. How are we doing operationally? Are you folks scaling as you expected as additional facilities come online?

了解。接著，Tara，我可以請你談一下垃圾掩埋場氣體（landfill gas）的展望嗎？你能否更新一下'27 相較於 '26 的獲利爬坡情況？很高興看到 D3 RIN 價格朝正確方向走。我們在營運面表現如何？隨著更多設施上線，你們的擴張是否如預期進行？

Yes. We're pleased with the results when our facilities come online and the ramp of those. What we're seeing right now, the couple of facilities where we're having issues getting into the pipeline that will have an impact on volumes for 2026. So our volumes will be a bit lighter than we had anticipated at the beginning of the year. But as we roll to 2027, we'll give updates, obviously, as we get closer, but we feel confident about our ability to deliver when those plants are built.

是的。我們對設施上線後的成果以及爬坡進度感到滿意。目前我們看到有幾座設施在接入管線方面遇到問題，這將影響 2026 年的產量。因此，我們的產量會比年初預期略低一些。但展望 2027 年，我們會在接近時持續更新；不過我們對於在這些工廠建成後交付的能力仍然有信心。

Super. And last one, Jim, can I get your views on what you're seeing within residential? We've seen across the group, greater churn, I think, over the past, call it, year or so, it feels like competitive intensity in rolling up some of those residential assets might be increasing. Would love to get your take on where the industry is at regarding PE involvement in those areas or when we might see a slowdown in the residential churn?

太好了。最後一個問題，Jim，我想請教你對住宅端（residential）目前看到的情況。我們看到整個同業過去一年左右的流失率（churn）更高；感覺在整併一些住宅資產方面的競爭強度可能正在上升。很想聽聽你對於這些領域私募股權（PE）參與程度的看法，或我們何時可能看到住宅端流失趨緩？

So I can probably give you a good answer, Jerry, but I bet, John can give you a great answer, so I'm going to pass it over to him.

Jerry，我大概可以給你一個不錯的答案，但我敢說 John 能給你一個更好的答案，所以我把問題交給他。

Yes, Jerry, I think what you've seen over for, gosh, the last 8 quarters, 10 quarters, 12 quarters is volume losses that have been 4%, 4.5%. And we talked to everybody at the end of the year about us starting to see that moderate. So I think 2 things are happening. You're starting to see the front end of that moderation, obviously, the 200-plus basis points in defection improvement.

是的，Jerry，我認為你在過去，天啊，8 個季度、10 個季度、12 個季度看到的是 4%、4.5% 的量（volume）流失。我們在年底跟大家談過，我們開始看到這種情況趨於緩和。所以我認為有兩件事正在發生。你開始看到緩和的前端跡象，顯然，流失改善超過 200 個基點。

More importantly, though, is I think when you look at the performance of that business, not just because what we've done about being selective on the top line of what we would take and the contract improvements, et cetera, but what we've done in the middle of the P&L there to make that a much more competitive cost model. We've more than doubled the EBITDA margins in the last 4 years in that business.

但更重要的是，我認為當你看這項業務的表現時，不只是因為我們在營收端（top line）更有選擇性地挑選我們願意承接的業務、以及合約改善等等；而是我們在損益表（P&L）中段所做的工作，讓成本模型更具競爭力。在過去 4 年裡，我們在這項業務的 EBITDA 利潤率已經增加到原來的兩倍以上。

And we said that when we got to the point where that line of business started to compete for investment with our other opportunities that we saw that turn into an opportunity for growth. Now we're not there yet, but you're starting to see the moderation. And we do think probably sometime middle to end of '27, we could see a pathway to us getting to flat to positive, and that's where that starts to become a growth opportunity. But it's important to note, it's not just price on the top line. It's really what the team has done to modernize that business model in the middle and make us that much more competitive.

我們也說過，當這條業務線開始能與我們其他機會競爭資本投資時，我們就會把它視為成長機會。現在我們還沒到那一步，但你已經開始看到趨緩。我們確實認為大概在 '27 年中到年底，我們可能會看到一條路徑，讓我們達到持平到正成長，屆時它就會開始成為成長機會。但重要的是要注意，這不只是營收端的價格。更關鍵的是團隊在中段所做的事：把商業模式現代化，讓我們更具競爭力。

Konark Gupta, Scotia Capital.

Konark Gupta，Scotia Capital。

I just wanted to dig into the margin outlook for the second half. So if you look at the first half, I think your margins were up 60 basis points versus prior year. The guidance implies, I think, 30 basis points for the second half improvement over last year. I'm just thinking like in the second half, you have wildfire comps, which are easier. You have recycled commodity prices are higher, surcharges are lesser than the first half. So what could potentially be weighing on the second half margin improvement versus the first half?

我想更深入了解下半年利潤率展望。如果看上半年，我認為你們的利潤率較去年提升了 60 個基點。而指引似乎暗示下半年相較去年大概提升 30 個基點。我在想，下半年你們有野火（wildfire）比較基期，會比較容易；回收商品價格更高，燃油附加費（surcharges）也比上半年少。那麼，可能是什麼因素讓下半年利潤率改善幅度不如上半年？

Yes. I mean I think -- yes, as we guided to the 20 basis point improvement for the full year earlier on the call, Q2 was by far our toughest comp. I mean margins improved 110 basis points sequentially to 30.9% and really proud of the team's efforts to get that number. What you should expect to see as margins progress in the back half of the year, they should progress from that level into the back half of the year. It may not be a straight line, but we do expect to see elevated margins for the back half of the year.

是的。我的意思是——是的，正如我們在電話會議較早時對全年指引所說，全年改善 20 個基點；第二季是我們迄今最艱難的比較基期。利潤率季比提升了 110 個基點至 30.9%，我們對團隊把數字做到這個水準感到非常自豪。你應該預期的是，隨著今年下半年利潤率推進，它們應該會從這個水準在下半年進一步走高。可能不會是一條直線，但我們確實預期下半年會維持較高的利潤率。

And again, you highlighted really the key contributors, which is we have only a small wildfire impact in the third quarter. It's pretty de minimis. And then we are assuming that the fuel surcharge becomes less of an impact as we get late into the year.

再說一次，你提到的確是關鍵貢獻因素：第三季野火影響很小。幾乎可以忽略不計（de minimis）。另外，我們假設燃油附加費在接近年底時影響會變小。

You also heard other commentary like around commodity pricing. If you think about on the renewable energy side, as Tara alluded to, a lot of that is kind of locked in already. So we have that kind of baked in as well. And then if you step back and just look over the last 3 years, we have improved margins by 70 basis points on average. And this -- our expectation for this year is this will be the fourth year of margin expansion as well.

你也聽到其他評論，例如商品定價。如果你從再生能源端來看，如 Tara 所提到的，其中很多其實已經大致鎖定。所以我們也把這部分納入（baked in）假設。再退一步看過去 3 年，我們平均每年把利潤率提升 70 個基點。而我們對今年的預期是，今年也將是利潤率擴張的第四年。

I think, David, one other thing that I would mention also is WM HS. I mean if you think about the price side of it, we'll exit the year at 5.7%, finished this quarter at 4.5%, and we continue to see improvement on the cost side. So WM HS is really starting to flex its muscles a little bit in terms of adding to the good picture.

David，我還想補充一點，就是 WM HS。如果你從價格面來看，我們今年將以 5.7% 的水準收官，本季結束是 4.5%，而且我們持續看到成本面改善。所以 WM HS 真的開始在貢獻整體良好態勢方面展現一些力道。

And while we are at WM HS, any thoughts, Jim, on the revenue outlook for that business now? It seems like it's almost fully integrated here. You're hitting some strides on the cross-selling side of things as well. Do we see some growth in the back half heading into '27?

既然提到 WM HS，Jim，對那項業務目前的營收展望有什麼想法嗎？看起來幾乎已經完全整合了。你們在交叉銷售（cross-selling）方面也開始有些進展。我們是否會在下半年看到一些成長，並延續到 '27 年？

Yes. If you recall, we talked about the headwinds we knew we were going to be facing that business in the first half of the year. I think the number we gave was about $40 million of known losses on the hospital side of the house, which are obviously starting to sunset. And I think we're going to obviously see that. And I made the comment in my prepared remarks, we're going to see price continue -- price performance continue to improve for all the revenue quality issues that Jim addressed earlier.

是的。如果你記得，我們談過我們知道那項業務在上半年會面臨的逆風。我想我們給的數字大約是醫院端已知的損失約 4,000 萬美元，而這些顯然正開始逐步到期（sunset）。我想我們會很明顯地看到這點。而且我在事先準備的發言中也提到，我們會看到價格持續——價格表現持續改善，因為 Jim 先前提到的所有營收品質問題。

I think we're continuing to see strong SG&A improvements, too. We talked about that, and that relates back to the margin commentary you just heard from David and Jim. And Jim commented on, we just got a $15 million win out of one of the national account businesses.

我認為我們也持續看到強勁的 SG&A 改善。我們談過這點，而這也回到你剛剛從 David 和 Jim 聽到的利潤率評論。Jim 也提到，我們剛從某個全國性客戶（national account）業務拿下一筆 1,500 萬美元的勝利。

So there's a lot of detail, but not that I'll bore you with it, but we feel very confident that not only is the price going to accelerate through the back half of the year, but a lot of the volume wins we've talked about for the last couple of quarters really have moderated in the first half of the year, and we're going to -- we're confident we're going to see that benefit in the second half.

所以細節很多，我就不拿來讓你覺得無聊了；但我們非常有信心，不僅價格會在下半年加速，而且我們過去幾季談到的許多量的勝利（volume wins）在上半年其實已經趨於溫和，我們也——我們有信心會在下半年看到這些效益。

Sabahat Khan, RBC Capital Markets.

Sabahat Khan，RBC 資本市場。

Jim, maybe taking the discussion maybe to the medium term, I heard a lot of the comments around the healthcare business accelerating through the back half of the year. Now that it's fully integrated, you had some time to look at it. Could we maybe revisit your sort of medium-term outlook for that business?

Jim，或許把討論拉到中期來看，我聽到很多關於醫療保健業務在今年下半年加速的評論。現在它已經完全整合，你們也有一些時間去檢視。我們是否可以再回頭談談你對這項業務的中期展望？

Do you still expect it to grow sort of maybe in line or whatever the current view is relative to the rest of the base business? Maybe just talk to us about what you've seen in the last little while on the top line opportunities, maybe just focusing on the growth versus the margin side for maybe the next few years?

你是否仍預期它的成長大致會與基礎業務的其他部分一致，或是依照目前相對於其他基礎業務的看法？也請你談談你最近一段時間在營收端的機會上看到了什麼，或許聚焦在未來幾年的成長而非利潤率面？

Great question, Sabahat. And we focused so much over the last couple of quarters when we talk about WM HS on kind of things like the billing and kind of short-term items, which were the right things to focus on because there was this longer integration going on. But now that we feel like we're integrated, we can really focus on what this business, to your question, what the business looks like for the medium and long term.

好問題，Sabahat。過去幾個季度我們在談 WM HS 時，把很多重點放在像是帳單處理以及一些短期事項上；那是正確的聚焦，因為當時仍在進行較長期的整合作業。但現在我們覺得已經完成整合，就能真正聚焦在你所問的：這項業務在中長期會是什麼樣子。

And I've said it before, but if you think about this space, meaning healthcare and the aging population, all of those reasons why this was an attractive business for us, none of those are changing. All of those are still good stories for this business specifically. So we're -- I don't know whether relieved is the right word. We are relieved to have this business largely integrated now. And now we can really focus our sales team, our national accounts team, our operating team on all those things that we do well, our pricing team.

我之前也說過，如果你看這個領域，也就是醫療保健與人口老化，當初讓這成為對我們具吸引力業務的所有理由，都沒有改變。這些對這項業務而言仍然都是很好的故事。所以我們——我不確定「如釋重負」是不是最貼切的詞。但我們確實很欣慰這項業務現在大致已完成整合。接下來我們就能把銷售團隊、全國性客戶團隊、營運團隊，聚焦在我們擅長的所有事情上，還有我們的定價團隊。

And then when you add to that, the kind of the macro effect of demographics and growing healthcare expenses, this really is going to end up being a fantastic business for us, exactly what we thought. So I haven't changed my optimism when I think about the medium term and the long term.

再加上人口結構與醫療支出成長這些宏觀因素，這最後會成為對我們非常出色的一門生意，正如我們當初所想。因此，談到中期與長期時，我的樂觀程度沒有改變。

Jim, the one thing I might add that we're seeing is as we get better integration into the business, to your point, now this does become more and more of sort of the scrambled egg, which is a lot of the benefits of the business. We talk about -- for instance, we commented on what's coming -- what benefits are coming from cross-selling, right, $32 million going to $50 million probably getting there a little quicker than we anticipated.

Jim，我想補充一點：我們看到的是，隨著我們對這項業務的整合愈來愈到位，如你所說，這會愈來愈像「炒蛋」一樣混在一起，而這正是這門生意許多效益所在。例如，我們提到——我們評論過即將到來的——交叉銷售帶來的效益，對吧，從 3,200 萬美元到 5,000 萬美元，可能會比我們原先預期更快達成。

Keep in mind, that's not just going to show up in the Healthcare segment. A lot of those benefits and some of the go-forward benefits we've identified, whether it's back office, real estate, all those things are going to accrue to WM, but they're just -- they're not going to be necessarily specific to what you see in the Healthcare segment by itself.

請記住，那不會只反映在醫療保健部門。我們已辨識出的許多效益以及未來持續的效益，不論是後勤辦公、房地產等，這些都會歸屬於 WM；只是——它們不一定會特別體現在你單看醫療保健部門時所看到的數字上。

Great. And then just for my follow-up, not meant to be a throwaway, but just as we think about capital allocation, this business largely integrated, you're doing dividends, buybacks. I guess what does the sort of the medium-term focus look like on the capital allocation front? Sort of what's next for WM on maybe any larger investments as sort of the RNG projects, recycling facilities in [STRL] are sort of getting wrapped up?

很好。接著我的追問並非隨口一問，而是從資本配置的角度來看：這項業務已大致整合完成，你們也在做股利與庫藏股回購。我想問的是，中期在資本配置面上的重點會是什麼樣子？當 RNG 專案、以及在 [STRL] 的回收設施等較大型投資逐步收尾之後，WM 接下來可能會有什麼更大的投資？

Sure. Yes, I'll start. Kind of if you think about with the acquisition of Stericycle and you also kind of look even back to when we acquired ADS, what we've demonstrated is really a good track record of being able to delever really quickly and get back to our targeted long-term leverage range and maintain that healthy credit profile. And kind of with that as the backdrop, our capital allocation framework really hasn't changed.

當然。是的，我先說。如果你回想我們收購 Stericycle，以及更早之前收購 ADS，你會看到我們已展現出很好的紀錄：能夠非常快速地去槓桿，回到我們目標的長期槓桿區間，並維持健康的信用體質。在這樣的背景下，我們的資本配置框架其實沒有改變。

We alluded to earlier that we're going to index a bit higher on tuck-in M&A activity as an example. But in terms of the prioritization in terms of how we are focused on funding and investing in the base business to maintain the best assets in the industry, supporting the dividend, prioritizing and funding growth that's in line with our strategies and our competencies and then always having kind of an outlet for returning excess cash to shareholders. None of that really changes.

我們先前也提到，舉例來說，我們會把更多比重放在補強型併購（tuck-in M&A）活動上。但就優先順序而言——我們如何聚焦於為基礎業務提供資金並投資，以維持業界最佳資產；支持股利；優先投入並資助符合我們策略與核心能力的成長；以及始終保留一個管道把多餘現金回饋給股東——這些都沒有改變。這些都沒有真正改變。

It's really just tuning the dial based on the opportunities that we have. You alluded to our heavy push in sustainability. I mean we do have some additional investments going into those areas, but it's on a much smaller scale right now, but we are continuing to invest in the business as we see opportunities.

真正改變的只是依據我們所看到的機會去微調力度。你提到我們在永續方面的大力推進。我的意思是，我們確實還會在那些領域做一些額外投資，但目前規模小得多；不過只要看到機會，我們仍會持續投資於業務。

Adam Bubes, Goldman Sachs.

Adam Bubes，高盛。

First question is on RNG. And what we've seen from a lot of landfill gas developers is that the facilities can take several years to reach sort of normalized utilization levels once online. Does the 25 million MMBtu production run rate, does that represent like a normalized production level? Or should we think about that as a conservative base from which volumes can continue to grow?

第一個問題是關於 RNG。我們從許多垃圾掩埋場氣體開發商看到的是：設施一旦上線，可能需要好幾年才能達到所謂的正常化利用率水準。2,500 萬 MMBtu 的產量運行率，這代表的是正常化的產量水準嗎？還是我們應該把它視為一個保守的基礎，之後產量仍可在此基礎上持續成長？

So you're right, there is a ramp period when we bring online an RNG plant, and that's something that our team has done a fantastic job of really accelerating compared to our industry peers, and we also have one of the highest uptimes in the industry when you look at how we operate our RNG plants compared to others.

你說得對，我們在讓 RNG 廠上線時確實會有一段爬坡期；而我們的團隊在這方面做得非常出色，相較同業把爬坡期加速了很多。

So the 25 million is really a focus on, one, what those plants look like once they've gotten through their sort of six-month shakedown period and then also how we're looking at the ramp of landfill gas volumes at those sites.

因此，2,500 萬這個數字主要聚焦在兩點：第一，這些工廠在度過大約六個月的試運轉／磨合期後會是什麼樣子；第二，我們如何看待這些場址的掩埋場氣體量的爬坡。

Got it. And then just a follow-up on the margin outlook for the back half of the year. So I think the full year margin guidance implies 30 basis points of margin expansion in the back half. In 2Q, you did 40 basis points of margin expansion, and you'll have an absence of the wildfire comparison in the back half, which should be a tailwind relative to 2Q expansion. And it sounds like the impact from the fuel impact is easing as well in the assumption. So just trying to -- what's driving like the lesser margin expansion in the back half than the 2Q level?

了解。接著追問一下今年下半年利潤率展望。我想全年利潤率指引意味著下半年利潤率擴張 30 個基點。第二季你們做到了 40 個基點的利潤率擴張，而下半年不會再有野火的比較基期，這相較第二季的擴張應該是個順風。而且聽起來燃料影響在假設中也正在緩解。所以我想釐清——是什麼原因導致下半年的利潤率擴張幅度看起來比第二季的水準更小？

I mean -- so we're calling for -- I mentioned the 30.9% that we posted in Q2. We're calling for Q3, Q4 to be higher than that level. It won't be a smooth straight line in terms of Q3, Q4, but we are showing net-net expansion for the second half of the year.

我的意思是——我們所說的——我提到第二季我們公布的是 30.9%。我們預期第三季、第四季會高於那個水準。第三季、第四季不會是一條平滑的直線，但就整體而言，我們確實預期今年下半年會呈現淨擴張。

Remember, last year, Adam, that the back half of the year was our strongest margin year. So we're going to have a tougher comparison as we go through the rest of the year. But as David pointed out, we're expecting to see continued margin expansion as we go through.

Adam，請記得去年下半年是我們全年利潤率最強的時期。因此接下來我們會面臨較具挑戰的比較基期。但如 David 所指出的，我們預期在接下來的期間仍會看到利潤率持續擴張。

Bryan Burgmeier, Citi.

Bryan Burgmeier，花旗。

You flagged some labor cost increases in your prepared remarks. I think it's up maybe 4% in the first half of the year. I guess just how did that compare to your original expectations? And are you assuming a step up or step down in the second half?

你在事先準備的發言中提到一些勞動成本上升。我想上半年大概增加了 4%。我想問這與你們原先的預期相比如何？以及你們假設下半年會是加速上升還是放緩下降？

I would tell you, Bryan, I looked at this actually just in the last 24 hours, it's about what we expected. We said 4% to 4.5% was sort of the wage inflation. If you look back what it was a handful of years ago, it was higher than that. But in terms of what we expected, I think we're right in the range that we thought we would be. And that's why I think it's that much more impressive when you look in particular at the collection business, the comments I made that our folks were able to push the cost increases sub-2% when, as one example, labor is just north of 4%.

我會跟你說，Bryan，我其實就在過去24小時內看了這個，結果大致符合我們的預期。我們說過4%到4.5%大概就是薪資通膨的水準。如果你回頭看幾年前的情況，那時候比這個還高。但就我們的預期而言，我認為我們正落在我們原先認為會出現的區間內。也因此我覺得特別令人印象深刻的是，尤其當你看收運業務時，我先前提到我們的團隊能把成本增幅壓到2%以下；舉例來說，光是勞動成本就略高於4%。

Got it. Got it. And last quick question for me, and I'll turn it over just curious the outlook for Healthcare in the second half of the year. Do you think we start to see some revenue growth in the third quarter after you lap those pricing actions? I think the EBITDA growth starting to come through, but just curious on the revenue side.

了解。了解。我最後一個簡短問題，問完我就交棒：想請教今年下半年醫療保健業務的展望。在你們把那些調價措施的基期效應消化掉之後，你覺得第三季會開始看到一些營收成長嗎？我想EBITDA成長應該會開始顯現，但我比較好奇營收端的表現。

Yes, Bryan. I think if you look at some of the friction that was still there in the second quarter, we talked about that's going to moderate in the second half of the year and for us to still grow margin and EBITDA, I think is really strong. I think the momentum on SG&A being sub-20% ticking down towards 15%, 16% EBITDA margin growth. And then you couple that with the headwind on the revenue side that should -- is moderating and the pricing performance that Jim in particular, has talked about the last couple of quarters that's really starting to show itself in a good way. I think we feel good about the second half of the year.

是的，Bryan。我認為如果你看第二季仍存在的一些摩擦因素，我們談過這些在下半年會趨於緩和；而我們仍能讓毛利與EBITDA成長，我覺得這點非常強勁。我認為SG&A低於20%並持續下滑的動能，正朝15%、16%的EBITDA利潤率成長推進。再加上營收端的逆風應該會——正在緩和，以及Jim特別在過去幾季談到的定價表現，現在真的開始以正面的方式顯現。我想我們對今年下半年感到樂觀。

OperatorOperator

接線員接線員

Stephanie Moore, Jefferies.

Jefferies的Stephanie Moore。

Maybe talking on the margin performance in the quarter and then the outlook for the second half of the year, particularly the underlying margin improvement, it would be helpful if you could maybe bucket the areas where you are seeing strength. Maybe talk through some of the price cost spread, the benefits you're seeing from your productivity and AI tools. Any way you can maybe bucket the drivers of the strong underlying improvement, that would be helpful.

想請你談談本季的利潤率表現，以及對今年下半年的展望，特別是底層利潤率改善的來源；如果你能把你看到的強勁之處分門別類說明，會很有幫助。也許可以談談價格與成本差（price-cost spread）、你們從生產力提升與AI工具中看到的效益。如果能把這些強勁的底層改善驅動因素做個分類整理，會很有幫助。

Yes, Stephanie, I think you hit on a couple of points that are really important. I think the cost price spread is 1 of them we talked about sort of 250 basis points being a milepost, if you will. And the reality is, at least in this quarter, we outperformed that. I think -- if you look at just the Collection and Disposal business, net of wildfire impact, net of fuel, and there's always puts and takes, but those are 2 pretty significant ones for the quarter. Really impressed with how the team has performed.

是的，Stephanie，我想你點出了幾個非常重要的重點。我認為成本與價格差就是其中之一；我們談過大約250個基點可作為一個里程碑。而實際上，至少在本季，我們的表現超過了那個水準。我想——如果你只看收運與處置業務，扣除野火影響、扣除燃料（當然總是有得有失，但這兩項在本季都相當顯著）。團隊的表現真的讓人印象深刻。

And as Jim mentioned, from a volume perspective, I mean, while we've got some green shoots, it wasn't a huge tailwind and yet you look at the performance of the business, from an EBITDA standpoint, EBITDA margin, OpEx and the outlook for the back half of the year, still maintaining our guidance is terrific. And we just talked about, I think, the other momentum builder that we've been working hard at, which is really starting to show is the Healthcare business.

而且如Jim提到的，從量的角度來看，雖然我們看到一些回溫跡象，但並不是很大的順風；然而你看業務表現，從EBITDA、EBITDA利潤率、營運費用（OpEx），以及對下半年的展望，仍維持我們的指引，這非常出色。我們也剛談到，我認為另一個我們一直努力推動、現在真的開始顯現的動能來源，就是醫療保健業務。

And I think as I mentioned, you're going to see -- you're seeing the benefit in the Healthcare segment performance, but you're also going to continue to see the benefits accrue to the broader WM portfolio.

而且我想如我提到的，你將會看到——你正在看到醫療保健事業部表現帶來的效益，但你也會持續看到效益累積到更廣泛的WM投資組合上。

The only other thing I think we should amplify is that all of our businesses are contributing to margin enhancement, not just for the first 2 quarters, but for the rest of the year. So it really speaks to the diversified nature of our business and we're able to pull levers in all of our spots.

我認為我們還需要強調的唯一一點是：我們所有業務都在貢獻利潤率提升，不僅是前兩季，接下來今年其餘時間也是如此。這也凸顯了我們業務的多元化特性，我們能在各個領域運用槓桿。

Connor Cerniglia, Bernstein.

Bernstein的Connor Cerniglia。

Great. Earlier in the Q&A, you mentioned within the commercial segment, a lost national account. It seems like this is the first time you all have really commented on weakness in the segment related to price. I don't want to blow things out of proportion, but is this a one-off? Or do you think this is early signs of maybe greater competition in the commercial segment.

很好。稍早在Q&A中，你提到在商業部門裡流失了一個全國性客戶（national account）。看起來這是你們第一次真正針對該部門與價格相關的疲弱做出評論。我不想把事情誇大，但這是一次性的事件嗎？還是你認為這可能是商業部門競爭加劇的早期跡象？

I know residential has been that way for quite some time. But do you see increased competition from residential starting to bleed over into commercial? Or is it just more of a one-off?

我知道住宅端已經這樣一段時間了。但你是否看到住宅端競爭加劇開始外溢到商業端？還是這比較像是一次性的事件？

I think it's probably more of a one-off. I mean, we always have a lot of competition in the small and medium business segment. There's a whole host of competitors for that business within commercial. National accounts is really what I was referring to where we lost some business. And I don't see any additional competitors there.

我認為這可能比較像是一次性的事件。我的意思是，我們在中小企業（SMB）這個區塊一直都有很多競爭。在商業端，針對那塊業務有一大票競爭者。我剛剛指的是全國性客戶，我們在那裡流失了一些業務。而我沒有看到那裡出現任何額外的競爭者。

We have maybe a couple of national competitors, and it's that few. And then we have a couple of brokers that can cobble together network. And so they can compete with us. Typically, they compete on the price side, the brokers do. So we tend to see that business ebb and flow.

我們可能只有幾個全國性競爭對手，就那麼幾家。另外還有幾家經紀商（brokers）可以拼湊出一個網路。因此他們也能與我們競爭。通常他們是從價格面競爭，經紀商是這樣。所以我們往往會看到那塊業務有起有落。

It's been more of a flow than an ebb, but for the first half, it was a little bit of a negative impact from some accounts that we lost back half of last year and maybe into the front half of this year. Overall, the national accounts business from both a volume and a price and therefore, an earnings standpoint has been growing significantly for us over the last probably 3 to 4 years. So I would not read anything into my comments about losing a bit of business in national accounts in the commercial line.

最近比較像是「落」多於「起」，但就上半年而言，因為我們在去年下半年、以及可能延續到今年上半年初流失了一些客戶，所以帶來了一點負面影響。整體來看，全國性客戶業務不論在量、價格、因此在獲利表現上，過去大概3到4年對我們而言都顯著成長。所以我不會把我提到在商業線的全國性客戶流失了一點業務這件事，解讀成有什麼更深層的含意。

And I'm showing no further questions in the queue at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Jim Fish, WM CEO, for any closing remarks.

目前我看到佇列中沒有其他問題。我現在把電話交回給WM執行長Jim Fish先生，請他做結語。

All right. Thank you. Well, I don't have a lot of closing remarks. I'll just say thank you all, as always, for joining us, and thank you for your very good questions, and we'll see you next quarter.

好的。謝謝。我沒有太多結語。我只想一如既往地感謝各位參與，也謝謝大家提出非常好的問題，我們下季再見。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

各位女士、先生，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與，您現在可以掛線。