Insight Guru Inc.
10/26/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/26/2026 10:57
Is It A Mistake To Buy Republic Services Stock At A High
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Every investor knows the old rule: buy low, never at the top. Republic Services (RSG) stock closed at a 52-week high on October 22, 2026, making it exactly the kind of purchase that axiom warns against. But instead of debating whether the share price has peaked, history offers a better guide. So what happened to the people who bought Republic Services at its earlier highs?
Why Republic Services Stock Is At A High
Republic Services stock is up 7.7% before dividends over the past year. Higher profit accounted for part of that increase, because net income rose 2.9% in the twelve months to June 2026 compared with the twelve months before.
An expanding price-to-earnings multiple played a larger role. The amount investors pay for each dollar of profit went from 32.3 a year ago to 33.8 now. This willingness to pay a higher premium drove a bigger share of the stock price gain than the extra profit did.
Republic Services operates a recycling and waste business, and the company has been raising prices faster than its costs. During the June 2026 quarter, average yield on related revenue was 4%, and management said this level of pricing exceeded its cost inflation. Core price on related revenue was 6.4%. Revenue rose 3.2% over the twelve months, and management raised full-year 2026 guidance in August.
What Happened After Republic Services Stock's Earlier Highs?
Consider how often Republic Services stock traded higher a year after reaching a 52-week high. The answer is 11 of 13, counting every high since October 2016 that has a full year after it. Here are the 12 most recent of those highs and where the stock stood a year later. The one not shown, from October 2016, was followed by a 23.6% gain, with a lowest point 3.0% below the purchase price.
| 52-week high | Stock a year later | S&P 500, same year | Lowest point in that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2017 | +5.5% | +12.5% | -3.8% |
| Dec 2017 | +6.9% | -6.7% | -8.1% |
| Jul 2018 | +24.4% | +7.7% | -2.8% |
| Feb 2019 | +23.8% | +21.0% | -1.5% |
| Aug 2019 | -1.4% | +15.9% | -26.7% |
| Nov 2020 | +31.7% | +31.1% | -12.9% |
| Jul 2021 | +17.5% | -11.5% | 0.0% |
| Aug 2022 | +5.8% | +7.8% | -13.4% |
| May 2023 | +27.1% | +26.4% | -4.8% |
| Nov 2023 | +35.5% | +38.0% | 0.0% |
| Jun 2024 | +25.7% | +12.7% | -2.7% |
| Feb 2025 | -1.3% | +14.8% | -7.7% |
This table shows the 12 most recent of 13 earlier 52-week highs. A 52-week high is a close above every close of the 252 trading sessions before it, counted no more than once every 126 trading sessions. A year later is the close 252 trading sessions after the high. Changes are measured from the close on the day of the high. A 0.0% reading in the last column means the stock did not close below that level. Calculations use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends.
Across all 13 highs, the middle result was a gain of 23.6% a year later. So far, buying at a high has not been a mistake with Republic Services, though the stock beat the S&P 500 after only 8 of the 13 highs.
Is A High A Worse Time To Buy?
For Republic Services, no. Buying the stock on any trading day over those same years produced a middle result of 16.2% a year later. That is a smaller gain than the return following a high. For this stock, the conventional rule has not held.
What Should A Buyer At A High Expect?
The old rule is not foolish, and the worst of the earlier highs illustrates why. An investor who bought at the August 2019 high was still down 1.4% a year later in August 2020. Along the way, the stock closed as low as 26.7% below the purchase price. That was the only one of the 13 highs followed by a fall of 20% or more.
Most buyers at a high saw a much smaller dip. After its earlier highs, Republic Services stock typically closed 3.8% below the purchase price at its lowest point in the following year.
How To Act On RSG?
Not necessarily on Republic Services alone, if your goal is long-term wealth. Wealth is built by owning the companies that keep outperforming, the leaders of their industries, wherever they are. Here are two companies from Republic Services' own industry that have beaten it. Over the five years to October 2026, Clean Harbors stock rose 178% and GEO stock rose 237%, while Republic Services stock rose 92%.
Finding companies like these takes comparison across industries and sectors, and that is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio does. It holds 30 quality companies in equal weight and, since its inception in September 2020, has returned more than 105%, ahead of a benchmark that combines the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap and Russell 2000. See how we find the leaders.
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Insight Guru Inc. published this content on October 26, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 26, 2026 at 16:57 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]