undamentalytics Newsletter

Clean Harbors Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Clean Harbors Inc had return on equity of 14.7% and a net margin of 6.5%. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Clean Harbors Inc: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year2009Dec 20092010Dec 20102011Dec 20112012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Dec 20142015Dec 20152016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMSept 2026
Net margin3.4%7.5%6.4%5.9%2.7%−0.8%1.3%−1.4%3.4%2.0%2.9%4.3%5.3%8.0%7.0%6.8%6.5%8.0%
Return on equity6.0%18.7%15.1%11.1%6.6%−2.1%3.7%−3.7%8.9%5.6%8.0%10.3%14.2%24.0%18.1%16.7%14.7%18.0%
Return on assets2.6%8.7%6.9%4.4%2.5%−0.7%1.2%−1.1%2.7%1.8%2.5%3.3%4.2%7.0%6.0%5.8%5.2%6.6%
Effective tax rate42.7%30.8%31.1%−1.5%33.6%—59.8%——30.5%34.1%22.8%24.6%23.5%24.9%24.6%25.9%26.5%
SG&A as % of revenue15.2%11.9%12.8%12.5%13.4%12.9%12.6%15.3%15.5%15.3%14.2%14.3%14.1%12.1%12.4%12.6%12.5%12.7%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

3 of 5 checks passed · September 30, 2026
What it owns · $8.3bn
Short-term assets $2.5bnLonger-term assets $5.8bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $4.4bn
Short-term liabilities $1.3bnShareholders' equity $3.1bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $2.5bn of assets due within a year against $1.3bn of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
  • More cash than debt $424m of cash against $2.9bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 93% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 158% to 93% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $1.0bn of operating cash flow against $2.9bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.

From Clean Harbors Inc's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

68 /100

Moderate moat

How hard Clean Harbors's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 18 / 20

    Cash operating profit has been a median 13.8% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 11 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 31.2%, moving by 1.0 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 8 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 10.2%; its worst year was 4.2%.

  • Cash conversion 13 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 5.7% of revenue.

  • Discipline 18 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 3.5% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.5% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Clean Harbors Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 29, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Clean Harbors Inc.