# How Republic Services (RSG) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/rsg
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on RSG alone. It places RSG (Republic Services, Inc.) against 10 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where RSG stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: RSG's full trading record, from July 1998 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** After a 22.5% loss from June 2025 to May 2026, RSG has bounced 18.6% off the low. RSG has outpaced the market, rising 12.5% over the past 6 months against 9.1% for the S&P 500 and 11.2% for the Nasdaq 100.
- **Stock or market?:** RSG held up far better than its industry: it rose 6.0% over the past 3 months while the industrials sector ETF XLI (State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF) fell 6.1%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Last month cut against the tape: RSG rose 9.3% while the S&P 500 fell 0.6%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, RSG rose 7.1% against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (66.1% against 89.3%). The last two calendar years both went the same way: RSG rose 6.4% in 2025, against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100.
- **Long term:** RSG turned $10,000 into $54,600 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. RSG's 10-year return of 446% puts it ahead of 84% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** Across seven sell-offs, RSG has typically lost about 80% as much as the S&P 500. The 2022 bear market took 15.1% off RSG, against 24.5% for the S&P 500, and less than environmental services peers such as WM (Waste Management, 16.8%).
- **Diversification:** RSG is some diversification, but not a hedge: a correlation of 0.33 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.33 with the total US market, less closely than 63% of stocks worth at least $300 million. RSG moves far less with the S&P 500 than it used to, with a correlation of 0.33 over the past 5 years against 0.70 in the 5 years before.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** WTS (Watts Water Technologies) was ahead of RSG in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (28.4% volatility against 18.5%).
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** WAB (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, industrial machinery) was ahead of RSG in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (26.2% volatility against 18.5%).
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only eight of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than RSG with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them EPD (Enterprise Products Partners), PVAL (Putnam Focused Large Cap Value ETF) and IOO (iShares Global 100 ETF).

## How much would $10,000 in RSG have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in RSG over the past 28 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of RSG over the same span and RSG's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in RSG at the end of September 1998 would have grown to $258,256 by September 2026, more than the $121,630 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the seven other investments on the chart ended ahead of RSG, and CLH finished highest, at $2,606,865.

## RSG at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- RSG's deepest decline since it began trading in 1998 was 66.0%, from July 1998 to October 1999. It took about four years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 27 full calendar years, RSG's best was 2021, when it returned 47.0%, and its worst was 1999, when it lost 22.7%. It lost money in four of those years.
- RSG is 8.2% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Industrials (Waste Management)
- Trading since: July 1, 1998
- Market value: $71B
- Volatility (5 years): 18.5%; Sharpe ratio: 0.80
- Worst decline ever: −66.0%, from July 20, 1998 to October 21, 1999; back at its high by April 1, 2004

| Period | RSG total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +9.3% |
| 3 months | +6.0% |
| 6 months | +12.5% |
| year to date | +11.8% |
| 1 year | +7.1% |
| 3 years | +66.1% |
| 5 years | +91.5% |
| 10 years | +446% |

## RSG against the whole market

Where RSG ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does RSG rank among all stocks?

This section ranks RSG on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- RSG is among the steadier stocks: its price swings rank in the top 2% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top is the calmest.

| Measure | RSG | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +7.1% | 1,689 of 3,287 (top 52%) |
| 3-year return | +66.1% | 1,311 of 3,017 (top 44%) |
| 5-year return | +91.5% | 732 of 2,893 (top 26%) |
| 10-year return | +446% | 351 of 2,202 (top 16%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 18.5% | 54 of 2,893 (top 2%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.80 | 290 of 2,893 (top 11%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −34.0% | 57 of 2,187 (top 3%) |

### What has beaten RSG on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- One stock and seven ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than RSG over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is fewer than 1% of the 3,633 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half RSG's swings, LVHI has the best return for its risk: 17.0% a year at 11.1% volatility, 40% less than RSG's 18.5%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.48 against 0.80 for RSG.

### Is there a better investment than RSG?

The table below lists investments that beat RSG over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among RSG's popular alternatives, WTS was ahead of RSG in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (28.4% volatility against 18.5%).
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, WAB (industrial machinery) was ahead of RSG in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (26.2% volatility against 18.5%).
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only eight of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than RSG with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them EPD, PVAL and IOO.

The 8 strongest of 8 investments that beat RSG over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with RSG | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RSG: Republic Services, Inc. (this page) |  | +13.9% | 18.5% | 0.80 | −34.0% | +446% |  |  |
| FFLC: Fidelity Fundamental Large Cap Core ETF | Broad Market | +15.7% | 16.8% | 0.95 | −19.7% | — | 0.26 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | International Equity | +17.0% | 11.1% | 1.48 | −32.4% | +194% | 0.35 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| [EPD](https://easycompare.io/research/epd): Enterprise Products Partners L.P. | Oil & Gas Midstream | +16.4% | 17.1% | 0.98 | −58.1% | +178% | 0.38 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| PVAL: Putnam Focused Large Cap Value ETF | US Large-Cap Value | +16.1% | 15.1% | 1.07 | −41.3% | — | 0.40 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| IOO: iShares Global 100 ETF | Global Equity | +15.7% | 17.2% | 0.94 | −31.4% | +361% | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | Energy Infrastructure | +14.9% | 14.5% | 1.04 | −43.6% | +150% | 0.51 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| MLPA: Global X - MLP ETF | Energy | +15.2% | 17.2% | 0.91 | −74.3% | +80.0% | 0.33 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| TPYP: Tortoise North American Pipeline ETF | Energy | +16.9% | 17.3% | 0.99 | −51.9% | +184% | 0.48 | Higher return, lower volatility |

## RSG against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against RSG, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do RSG's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the ten popular alternatives earned more than RSG over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- Eight of the ten popular alternatives earned less than RSG over the past 5 years while swinging more, the weaker corner of the map.
- Over the past 5 years, RSG returned 13.9% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (18.5% against 17.1%).

### Has RSG consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares RSG with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- Only one of the ten popular alternatives, WTS, outperformed RSG in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of RSG | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RSG: Republic Services, Inc. (this page) | +7.1% | +66.1% | +91.5% | +446% |  |  | 0.80 |
| WTS: Watts Water Technologies, Inc. | +28.1% | +113% | +104% | +539% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 0.65 |
| CLH: Clean Harbors, Inc. | +30.0% | +102% | +183% | +588% | 2/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 0.88 |
| CWST: Casella Waste Systems, Inc. | +8.3% | +22.6% | +14.7% | +740% | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.24 |
| VMI: Valmont Industries, Inc. | +10.9% | +98.7% | +91.1% | +288% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| [WM](https://easycompare.io/research/wm): Waste Management, Inc. | +9.4% | +54.9% | +56.2% | +344% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| GFL: GFL Environmental Inc. | −2.2% | +48.6% | +11.1% | — | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.22 |
| [WCN](https://easycompare.io/research/wcn): Waste Connections, Inc. | −1.8% | +27.0% | +34.2% | +270% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.40 |
| XYL: Xylem Inc. | −27.4% | +18.7% | −11.7% | +143% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.04 |
| AWK: American Water Works Company, Inc. | −4.1% | +26.2% | −13.1% | +131% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.01 |
| CLNE: Clean Energy Fuels Corp. | −53.1% | −64.5% | −85.0% | −68.5% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.28 |

### How did RSG do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1999, along with where RSG ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, RSG finished in the top quarter in four of 27 years and in the bottom quarter in one. In 2025, it ranked 6 of 11.
- RSG finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 14 of its 27 full calendar years, and behind it in each of the last two.
- Among its popular alternatives, WTS came out ahead of RSG most often, in 15 of the 27 years both traded.

| Year | RSG | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +6.5% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +23.0% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +29.6% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −6.2% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +47.0% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +9.5% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +26.6% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | +8.8% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +21.0% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +32.9% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How RSG has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were RSG's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of RSG's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: RSG fell 66.0% from July 1998 to October 1999, while the S&P 500 rose 10.4%.
- The slowest recovery came after RSG fell 66.0% from July 1998 to October 1999; it did not regain that peak until April 2004, four years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −66.0% | July 20, 1998 | October 21, 1999 | April 1, 2004 | +10.4% |  |
| −54.1% | August 11, 2008 | March 11, 2009 | May 12, 2011 | −43.6% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −34.0% | February 14, 2020 | March 23, 2020 | November 9, 2020 | −33.6% | Covid crash |
| −24.3% | May 19, 2011 | August 8, 2011 | January 28, 2013 | −16.2% | 2011 euro debt crisis |
| −22.5% | June 2, 2025 | May 11, 2026 | not yet | +26.2% |  |

### How did RSG do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far RSG, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- RSG fell less than the S&P 500 in seven of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when RSG fell 34.4% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.
- None of its popular alternatives fell less than RSG in most of the crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | RSG fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −34.4% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −53.4% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −0.4% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −18.2% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −8.8% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −9.2% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −10.6% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −33.8% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −15.1% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −1.0% | −3.4% |

### How closely does RSG move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- None of the nine popular alternatives with the same record had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than RSG's 2.11.
- Over the past 10 years, RSG captured 71% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 34% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.55. That is a defensive profile: it gave up some of the market's upside in exchange for smaller losses.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RSG: Republic Services, Inc. (this page) | 71.0% | 34.0% | 0.55 |
| WTS: Watts Water Technologies, Inc. | 102% | 80.0% | 1.02 |
| CLH: Clean Harbors, Inc. | 126% | 118% | 1.27 |
| CWST: Casella Waste Systems, Inc. | 106% | 68.0% | 0.85 |
| VMI: Valmont Industries, Inc. | 105% | 115% | 1.27 |
| [WM](https://easycompare.io/research/wm): Waste Management, Inc. | 68.0% | 44.0% | 0.62 |
| [WCN](https://easycompare.io/research/wcn): Waste Connections, Inc. | 65.0% | 47.0% | 0.60 |
| XYL: Xylem Inc. | 90.0% | 123% | 1.03 |
| AWK: American Water Works Company, Inc. | 48.0% | 45.0% | 0.44 |
| CLNE: Clean Energy Fuels Corp. | 85.0% | 233% | 1.89 |

### What diversifies RSG?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in RSG into LVHI would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 16% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+13.2% for RSG alone, +14.1% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and HDV have moved largely independently of RSG over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.42 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- Among large stocks, CAH, CLS and FIX have moved largely independently of RSG over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.42 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with RSG | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in RSG's 4 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.35 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 1 of 4 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.24 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 1 of 4 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.42 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 1 of 4 |
| MLPX: Global X - MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF | 0.44 | +135% | 19.7% | 0.97 | 1 of 4 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.05 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 1 of 4 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.40 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 0 of 4 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.15 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 2 of 4 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.27 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 0 of 4 |

## Common questions

### What was RSG's worst drawdown?

RSG's deepest decline since it began trading in 1998 was 66.0%, from July 1998 to October 1999. It took about four years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were RSG's best and worst years?

Over 27 full calendar years, RSG's best year was 2021, when it returned 47.0%. Its worst was 1999, with a return of -22.7%.

### Is there a better investment than RSG?

Among RSG's popular alternatives, WTS was ahead of RSG in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (28.4% volatility against 18.5%). Looking beyond its popular alternatives, WAB (industrial machinery) was ahead of RSG in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (26.2% volatility against 18.5%).

### Is RSG more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. RSG's volatility over the past 5 years was 18.5%, 1.1 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, RSG's return lands within 18.5% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is RSG's Sharpe ratio?

RSG's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.80, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so RSG earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is RSG with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, RSG's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.33 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They are only loosely linked, which makes it a real diversifier next to an index fund. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against RSG instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a RSG holding.

### What are the best alternatives to RSG?

Of the ten popular alternatives we compared, one outperformed RSG in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: WTS.

### Did RSG outperform the S&P 500?

RSG finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 14 of 27 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +6.4%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did RSG do in stock market crashes?

RSG fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in seven of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in one. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when RSG fell 34.4% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.

### What diversifies RSG?

These had a low correlation with RSG over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.35), DXJ (correlation 0.24) and HDV (correlation 0.42); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.42), CLS (correlation -0.19) and FIX (correlation 0.19). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

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## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/rsg
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against RSG live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=RSG&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research