LIN • Basic Materials • Chemicals - Specialty
Linde is a global leader that supplies the essential gases—like oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen—that power everything from hospitals to semiconductor factories. By locking customers into long-term supply contracts, the company creates a reliable, steady stream of income that makes it a foundational player in the industrial economy.
Linde plc is the world’s dominant industrial gas and engineering powerhouse, providing the critical atmospheric and process gases that serve as the backbone for global manufacturing, healthcare, and energy sectors. The company secures its wide economic moat through a dual-model approach, combining high-barrier infrastructure with long-term, sticky supply contracts that create significant switching costs for clients. Beyond its core gas business, Linde leverages its proprietary engineering expertise to design and construct complex industrial plants, further entrenching its market leadership. Looking ahead, the company is strategically pivoting toward the future of the global economy by investing heavily in green hydrogen and carbon capture technologies. This focus on sustainable energy, paired with rising demand for high-purity gases in semiconductor manufacturing, positions Linde to maintain its pricing power and consistent revenue growth as the world transitions toward a decarbonized industrial landscape.
Grade Scale: 1 (Best / Green) to 10 (Weakest / Red)
Outer edge = stronger. The six pillars behind the grade above.
Linde is a highly reliable, giant company that provides essential gases to industries worldwide, acting like a utility provider for the global economy. While the business is incredibly stable and profitable, the stock price is currently quite expensive compared to its actual earnings, meaning investors are paying a premium for future growth.
Linde operates as a critical infrastructure layer for the global industrial economy, leveraging its massive scale and high operating margins to maintain a dominant market position. The core tension in this thesis lies between the company's exceptional operational quality and its current valuation, which sits significantly above intrinsic value estimates. While the firm’s ability to pass through costs to a diverse client base supports its stalwart status, the elevated P/E ratio and PEG ratio suggest that the market has already priced in aggressive future expansion. The balance sheet shows a manageable but rising debt-to-equity ratio, which, when paired with tight liquidity, necessitates careful monitoring of capital-intensive hydrogen and infrastructure projects. Macroeconomic cycles, particularly in B2B industrial demand, directly influence Linde’s revenue stability; however, the current technical setup shows a bullish trend that is beginning to stretch against Bollinger Band resistance. The synthesis of these signals indicates that while the business remains a high-quality compounder, the lack of a margin of safety creates a symmetric risk-reward profile. Future performance hinges on the company's ability to sustain net income growth to justify its premium valuation, as any contraction in operating margins would likely trigger a valuation reset toward historical norms.
The stock currently trades within a stable Bollinger Band range of $501 to $543. Momentum indicators like the MACD remain positive, suggesting a lack of immediate downward pressure. Price action is currently testing the upper bounds of recent consolidation, with $548 acting as a primary resistance level.
The trend remains bullish with the price above the 20-day and 60-day moving averages. A structural strengthening would require sustained earnings growth to lower the PEG ratio, while a breach below the $500 support level would signal a potential shift toward a more defensive, value-focused valuation range.
Long-term positioning relies on the relationship between the current P/E of 34.23 and the company's ability to maintain its 37% operating margin. The thesis remains intact as long as the company avoids structural margin erosion and keeps debt-to-equity ratios below 1.5x, favoring a slow, compounding growth trajectory.
Five numbers professional analysts usually check before anything else. Tap a card to jump to that line in the tables below.
The operating margin widened from 27.4% to 37.2% over the past year — the company keeps more profit from each sale. The tables below also show bottom-tier ratings for Total Asset Turnover — weak spots worth a closer look.
Grew revenue year over year in 7 of 8 recent quarters (growth swung by about 3 points quarter to quarter); beat consensus in 8 of 8, surprises steady.
A quick read on how consistently recent quarters grew and how often reported results cleared analyst consensus — a look back at the track record, not a forecast.
Next scheduled earnings report: 2026-07-31
Each chip is one reported quarter: whether earnings per share came in above ("Beat"), below ("Miss"), or in line with the average analyst estimate at the time, and by what percentage. This is a historical record of past reports, not an indicator of future results.
Calculates structural allocation and relative weights. Balance Sheet items are scaled against Total Assets; Income Statement items are scaled against Total Revenues.
| Financial Parameter | 2023 Q2 ($M) | 2023 Q3 ($M) | 2023 Q4 ($M) | 2024 Q1 ($M) | 2024 Q2 ($M) | 2024 Q3 ($M) | 2024 Q4 ($M) | 2025 Q1 ($M) | 2025 Q2 ($M) | 2025 Q3 ($M) | 2025 Q4 ($M) | 2026 Q1 ($M) | Health Rating | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | 8,204.0 | 8,155.0 | 8,302.0 | 8,100.0 | 8,267.0 | 8,356.0 | 8,282.0 | 8,112.0 | 8,495.0 | 8,615.0 | 8,764.0 | 8,781.0 | ||
| Operating Income | 2,060.0 (25.1%) | 2,038.0 (25.0%) | 2,051.0 (24.7%) | 2,037.0 (25.1%) | 2,182.0 (26.4%) | 2,180.0 (26.1%) | 2,196.0 (26.5%) | 2,221.0 (27.4%) | 2,354.0 (27.7%) | 2,342.0 (27.2%) | 2,018.0 (23.0%) | 3,264.0 (37.2%) | ||
| Net IncomeKey | 1,575.0 (19.2%) | 1,565.0 (19.2%) | 1,543.0 (18.6%) | 1,627.0 (20.1%) | 1,663.0 (20.1%) | 1,550.0 (18.5%) | 1,725.0 (20.8%) | 1,673.0 (20.6%) | 1,766.0 (20.8%) | 1,929.0 (22.4%) | 1,573.0 (17.9%) | 1,857.0 (21.1%) | ||
| Total Assets | 78,718.0 | 77,827.0 | 80,811.0 | 80,347.0 | 80,215.0 | 82,546.0 | 80,147.0 | 82,704.0 | 86,078.0 | 85,993.0 | 86,817.0 | 86,315.0 | ||
| Total Liabilities | 37,470.0 (47.6%) | 37,589.0 (48.3%) | 39,716.0 (49.1%) | 40,118.0 (49.9%) | 40,664.0 (50.7%) | 41,943.0 (50.8%) | 40,659.0 (50.7%) | 43,241.0 (52.3%) | 46,092.0 (53.5%) | 45,907.0 (53.4%) | 47,076.0 (54.2%) | 46,223.0 (53.6%) | ||
| Total Equity | 39,911.0 (50.7%) | 38,898.0 (50.0%) | 39,720.0 (49.2%) | 38,829.0 (48.3%) | 38,179.0 (47.6%) | 39,173.0 (47.5%) | 38,092.0 (47.5%) | 38,032.0 (46.0%) | 38,515.0 (44.7%) | 38,616.0 (44.9%) | 38,245.0 (44.1%) | 38,566.0 (44.7%) |
| Ratio Category | Metric | 2023 Q2 | 2023 Q3 | 2023 Q4 | 2024 Q1 | 2024 Q2 | 2024 Q3 | 2024 Q4 | 2025 Q1 | 2025 Q2 | 2025 Q3 | 2025 Q4 | 2026 Q1 | Health Rating | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profitability | ROE (%)Key | 3.95 | 4.02 | 3.88 | 4.19 | 4.36 | 3.96 | 4.53 | 4.40 | 4.59 | 5.00 | 4.11 | 4.82 | ||
| ROA (%) | 2.00 | 2.01 | 1.91 | 2.02 | 2.07 | 1.88 | 2.15 | 2.02 | 2.05 | 2.24 | 1.81 | 2.15 | |||
| Operating Margin (%)Key | 25.11 | 24.99 | 24.70 | 25.15 | 26.39 | 26.09 | 26.52 | 27.38 | 27.71 | 27.19 | 23.03 | 37.17 | |||
| Stability | Debt-to-EquityKey | 0.94 | 0.97 | 1.00 | 1.03 | 1.07 | 1.07 | 1.07 | 1.14 | 1.20 | 1.19 | 1.23 | 1.20 | ||
| Current Ratio | 0.78 | 0.83 | 0.80 | 0.91 | 0.95 | 0.96 | 0.89 | 0.94 | 0.93 | 0.82 | 0.88 | 0.83 | |||
| Growth | Revenue Growth Rate (YoY %)Key | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.77 | 2.46 | -0.24 | 0.78 | 1.28 | 1.45 | 2.97 | 4.96 | ||
| Net Income Growth Rate (YoY %) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.59 | -0.96 | 11.80 | 4.77 | 4.94 | 11.12 | 5.73 | 7.77 | |||
| Activity | Total Asset Turnover | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.10 | ||
| Valuation (Current) | P/E Ratio (Trailing) | 34.23 | — | ||||||||||||
| P/B Ratio | 6.32 | — | |||||||||||||
| EV/EBITDA | 20.02 | — | |||||||||||||
| Trailing EPS ($) | 15.35 | — | |||||||||||||
A quick read on how good the business is underneath the share price: how much of each sale it keeps, how much cash it turns that into, how well it earns on the money invested, and how comfortably it carries its debt. Each figure is on a trailing-twelve-month basis, with the trend across recent quarters.
| Metric | TTM | Health Rating | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 46.0% | ||
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 12.9% | ||
| Free cash flow margin | 14.7% | ||
| FCF conversion | 71.5% | ||
| Interest coverage | 36.4× | ||
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.7× |
Trailing-twelve-month figures from reported financials, shown for education, not as advice. A metric is omitted when the underlying data isn't available.
A nine-point checklist of whether the fundamentals are getting stronger or weaker year over year — grouped into profitability, leverage and liquidity, and efficiency. Each dot is one test the company either passes or fails; more filled dots means more of the checks are trending the right way. It describes momentum in the reported numbers, not a signal to act on.
8/9 — improving quality across profitability and efficiency
Each check compares the latest period with a year earlier using reported financials, and is shown for education, not as advice. A check whose data is missing counts as not passed.
Each financial metric is evaluated dynamically against standard industry benchmarks, mapping from Tier 1 (Outstanding) to Tier 10 (Critical Risk).
Linde is a global leader in industrial gases and engineering, providing essential supplies for healthcare, manufacturing, and energy. The company maintains strong profitability and steady growth, making it a reliable player in the essential infrastructure sector.
Ecosystem Summary: Linde produces atmospheric gases like oxygen and nitrogen, alongside process gases such as hydrogen and helium. These products serve diverse sectors, including chemicals, refining, food processing, and healthcare, forming the backbone of global industrial operations.
Customer Feedback: Linde enjoys high customer loyalty due to its mission-critical services and long-term supply agreements. Their retention rates are strong, as clients rely on the company’s consistent delivery and technical support to maintain their own daily operations.
Competitor Grid: Linde competes with firms like Air Liquide and Air Products. Linde distinguishes itself through superior operating margins and a massive, integrated infrastructure network that creates a significant competitive moat, or protective barrier, against new market entrants.
Pipeline Strategy: The company is heavily investing in clean energy, specifically green hydrogen and carbon capture technologies. This R&D strategy positions Linde to lead in the global transition toward sustainable energy, ensuring long-term viability in a decarbonizing economy.
Linde is a dominant global leader in industrial gases, acting like a utility company for essential manufacturing. Its massive scale and long-term contracts create a protective 'moat'—a competitive advantage that keeps rivals at bay—ensuring steady, reliable profits for years to come.
Moat Rating: Wide Moat
Linde possesses a Wide Moat that is highly durable. Its combination of essential products, high switching costs, and massive infrastructure creates a formidable barrier to entry. Given the global reliance on industrial gases for energy transition and manufacturing, the company is well-positioned to maintain its market leadership and pricing power for the next 10 to 20 years.
Linde is a global leader in industrial gases that maintains high profitability by serving essential industries like healthcare and energy. While the company faces some debt pressure, its ability to consistently generate large operating profits highlights its strong position in the market.
Definition: Linde operates in the Basic Materials sector, specifically the Specialty Chemicals industry. It provides essential industrial gases and engineering solutions for large-scale infrastructure, manufacturing, and healthcare applications globally.
Market Positioning: Linde is a dominant global powerhouse in the industrial gas sector. It differentiates itself through a dual-model approach, combining long-term gas supply contracts with high-value engineering services for complex industrial plants.
Linde is a highly profitable company that manages its money well by consistently accumulation back its own shares. While the business is stable, it carries a fair amount of debt, which is a common trade-off for companies in this industry.
Background & Experience: Linde’s leadership is widely respected for executing the complex merger between Linde AG and Praxair. The executive team is known for a disciplined, operational focus that prioritizes long-term efficiency and global market dominance in industrial gases.
Capital Allocation: Management demonstrates strong capital discipline, evidenced by a robust 37% operating margin. They prioritize shareholder returns through consistent share buybacks, having reduced the total share count by over 5% in the last three years.
Innovation Adaptability: The company maintains a strong competitive moat by embedding itself into essential industrial supply chains. They are actively pivoting toward clean energy and hydrogen infrastructure, showing a proactive approach to shifting global environmental and energy standards.
Governance Risk: The primary risk involves the company's debt-to-equity ratio, which has climbed above 1.2. While manageable, this leverage requires careful oversight. Additionally, the recent trend of insider reduction warrants monitoring to ensure long-term confidence remains high.
Shareholder Alignment (Lynch & Munger): Management shows a clear owner-oriented mindset by consistently reducing the share count, which increases the value of remaining shares. While insider reduction has occurred recently, the active buyback program signals a commitment to returning capital to shareholders.
| Date | Insider / Position | Type | Shares | Value ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-01 |
GRANT HUGH
director
|
A-Award | 63 | - |
| 2026-07-01 |
Reynolds Paula Rosput
director
|
A-Award | 15 | - |
| 2026-06-08 |
Innocenzi Stefanos
officer: SVP, Linde Engineering
|
M-Exempt | 4,035 | - |
| 2026-06-08 |
Innocenzi Stefanos
officer: SVP, Linde Engineering
|
F-InKind | 2,062 | $1,047,290 |
| 2026-06-08 |
Innocenzi Stefanos
officer: SVP, Linde Engineering
|
M-Exempt | 4,035 | - |
| 2026-05-15 |
Brown Denny
officer: VP, Chief Accounting Officer
|
0 | - | |
| 2027-03-09 |
Brown Denny
officer: VP, Chief Accounting Officer
|
2,148 | $1,038,816 | |
| 2019-02-27 |
Brown Denny
officer: VP, Chief Accounting Officer
|
5,500 | $847,000 | |
| 2025-03-07 |
Brown Denny
officer: VP, Chief Accounting Officer
|
1,505 | $700,261 | |
| 2021-03-09 |
Brown Denny
officer: VP, Chief Accounting Officer
|
1,700 | $294,321 |
Linde is a high-quality company that currently trades at a premium price compared to its peers. While the business is stable and highly profitable, the stock's current valuation suggests investors are paying a significant amount for its future growth potential.
Valuation Verdict: The stock is Overvalued. While Linde maintains strong operating margins and a dominant market position, it trades at a significant premium to its peer group on a price-to-sales basis. The combination of a high P/E ratio and modest recent growth suggests the current price is stretched and lacks a protective cushion for investors.
Linde is a massive, reliable company that provides essential gases to industries worldwide. It acts like a steady, dependable anchor for a portfolio, growing at a consistent pace while maintaining high profit margins through its specialized services.
Linde is a massive, stable company that supplies essential gases to industries like healthcare and manufacturing. While its stock price is currently high relative to its earnings, the company’s ability to maintain high profit margins suggests it remains a reliable, long-term player in the global economy.
The same company set side by side with close competitors, so its size and valuation have context.
| Company | Market cap | P/E | P/S |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linde plc This stock
LIN |
$243.12B | 34.2 | 7.0 |
| Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
APD |
$65.88B | 31.3 | 5.3 |
| Avient Corporation
AVNT |
$3.30B | 20.9 | 1.0 |
| Ecolab Inc.
ECL |
$76.84B | 36.5 | 4.7 |
| Element Solutions Inc
ESI |
$9.88B | 66.5 | 3.5 |
| Peer median | — | 33.9 | 4.1 |
| vs. peers | — | +1.0% | +71.0% |
P/E (price-to-earnings) is the share price divided by earnings per share — a rough gauge of how expensive a stock is relative to its profits.
The "vs. peers" row shows how the company's valuation multiples compare to the peer median — green is a discount (cheaper than peers), red a premium (more expensive).
The peer table shows how the company is priced against rivals; this shows how it is priced against its own past. Each bar places today's multiple within the range it has traded over the window below — near the left is cheap for this stock, near the right is dear.
P/E 34.2 — 78th percentile of its own 2-yr range
EV/EBITDA 20.1 — 100th percentile of its own 2-yr range
Middle-half range (25th–75th percentile)
Each quarter-end multiple pairs that quarter's trailing-twelve-month earnings or EBITDA with the period-end price; the marker is where today's multiple sits within that history. Shown for education, not as advice, and only when enough history is available.
Annual dividend as a percentage of the share price — your cash return from dividends alone. Share of earnings paid out as dividends. Below ~60% generally leaves room to keep paying and growing it.
Drag the sliders to set your own assumptions and watch the estimated fair value update live. Fair value is what the business could be worth based on the cash it generates — a discounted cash flow (DCF) estimate, not a price target.
At today's price the market is implying ~18.4%/yr free-cash-flow growth for 10 years; the company's trailing free-cash-flow growth was 3.8%.
A simplified, transparent model for learning — it isn't financial advice, and small input changes move the result a lot. That sensitivity is the point: it shows how much a valuation depends on assumptions.
Linde is currently taking a steady breather after a strong period of growth, hovering near its yearly peak. Because the stock is moving sideways without much excitement from trading volume, it appears to be in a period of calm consolidation as it digests recent gains.
Stable uptrend with neutral momentum and low-conviction consolidation.
Linde maintains a structurally sound bullish alignment, with price action anchored firmly above key moving averages. While the primary trend remains positive, the lack of volume correlation suggests a period of retail-driven consolidation rather than institutional accumulation. Momentum indicators remain balanced, reflecting a neutral posture that lacks the urgency required for a breakout toward 52-week highs. The stock currently trades within a stable volatility band, indicating that the recent price movement is contained and orderly. This confluence of factors points to a market in equilibrium, where the absence of significant volume spikes suggests a lack of immediate directional conviction. Consequently, the current price structure reflects a mature trend that is currently pausing to establish a new base.
52-Week Range Position
86% (-4.1% from high)
Trailing Returns (1M / 3M / 6M)
+4.7% • +5.0% • +20.2%
Volatility Regime
Normal Volatility
MA Extension (vs SMA20 / SMA60)
+0.6% • +3.0%
Arrange Structure: Strong Bullish Arrangement (MA5 > MA20 > MA60)
Crossover Signals: Neutral (No recent crossover)
SMA(5): $535.72 • SMA(20): $522.23 • SMA(60): $510.14
RSI (14-day): Neutral (55.4)
MACD Line: Bullish (MACD Line is above Signal Line and above 0)
Bollinger Bands: Upper $542.99 • Mid $522.23 • Lower $501.47
Volume Trend Profile: Steady Volume (10-day volume is within 20% of the 30-day average)
Price-Volume Correlation: Weak/No Correlation (0.00): Price changes and volume fluctuations are decoupled, indicating retail consolidation.
No volume anomalies/spikes detected over the last 120 trading days.
Linde is a steady, high-quality company that investors view as a long-term staple for industrial and healthcare supply chains. While the stock is currently priced high compared to some valuation models, its strong market position keeps investor confidence high.
Integrated Sentiment Verdict: The sentiment is generally bullish, focusing on Linde's stability and essential role in global infrastructure. Some analysts express caution regarding current valuation levels, suggesting the stock may be priced for perfection.
Market psychology is cautiously optimistic. While technical indicators show a healthy, stable uptrend, the gap between current market prices and some conservative valuation models suggests investors are prioritizing quality and safety over immediate value.
Linde is a massive industrial gas company that powers essential sectors like healthcare and manufacturing. Despite some recent ups and downs in profit, the company maintains strong margins, showing it remains a highly efficient business even when the broader economy fluctuates.
Economic Cycle alignment: Linde acts as a defensive growth stock, providing essential inputs that industries require regardless of the economic phase. While it experiences cyclical demand from heavy manufacturing, its long-term contracts and diverse end-markets provide stability during recessions. It is currently in an expansionary phase, leveraging its scale to maintain profitability despite global economic volatility.
GDP, Inflation, Interest Rates: Linde’s high operating margins (37.17%) suggest strong pricing power, helping it offset inflationary pressures on energy and raw material costs. With $26.3B in debt and relatively low interest expenses ($62M), the company is well-positioned to manage interest rate environments. Its stable revenue indicates that demand for industrial gases is largely insulated from minor fluctuations in GDP and unemployment.
As a global leader in industrial gases, Linde benefits significantly from industrial policies focused on decarbonization and hydrogen energy infrastructure. Government subsidies for clean energy projects provide a long-term tailwind for its capital-intensive projects. Regulatory shifts toward stricter environmental standards also drive demand for Linde’s specialized gas solutions used in emission-reduction technologies.
Linde is a B2B enterprise, meaning its success depends on the health of its corporate clients rather than consumer trends. It serves critical industries like healthcare, electronics, and manufacturing, where demand is driven by industrial output and technological scaling. As these sectors expand, Linde’s infrastructure becomes increasingly essential to their operational capacity.
Operating globally, Linde faces inherent risks from currency fluctuations and international trade policies. However, its decentralized production model—where gases are often produced near the point of use—naturally hedges against complex supply chain disruptions. This localized approach helps mitigate the impact of trade barriers and regional geopolitical instability on its core operations.