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Linde plc LIN

NasdaqSpecialty chemicalsFinancials to Sep 30, 2026 · Updated Nov 11, 2026

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LIN financials
Moat score
87
ROIC
11.3%
P/E
34.1
EV/EBIT
28.6
FCF yield
2.1%
Dividend yield
1.2%
Market cap
$238.9B

Moat ranks

Score rankTied #65 of 396
Durabilitydurable
Market structureOligopoly
Pricing powermoderate

Balance sheet

9/30/26
$BDec 31Sep 30
Cash5.13.9
Securities0.00.0
Debt27.026.7
Net cash-21.9-22.8
Equity38.239.4
Leverage
Debt / EBITDA
2.06×
Debt / equity
0.68×
Leases (12/31/25)
$1.1B
Capital
Diluted shares
463M
Book value / share
$85.23
Price / book
6.1×
Net cash / share
−$49.20
Market cap
$238.9B
Enterprise value
$261.6B

Per-share record

Fiscal years and TTM
Scale
$0$20$40$60$80'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'2471.97'2578.35TTM
Revenue per shareCash flow per share

Key indicators

Latest: Q3 '26
IndicatorLatestVs year agoLast 8 quarters
Revenue growth9.2%+6.1 pts
Operating margin22.9%-4.6 pts
FCF margin18.9%-0.5 pts
Capex / revenue14.8%-0.0 pts
Remaining performance obligations$66.0B+6%
Price attainment growth+3%0 pts
Gas volume growth+2%+1 pts
Sale-of-gas project backlog$7.9B+11%
AMERICAS price attainment growth+6%–

Margins and growth from reported quarters; company KPIs as reported in results releases.

About LIN

Linde has a durable industrial-gases moat rooted in 10- to 20-year on-site contracts, minimum purchases, price escalation and dense local production networks. Merchant oxygen and nitrogen do not travel economically over long distances, which makes nearby plants and pipelines valuable.

Revenue mix
Americas 44.7%EMEA 25.2%APAC 19.6%Engineering 6.6%Other 3.9%
  • Long Term Contracts

    On-site industrial gas supply is typically governed by long-duration total-requirements contracts with minimum purchase commitments and escalation/pass-through mechanics, improving revenue visibility.

  • Physical Network Density

    Industrial gases are costly to transport, so dense local footprints of plants, pipeline complexes and filling/distribution sites create cost and service advantages that are hard to replicate quickly.

  • Long Term Contracts

    On-site industrial gas supply is typically governed by long-duration total-requirements contracts with minimum purchase commitments and escalation/pass-through mechanics, improving revenue visibility.

  • Physical Network Density

    Industrial gases are costly to transport, so dense local footprints of plants, pipeline complexes and filling/distribution sites create cost and service advantages that are hard to replicate quickly.

Timeline
  1. Oct 29, 2026

    Linde reported USD425 million of third-quarter cost-reduction and other charges, including USD183 million of non-cash charges mainly in U.S. homecare. Reported profit fell despite 3% price attainment and 2% volume growth. The restructuring costs remain part of the reported earnings series.

  2. Aug 10, 2026

    Praxair Rus shares passed to Kuibyshevazot following Russian debt enforcement, according to Interfax on August 11. The transfer shows continuing exposure to asset seizure; it is not treated as a new profit charge without a Linde filing quantifying its effect.

  3. Jul 31, 2026

    Linde announced a $1 billion Phoenix semiconductor supply expansion under a new long-term contract, adding two air-separation units beside three existing units. Its Taiwan joint venture also plans about $800 million of gas plants for the same customer, strengthening contracted positions in two semiconductor clusters.

  4. Jan 31, 2026

    Sanjiv Lamba became chairman while remaining CEO, combining board leadership with the operating role he has held since March 2022 (2026 proxy statement).

  5. Sep 30, 2025 · Tax benefit +$156M

    An EMEA tax-rate decrease, including merger purchase-accounting effects, reduced Q3 tax expense by $156 million. This improved profit without adding gas sales or cash operating performance.

Ownership

To 10/6/26
CEO
Sanjiv Lamba
Since 2022 · 4 yrs
Professional CEOSingle share class
Insider trades32
Planned sales9

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Financial record

Fiscal year2016201720182019202020212022202320242025TTMTrendChange 2016–25
Per share ($)
Revenue36.6139.2944.4051.7851.2959.0066.1966.7468.4671.9778.35+7.8%/yr
Cash flow9.6910.5210.9411.2213.9918.6317.5918.9019.5521.9223.16+9.5%/yr
Earnings5.214.3112.794.004.707.328.2312.5913.6214.6115.15+12.1%/yr
Free cash flow4.605.985.304.477.5912.7211.2911.2110.2210.7810.98+9.9%/yr
Capex5.094.535.646.756.405.916.307.699.3311.1412.17+9.1%/yr
Dividends2.973.123.493.473.824.194.655.045.515.956.30+8.0%/yr
Book value17.4520.82154.4290.0289.0884.3879.4180.6879.0180.9985.23+18.6%/yr
Diluted shares (M)288289334545531522504492482472463+5.7%/yr
Totals ($B)
Revenue10.511.414.828.227.230.833.432.933.034.036.2+13.9%/yr
Operating income2.22.45.22.93.35.05.48.08.68.99.2+16.6%/yr
Net income1.51.24.32.22.53.84.16.26.66.97.0+18.5%/yr
Free cash flow1.31.71.82.44.06.65.75.54.95.15.1+16.1%/yr
Buybacks0.20.00.62.72.54.65.24.04.54.64.0+39.6%/yr
Dividends0.90.91.21.92.02.22.32.52.72.82.9+14.1%/yr
Net cash-9.0-8.4-10.8-11.3-12.4-11.4-12.5-14.7-16.8-21.9-22.8−$12.9B
Margins & returns (%)
Gross margin44.443.839.241.043.543.041.746.848.148.847.9+4.4 pts
Operating margin21.321.535.410.412.216.216.124.426.226.325.3+4.9 pts
Net margin14.211.028.87.79.212.412.418.919.920.319.3+6.1 pts
FCF margin12.615.211.98.614.821.617.116.814.915.014.0+2.4 pts
ROIC12.313.06.43.74.36.97.811.312.111.411.3-0.9 pts
Return on equity29.920.78.34.45.38.710.415.617.218.017.8-11.8 pts
R&D % of revenue0.90.80.80.70.60.50.40.40.50.40.4-0.4 pts
Stock pay % of revenue0.40.50.40.30.50.40.30.40.50.50.4+0.1 pts
Capex % of revenue13.911.512.713.012.510.09.511.513.615.515.5+1.6 pts

Change uses 2016 and 2025 only: compound annual growth for amounts, points for margins and returns, and the change in amount for net cash. A dash means no 2016 base. Trend shows the fiscal years.

TTM = four quarters to Sep 30, 2026. Per-share values use diluted weighted shares.ROIC = operating income × (1 − 23.4% tax rate, the company's own over three fiscal years excluding one-offs) ÷ (equity + debt − cash and current securities). Returns show a dash when their base is negative or under 10% of revenue. Free cash flow = operating cash flow − capex. Debt is all borrowings; net cash counts long-term securities and excludes leases.

Moat

Moat scorecard

Moat score87
Strength
Confidence
Structure
Oligopoly
Durability
durable
Trajectory
widening
Pricing power
moderate
Segments
  • Americas44.7%
    2 claims
  • EMEA25.2%
    2 claims
  • APAC19.6%
    2 claims
  • Engineering6.6%
    Not scored: evidence insufficient
  • Other3.9%
    Not scored: evidence insufficient

Moat claims

Applies to
Americas
Confidence
Durability
durable
Trajectory
wideningas of Oct 6, 2026
Why it holds

On-site industrial gas supply is typically governed by long-duration total-requirements contracts with minimum purchase commitments and escalation/pass-through mechanics, improving revenue visibility.

Why widening

The $1 billion Phoenix expansion adds two air-separation units beside three existing units under a new long-term supply agreement.

Indicators
  • Remaining performance obligations$66.0B+6%
  • Price attainment growth+3%
  • Gas volume growth+2%
  • Sale-of-gas project backlog$7.9B+11%
  • AMERICAS price attainment growth+6%
  • AMERICAS gas volume growth+3%
Risks
  • Contract renewals repriced aggressively in competitive bids
  • Large customers insource via customer-owned plants
  • Volume declines at key industrial end-markets
  • Policy support for clean hydrogen projects weakens, delaying new on-site build-out
Sources

Profile change log

  1. Nov 11, 2026 · business change

    Linde reported USD425 million of third-quarter cost-reduction and other charges, including USD183 million of non-cash charges mainly in U.S. homecare. Reported profit fell despite 3% price attainment and 2% volume growth. The restructuring costs remain part of the reported earnings series.

  2. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Praxair Rus shares passed to Kuibyshevazot following Russian debt enforcement, according to Interfax on August 11. The transfer shows continuing exposure to asset seizure; it is not treated as a new profit charge without a Linde filing quantifying its effect.

  3. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Linde announced a $1 billion Phoenix semiconductor supply expansion under a new long-term contract, adding two air-separation units beside three existing units. Its Taiwan joint venture also plans about $800 million of gas plants for the same customer, strengthening contracted positions in two semiconductor clusters.

  4. Oct 6, 2026 · business change

    Sanjiv Lamba became chairman while remaining CEO, combining board leadership with the operating role he has held since March 2022 (2026 proxy statement).

  5. Oct 6, 2026 · analyst revision

    Segment weights now use FY2025 external sales: Americas $15.208 billion, EMEA $8.549 billion, APAC $6.661 billion, Engineering $2.250 billion and Other $1.318 billion. Adjusted segment profit weights were removed because merger accounting and charges separate them from group operating profit. The FY2025 filing identifies proprietary engineering technology and mixed helium/materials operations but lacks retention or protected-return evidence; these two segments remain unscored.

Industry & peers

Peer map

0%10%20%30%40%50%60708090100Moat scoreIndustry medianLIN
No peer numbers yet

Peers appear on the map as their numbers are collected.

LIN vs APD

Global industrial gases

As of Oct 6, 2026
OligopolyMedium cyclicalityUSD 124B in 2026

Atmospheric and process gases sold to industrial and medical customers by on-site pipeline, merchant liquid or packaged cylinder supply. Excludes plant-engineering revenue and customer-owned gas production that is not sold by a gas supplier.

  1. Linde
  2. Air Liquide
  3. Air Products
  4. Nippon Sanso Holdings
  5. Messer
2025 leaders, no comparable shares · Linde FY2025 Form 10-K, industrial gas competition and supply methods
StocksMoatGross m.Op. m.
LIN8747.9%25.3%
Industry median117543.7%14.8%
Sector median147641.3%16.5%
All stocks median3987653.1%20.0%

Moat medians cover every stock. Margin medians count only stocks with collected numbers and need at least three.

Drivers & risks

Demand drivers
  • New semiconductor fabs increase demand for reliable ultra-high-purity gases and dedicated production plants.
  • Manufacturing, chemical, refining and metals output determine base gas consumption; healthcare and food demand provide a steadier balance.
  • Industrial customers can outsource gas production to avoid building and operating their own plants.
  • Energy-transition and carbon-capture projects can add long-term gas demand when customer economics, power supply and permits support construction.
Risks
  • Industrial slowdowns reduce plant utilization even where minimum-purchase contracts cushion revenue.
  • Air Liquide, Air Products, Nippon Sanso and regional producers can contest new awards and expiring contracts; customers can own their own plants.
  • Electricity and natural-gas inflation can reach earnings before contract prices reset; helium and carbon-dioxide availability depend on outside feedstock sources.
  • Higher interest rates and construction inflation make new plants more costly; project delays postpone cash returns.
  • Currencies affect dollar-reported sales, while sanctions, tariffs and environmental rules can limit cross-border supply or seize assets.

Bulls & bears

Key question · as of Oct 6, 2026

Can Linde turn new semiconductor and industrial gas contracts into cash returns while sustaining prices through weak industrial demand and higher project spending?

Arguments

3 forFaded: weakening or settled3 against

What to watch

  1. 1Regional price attainment and volume, excluding currency and cost pass-through
  2. 2Sale-of-gas backlog, plant start-ups and remaining minimum-purchase commitments
  3. 3Operating cash flow, capital spending and total borrowings

Next check: Q4 and FY2026 results, focusing on project start-ups, pricing and the cash cost of the restructuring programme.

Sources: company filings and dated sources collected for Find My Moat; market cap as of Nov 9, 2026. Not investment advice.

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Moat Score 87/100 by <a href="https://www.findmymoat.com/stocks/XNAS:LIN">Find My Moat</a> (as of September 2026)

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