Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc

Lincoln Electric makes the machines and supplies used to join and cut metal. Founded in 1895, the Ohio-based company believes it is the world's largest maker of arc welding products. (Arc welding melts and fuses metal with an electric arc.) Products range from basic welders for personal use to robotic systems for factories. It also sells filler metals, the wire and rods that melt into a weld, plus laser and plasma cutting systems, fume control equipment and automation services.

Customers include fabrication shops, energy companies, shipbuilders, automakers and construction firms. In the Americas, it sells mainly through industrial distributors and retailers, and directly to manufacturers. No single customer makes up more than 10% of sales. Consumables such as filler metal are the largest product line, bringing in 53.9% of the $4.23 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue. They are used up as customers weld, which brings repeat sales. Equipment added 25.5% and automation 20.6%.

Americas Welding, covering North and South America, produced 64.3% of fiscal 2025 revenue. International Welding (Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia) produced 22%. The Harris Products Group, which sells cutting and soldering gear, specialty gas equipment and retail products sold mainly in the US, produced 13.7%. Sales in the US made up 62.2% of the total. It has factories in 20 countries.

• In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $1.22B, up 15.1% from a year earlier, and net income was $144.3M (+17.7%).
• For fiscal 2025, revenue was $4.23B (+5.6% year over year; +9.8% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 12.3% net margin.

• Over FY2021–FY2025: $1.15B in buybacks and $731.0M in dividends.
• At least 9 consecutive annual increases: every fiscal year in the SEC data (FY2016–FY2025) shows an increase; the true streak may be longer.
• Regular dividends per share grew +9.0% a year over 5 years (FY2020–FY2025).
• Dividends took 32.3% of earnings and 31.5% of free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.
• Shares outstanding changed -7.8% from Jan 31, 2022 to Sep 30, 2026.

Rank among 1514 US companies

Market value at each year end

Lincoln Electric Holdings’s market value went from $5.06B at the end of 2016 to $15.20B on Oct 28, 2026, about 3.0 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 15%.

Form 4 filings from 2025-11-03 to 2026-11-03 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 5 sales ($9.3M).

Large shareholders (13G filings)

ETFs with the most weight in LECO

1. Sales rise and fall with factory spending. Arc welding is a mature industry in North America and Western Europe, and demand rises and falls with manufacturers' spending on equipment. Revenue slipped from $4.19 billion in fiscal 2023 to $4.01 billion in 2024.
2. Steel, copper and silver price swings. Key inputs include steel, copper, silver, brass, aluminum alloys and electronic components. Shortages or sharp price jumps in these materials or energy can squeeze margins if price increases to customers lag.
3. Tariffs and trade retaliation. US tariffs on imports, and retaliatory tariffs from other countries, could raise costs and dampen demand. The company has taken steps to respond but says the ultimate impact cannot be predicted.
4. Big exposure to foreign economies and currencies. About 38% of fiscal 2025 sales came from outside the US, and the company has factories in 20 countries. Currency swings, political unrest, export limits and foreign slowdowns can all hurt results.
5. Deals that fall short. Buying and selling businesses is part of the strategy. Deals may fail to close or be hard to integrate, and the company can be left holding liabilities tied to businesses it sells.
6. Falling behind on products or patents. Many smaller regional rivals compete on price, quality and service. If Lincoln Electric cannot keep launching products customers want, or defend its welding patents, sales and gross margins could suffer.

• Oct 27, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Aug 11, 2026 Executive or board change
• Jul 30, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Apr 30, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Apr 21, 2026 Shareholder vote results
• Feb 12, 2026 Quarterly results released

Lincoln Electric's dividend per share has risen for at least nine straight fiscal years through 2025, and the true streak may be longer. It grew from $1.98 in fiscal 2020 to $3.04 in fiscal 2025, about 9% a year. Those payments used about 32% of earnings and of free cash flow (cash left after paying for equipment and facilities), a moderate share. The yield was 1.13% as of October 28, 2026, so income is modest. From fiscal 2021 to 2025 the company spent $1.15 billion on buybacks (repurchasing its own shares), more than the $731 million it paid in dividends. Shares outstanding fell 7.8% between January 2022 and September 2026.

The stock has fallen hard in downturns. It dropped 68.9% during the 2008 financial crisis and took about 34 months to recover. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 33.2% but regained its peak in under three months. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.