Clean Harbors (CLH) Q2 2025 Earnings
How Did CLH Stock React to Q2 2025 Earnings?
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +1.67%.
Did CLH Beat Earnings? Q2 2025 Results
No. Clean Harbors reported Q2 2025 earnings of $2.36 a share on Jul 30, 2025, missing the $2.39 consensus estimate by 1.2%. Revenue was $1.5B against a $1.6B estimate.
Clean Harbors delivered a mixed second quarter, falling short on both the top and bottom lines as softer Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions performance weighed on overall results. Revenue came in at $1.55 billion, missing the $1.59 billion consensus by 2.65% and essentially flat against the prior year at -0.2%, while EPS of $2.36 trailed the $2.39 estimate by 1.16%. The headline misses, however, obscured a more nuanced picture: the Environmental Services segment, the company's core growth engine, delivered its 13th consecutive quarter of year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA margin improvement, and record Q2 Adjusted EBITDA of $336.24 million expanded margins by 60 basis points to 21.7%, aided by SG&A declining to $186.18 million from $197.88 million a year ago. Management reaffirmed full-year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA guidance of $1.16 billion to $1.20 billion, representing 6% growth, and projected Q3 Adjusted EBITDA expansion of 9-12%, citing reshoring trends, the Kimball incinerator ramp-up, and a growing PFAS remediation pipeline as catalysts for a stronger second half.
- Strong incineration utilization at 89% excluding Kimball, with 7% mix-adjusted price increase
- Safety-Kleen Environmental Services revenue grew 9% through pricing and core offerings
- Technical Services revenue grew 4% on disposal volume strength
- SG&A cost controls reduced spend from $197.9M to $186.2M year-over-year
- Shift to higher charge-for-oil (CFO) pricing in SKSS segment since November 2024
- Collected 64 million gallons of waste oil in Q2 enabling production goal achievement
- 13th consecutive quarter of year-over-year ES segment Adjusted EBITDA margin improvement
- Record Q2 safety performance with TRIR of 0.40
“Our second-quarter results reflect the consistent profitable growth of our Environmental Services (ES) segment, where we experienced strong demand for our disposal assets, and a stabilization of our Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions (SKSS) segment, where our collection strategies yielded favorable results. We improved our consolidated Adjusted EBITDA margin by 60 basis points from a year ago through lowering our overall cost structure with a sharp focus on our SG&A spend.”
Clean Harbors CEO, on the earnings call
What Was Clean Harbors's Outlook in Q2 2025?
Clean Harbors reiterated its full-year 2025 guidance with Adjusted EBITDA of $1.16 billion to $1.20 billion (midpoint $1.18 billion, representing 6% YoY growth), based on anticipated GAAP net income of $383 million to $419 million. Adjusted free cash flow is expected in the range of $430 million to $490 million (midpoint $460 million), representing a nearly 30% increase from the prior year. For Q3 2025, the company expects Adjusted EBITDA to grow 9-12% from Q3 2024. Management anticipates a strong second half driven by reshoring trends, the recent tax bill, incentives for American manufacturing, a substantial project pipeline for remediation work, and continued ramp-up of the Kimball incinerator. While tariff uncertainty has impacted some customers in the short-term, longer-term benefits from domestic investment are expected to drive customer activity.
CLH YoY Financials
| Metric | Q2 2025 | Q2 2024 | Year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.5B | $1.6B | −0.2% |
| Gross Profit | $516.4M | $517.2M | −0.2% |
| Operating Income | $210.3M | $215.5M | −2.4% |
| Net Income | $126.9M | $133.3M | −4.8% |
CLH Revenue by Segment
Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.