CLH Options Turn Bullish as Earnings Loom

Clean Harbors heads into Tuesday's Q2 print with options traders taking a notably more optimistic stance than usual — a shift that contrasts with the mild softness in the stock itself.

The clearest signal heading into the release is in options positioning. The put/call ratio has dropped to 0.62, running roughly 1.6 standard deviations below its 20-day average of 0.74. That is the most call-skewed reading in recent weeks, pointing to heavier demand for upside exposure than downside protection. The stock has dipped 2.2% on the week to $303.74, pulling back after a 4.8% gain over the prior month — so the options tilt looks like a deliberate bet on the print rather than a momentum chase. The borrow market reinforces a low-pressure backdrop: availability is extremely loose at over 8,500% of short interest, and the cost to borrow has eased to 0.43%. Short interest at 2.4% of the free float has risen 17% over the past month in share terms, but that absolute level remains too low to signal any meaningful short-side conviction.

The analyst community has been moving in one direction. Truist Securities raised its target to $350 from $325 on July 22, maintaining Buy — a pre-earnings endorsement that carries some weight. Citigroup lifted to $349 earlier in July, also reiterating Buy. The mean Street target now runs at $330, sitting above the current price of $303.74 but not dramatically so. Bulls focus on the company's raised 2026 adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow guidance, its diversified hazardous-waste services model, and an EPS momentum factor score ranking in the 86th percentile. Bears point to weather-related uncertainty and dependence on specific market recoveries — concerns that Barclays reflects with its Equal-Weight rating and a $305 target that barely clears the current price. The divide is less about execution and more about whether the valuation, trading at roughly 33x earnings and 13.9x EV/EBITDA, leaves enough cushion for the next leg of re-rating.

One ownership detail worth noting: founder and Executive Chairman Alan McKim holds over 4.3% of shares outstanding and sold a modest 1,265 shares on July 17 at $310.58. The CFO and CEO also ran small sales on July 1. All trades carry low significance scores and likely reflect routine plan activity — but the timing, within two weeks of a major print, is worth registering. The May Q1 result saw the stock fall nearly 10% on the day before recovering some ground over the following week, a reminder that even well-run compounders can disappoint when expectations are positioned for good news.

Tuesday's print is therefore less a test of whether Clean Harbors is executing and more a test of whether the raised 2026 guidance already baked into those upward-revised targets has room to be raised again.