What Have Casella Stock Holders Had To Sit Through?
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A $10,000 investment in Casella Waste Systems (CWST) stock ten years ago stood at about $89,100 on November 5, 2026, before dividends. That same money in the S&P 500 grew to about $34,400. Buying the stock looks like the only decision that mattered in hindsight, but holding the shares was the hard part. How many times would you guess Casella stock fell 20% or more along the way?
How Often Did Casella Stock Fall?
The stock dropped six times in ten years, and two of those declines exceeded 30%. Here are all six selloffs alongside the performance of the S&P 500 over the same dates.
| High | Low | Casella Waste Systems stock | S&P 500, same dates | Back above the old high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2018 | Dec 2018 | -26.6% | -14.1% | Feb 2019 |
| Feb 2020 | Apr 2020 | -35.0% | -26.8% | Jul 2020 |
| Nov 2021 | Feb 2022 | -21.6% | -9.9% | Mar 2022 |
| Mar 2022 | Jun 2022 | -28.1% | -13.9% | May 2023 |
| May 2023 | Oct 2023 | -23.2% | 0.023% | Mar 2024 |
| May 2025 | Mar 2026 | -37.7% | 13.6% | Not as of Nov 2026 |
Falls of 20% or more from a closing high, Oct 2016 to Nov 2026. Split-adjusted closing prices, dividends excluded.
The deepest drop is also the most recent. Casella stock fell 37.7% from its closing high in May 2025 to its low in March 2026. The S&P 500 rose 13.6% over the same dates. The broader market also declined during four of the five earlier drops. This time, Casella fell on its own.
What Was It Like Holding Casella Through A Fall?
The latest decline has been slow, and it is still not over for investors who sat through it. The stock peaked in May 2025 and slid for almost 11 months before reaching a low in late March 2026. Eighteen months after that peak, the shares have still not closed above it.
Every one of the five earlier drops ended with the stock back above its old high. Shareholders holding through the middle of those declines did not know the stock would recover, and anyone holding Casella through this one still does not know.
Was Something Wrong With Casella’s Business?
Casella operates as a regional waste company. It collects trash and recycling, and it runs landfills and transfer stations. Collection alone brought in 65.1% of its revenue in fiscal 2025.
Casella did not see its sales shrink during the decline. Its twelve-month revenue was 12.5% higher in December 2025 than in March 2025. Profit on those sales thinned, however, as the operating margin slipped from 6.3% to 4.8%.
Revenue also rose between the high and the low in all four of the earlier drops since 2020. The business continued to grow while the stock fell, but the operating margin slipped more this time than in any of those previous declines. The risk of holding the stock is that shares can fall hard even while sales keep rising.
What Selling Casella Stock Would Have Cost
Casella stock is up 33.5% since that March 2026 low. Anyone who sold there missed all of it, though the shares still sit 16.9% below their May 2025 high.
Those five earlier drops were the price of Casella’s ten-year gain, and the latest decline is not over yet. When Casella stock falls hard next time, the thing to check is its operating margin, not only its revenue.
The next hard fall will come without warning. Be ready with a plan for a crash and a rally.
Sitting On A Big Gain In Casella Waste Systems?
After a run like this, the hard questions are personal: hold, trim or sell, and the tax on each. Our partner advisory firm offers a free strategy review of ways to keep part of the upside, protect the rest and spread the tax over years.
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