Linde plc

Linde, incorporated in Ireland, is the world's largest industrial gas company. It sells atmospheric gases, which it separates from ordinary air (oxygen, nitrogen, argon and rare gases such as neon and xenon). It also sells process gases made by other methods, including hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. Its customers work in healthcare, chemicals and energy, manufacturing, metals and mining, food and beverage, and electronics. Sales were about $34.0 billion in 2025.

Linde delivers gas in three ways. Customers that need the largest volumes get it by pipeline from a plant Linde builds on or next to their site. These contracts usually run 10 to 20 years, with minimum purchase requirements and clauses that let prices rise with costs. Mid-sized users get liquid gas by tanker truck under three- to seven-year contracts. Small users get gas in cylinders under one- to three-year contracts or purchase orders. A separate Engineering business designs and builds gas plants for outside customers and for Linde itself. Linde does not depend on any single customer.

By segment, the Americas brought in 44.7% of 2025 sales. EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) brought in 25.2%, Asia-Pacific 19.6% and Engineering 6.6%. About 64% of sales came from outside the U.S. The biggest foreign countries by sales were China (7.7%) and Germany (7.2%).

• In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $9.40B, up 9.2% from a year earlier, and net income was $1.69B (-12.3%).
• For fiscal 2025, revenue was $33.99B (+3.0% year over year; +4.5% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 20.3% net margin.

• Over FY2021–FY2025: $22.82B in buybacks and $12.48B 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 +9.3% a year over 5 years (FY2020–FY2025).
• Dividends took 40.8% of earnings and 55.2% of free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.
• Shares outstanding changed -9.6% from Jan 31, 2022 to Sep 30, 2026.

Rank among 1514 US companies

Market value at each year end

Linde’s market value went from $85.99B at the end of 2018 to $238.60B on Nov 2, 2026, about 2.8 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 20%.

Form 4 filings from 2025-10-30 to 2026-10-30 (25 read): 1 open-market purchases ($48K) and 5 sales ($7.8M), 1 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.

Large shareholders (13G filings)

ETFs with the most weight in LIN

1. Energy costs and supply shortages. Energy is Linde's single largest cost, mostly electricity, natural gas and diesel. Contract clauses pass many costs on to customers but may not fully offset price swings. A shortage of purchased inputs such as helium could disrupt deliveries.
2. Customers in boom-and-bust industries. Many customers work in industries that rise and fall with the economy, such as chemicals and energy, and metals and mining. A downturn could cut demand, leave plants idle and force asset write-downs.
3. Falling behind on new technology. Linde's research focuses on areas such as clean energy, hydrogen and carbon management. If it falls behind rivals, or its new technologies fail to catch on, customers may stop purchasing its products.
4. Political and trade risks abroad. Linde serves customers in more than 80 countries, and China alone made up 7.7% of 2025 sales. Trade conflicts, tariffs, export controls, political instability, limits on moving money or seizure of assets could hurt results.
5. Currency swings affect reported results. Linde reports in U.S. dollars, but about 64% of 2025 sales came from outside the U.S. Exchange-rate moves change reported revenue and earnings, and contracts that lock in exchange rates may not fully offset them.
6. Borrowing costs and credit ratings. As of June 30, 2026, Linde had about $28.0 billion of debt and $4.9 billion of cash and investments. Market turmoil or a credit-rating downgrade could make borrowing harder or more expensive.

• Oct 29, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Jul 31, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Jul 30, 2026 Shareholder vote results
• May 13, 2026 Other company announcement
• May 1, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Feb 5, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Dec 3, 2025 Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation
• Nov 20, 2025 Other company announcement
• Oct 31, 2025 Quarterly results released

Linde raised its dividend for at least nine straight years through 2025. Dividends per share grew from $3.85 in 2020 to $6.00 in 2025, about 9.3% a year. In 2025, dividends took 40.8% of earnings and 55.2% of free cash flow (the cash left after investing in plants and equipment). The yield was a modest 1.24% as of October 27, 2026. Linde spent even more repurchasing its own shares: $22.8 billion from 2021 through 2025, compared with $12.5 billion in dividends. Its share count fell about 10% between September 2021 and June 2026.

In past slumps, the stock fell hard but recovered quickly. In the 2020 COVID crash, it dropped 32.2% from February 19 to March 23, 2020, and had recovered by June 5. In the 2022 market decline, it lost 22.8% from January 5 to September 26 and had recovered by November 23. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds, because one company's setbacks aren't cushioned by other holdings.