Waste Connections (WCN.TO), slipped in U.S. after-hours trade as the company on Wednesday afternoon reported a higher fourth-quarter adjusted profit but missed expectations.

Adjusted profit, excluding most one-time items, rose to US$300.6 million, US$1.16 per share, in the quarter, from US$285.5 million, or US$1.11, last year. The result missed consensus analyst expectations of US$1.20 per adjusted share, according to FactSet.

Fourth-quarter revenue of US$2.260 billion, higher than last year's US$2.04 billion, and above the FactSet forecast of US$2.24 billion.

For 2025, Waste Connections is guiding to full year revenue of US$9.45 billion to US$9.6 billion, and net income of US$1.2 billion to US$1.22 billion.

"Q4 provided a solid finish to a year of extraordinary accomplishments for Waste Connections both financially, with double-digit growth in both revenue and adjusted EBITDA), and operationally, . . . , along with the integration of record levels of private company acquisition activity, which totaled approximately $750 million in annualized revenues in 2024," said chief executive Ronald Mittelstaedt.

The company will pay its regular quarterly dividend of US$0.315 per share on March 13.

Waste Connections was last seen down US$0.24 to US$189.74 in U.S. after-hours trading. They closed down $0.33 to $271.02 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.