Jan 28 (Reuters) - Waste Management WM.N reported fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, hurt by slower growth in its healthcare waste collection business.

Shares of the company fell 2.9% after the bell.

The U.S. waste collection industry is seeing uneven growth as higher interest rates and choppy commercial activity weigh on waste volumes.

Alongside municipal waste departments, WM and Republic Services RSG.N are two of the major companies that lead garbage collection across significant regions of the United States.

The company forecasts 2026 revenue to be between $26.4 billion and $26.6 billion.

The Houston, Texas-based company reported quarterly profit of $1.83 per share, compared to $1.48 per share in the year-ago period.

Its total revenue for the quarter ended December 31 rose about 7.1% to $6.31 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $6.38 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company plans to return about $3.5 billion to shareholders in 2026 through dividends and share buybacks.

(Reporting by Anshuman Tripathy and Apratim Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Alan Barona)

((Anshuman.Tripathy@thomsonreuters.com;))