Waste Management, Inc. (WM): Among the Best Stocks to Buy According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust

We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Stocks to Buy According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) stands against Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust's other stock picks.

Bill Gates has invested billions of dollars in stocks to fund the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, widely regarded as the world's largest private foundation, formed through the merger of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation. According to the Trust, its aim is to address major humanitarian concerns such as poverty, a lack of opportunity, and infectious diseases. Over the past 30 years, Bill and Melinda have contributed an estimated $47.7 billion of their fortune to their foundation and predecessor. The foundation's trust maintains a highly concentrated equities portfolio, reflecting the influence of Bill Gates and his longtime friend and former foundation trustee, Warren Buffett.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has set a record $8.74 billion budget for 2025, with intentions to increase yearly distributions to $9 billion the following year. Mark Suzman, the foundation's CEO, stated that the record approval by its governing council is consistent with the foundation's goal of a world "where everyone, everywhere, deserves the chance to live a healthy, productive life."

Gates' predictions for AI

Previously regarded as an aspect of science fiction, AI appears to have entered ordinary life and is now finding its way to consumers and businesses. Bill Gates predicts that by 2035, artificial intelligence will take over roles traditionally held by doctors, teachers, and other professionals, ushering in what he calls the era of "free intelligence." According to Gates, this transition will result in rapid advancements in AI technology that will become firmly integrated into daily life, ranging from better healthcare solutions and more accurate diagnoses to broad access to AI tutors and virtual assistants.

However, while the potential is enormous, Gates admits that there are "understandable and valid" concerns about AI's existing capabilities. In a 2023 blog post, he stated that even the most advanced AI systems make mistakes and can contribute to the spread of misinformation. Still, Gates is optimistic: if he were to establish a new firm today, he told CNBC Make It in September 2024, it would be an "AI-centric" startup.

Our Methodology

For this list, we picked stocks from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust’s 13F portfolio as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2024. These equities are also popular among elite hedge funds.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust’s Stake: $6.5 billion

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) is a waste collection and disposal industry leader with a dominant market share and unequaled landfill ownership. In the first week of April, WM celebrated the grand openings of four important projects, including recycling facilities in Baltimore and in Central Texas, as well as RNG facilities in Chicago and Philadelphia. These openings are part of the company's broader initiative, with over $323 million already committed in these sites.

Jefferies recently boosted its price target for Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) shares to $257, highlighting the company's strong financial quarter, with revenue and EBITDA above consensus estimates. Meanwhile, Stifel maintained a Buy rating with a target price of $252, citing Waste Management's outstanding fourth-quarter results and bullish outlook for 2025.

Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) reported a decent Q4 2024 revenue of roughly $5.9 billion, up 13% year-over-year, driven by strong market demand, continued asset network expansions, and Collection and Disposal service efficiencies. However, the company's adjusted EPS fell 2.3% to $1.70 due to higher operating costs.

Diamond Hill Large Cap Concentrated Fund stated the following regarding Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“As valuations have continued rising and the economic cycle has gotten relatively long in the tooth, we’ve thought carefully about where and how we are exposed to more cyclical stocks. As such, we initiated just three new positions in Q4: Berkshire Hathaway, Aon and Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM).

Waste Management is one of the US’s largest providers of waste-collection services. Its leading footprint of landfill assets provides the company with long-term pricing power. Further, Waste Management has invested heavily in recent years in recycling and renewable natural gas projects — which we believe the market is underappreciating given the value these investments will create as the projects wind down and come online.”

Overall WM ranks 3rd on our list of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust's stock picks. While we acknowledge the potential for WM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%.  If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WM but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.