North America Environmental Services: Barclays U.S. Equity Strategy team upgrade of Quality factor an incremental positive read for Waste & Water stocks

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North America Environmental Services: Barclays U.S. Equity Strategy team upgrade of Quality factor an incremental positive read for Waste & Water stocks

Equity Research

North America Environmental Services

15 July 2026

Barclays U.S. Equity Strategy team

upgrade of Quality factor an

North America Environmental Servicesincremental positive read for

Waste & Water stocks POSITIVENorth America Environmental Services

William Grippin, CFA

The combination of reasonable valuations and improving +1 617 330 5804

investor interest could provide a more constructive backdrop william.grippin@barclays.com BCI, US

for stock performance as earnings season unfolds. Alec Scheibelhoffer

+1 212 526 1021

This week the Barclays U.S. Equity Strategy team published their July 2026 equity factor insights alec.scheibelhoffer@barclays.com

BCI, USupdate, in which they upgraded their view of the Quality factor to Neutral (from Negative,

previously). At a high level, the upgrade aligns with the recent improvement in investor

sentiment that we have begun to notice in our conversations for our Waste & Water Tech

coverage. In our view, Barclays' Quality upgrade suggests the market backdrop is becoming

incrementally more supportive for defensive compounders. Moderating AI enthusiasm, higher

geopolitical risk, and preference for stronger balance sheets favor many of Waste & Water

names under our coverage, in our view.

The team believes the Quality factor faces a more balanced setup as easing AI-driven

exuberance and rising rate uncertainty improve its relative appeal as a defensive style.

Supportive positioning (Fig 2) may also offer incremental tailwinds. While the team believes the

absence of a true risk-off regime and still-elevated valuations for the Quality group likely cap