Houston-based Waste Management, Inc WM is the largest provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. With services to nearly 20 million residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers, the company is well executing its initiative to refocus on the core business activities and instil price and cost discipline to achieve better margins and returns in the long run.In the last four trailing quarters, WM has reported a positive average earnings surprise of 3.39%, beating the estimates thrice. As the extent of competition is increasing over time, investors have been eagerly awaiting for the company’s latest earnings reportCurrently, WM has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), but that could definitely change following the earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below: Earnings: WM beats on earnings. The Zacks Consensus Estimate called for EPS of 55 cents, and the company reported EPS of 58 cents.Revenue: Revenues beat. WM posted revenues of $3,176 million, compared to Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,076 million.Key Stats to Note: WM continues to execute on its pricing, disciplined growth, and cost-control strategies. Acquisitions net of divestitures contributed $81 million in the reported quarter. Waste Management returned $433 million to shareholders during the first quarter, paying $183 million in the form of dividends and repurchased shares worth $250 million.Stock Price: Shares prices remained unchanged in pre-market trading following the earnings beat at the time of writing. Check back our full write up on this WM earnings report later!Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report WASTE MGMT-NEW (WM): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research