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$1,000 at JPMorgan 10 years ago grew to about $7,104, more than doubling the S&P 500’s return of $3,533 over the same period.
JPMorgan’s $50 billion buyback and 17% EPS growth in Q1 make it the 12-month pick; WM’s 23-year dividend streak suits investors spanning decades.
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Two blue chips, two very different stories
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JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) has evolved over the past decade from a diversified megabank into the undisputed heavyweight of American finance. Jamie Dimon steered the franchise through the 2020 pandemic, took advantage of the post-pandemic interest rate cycle to increase net interest income, and acquired First Republic in 2023 during the regional banking crisis. Recently, JPMorgan announced a forward purchase commitment on the Apple Card portfolio in December 2025 and approved a new $50 billion share repurchase program effective July 1, 2025. Fiscal 2025 generated revenue of $182.4 billion and EPS of $20.02, and the first quarter of 2026 maintained momentum with EPS of $5.94, up 17% year-over-year.
Waste management (NYSE:WM) took a quieter but strategically bold approach. CEO Jim Fish relied on pricing discipline and route density, then acquired Stericycle in 2024-2025 to create the WM Healthcare Solutions segment. Fiscal 2025 revenue reached $25.2 billion, up 14.2%, and the company exceeded an adjusted EBITDA margin of 30% for the first time. Free cash flow in the first quarter of 2026 almost doubled to $920 million.
What $1,000 would be worth today
Here is the price-performance comparison between standard windows, compared to the S&P 500 via SPY.
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$1,000 in JPMorgan 10 years ago: Around $7,104 based on price alone, plus a rising dividend stream that rose from $0.48 quarterly in 2016 to $1.50 today.
$1,000 in waste management 10 years ago: around $4,055, supported by 23 consecutive years of dividend growth.
$1,000 in the S&P 500 10 years ago: approximately $3,533.
JPMorgan has crushed the index over five and 10 years, driven by interest rate tailwinds, buybacks and record market volumes. Waste Management outperformed the S&P over five years and outperformed it over 10 years, although last year was a period of digestion as Stericycle integration costs weighed on results.
Where can you invest $1,000 today?
Investors should consider JPMorgan today if they believe capital markets remain hot, credit ratings remain favorable, and the Apple Card book season is smooth. Reasons to avoid this include a recession that drives up depreciation or if Dimon’s warnings of stubborn inflation and elevated asset prices prove prescient. At 16x trailing earnings and near a 52-week high of $343.45, entry price matters here.
Investors could look to Waste Management for a defensive compounder with a beta of 0.448 and a 2026 free cash flow forecast of $3.75 billion to $3.85 billion. On the other hand, 33 times earnings feels rich for a mid-single-digit growth driver with Stericycle debt. So consider JPMorgan for the next 12 months and Waste Management for the next decade. Different jobs, different portfolios.
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contact editor@247wallst.com for questions or corrections.
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/jpmorgan-waste-management-where-smart-130558595.html
