Linde Reports Q4 2025 Earnings Exceeding Expectations
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 1h ago
0mins
Should l Buy LIN?
Source: seekingalpha
- Strong Earnings Report: Linde's Q4 2025 non-GAAP EPS of $4.20 beats expectations by $0.02, with revenue reaching $8.8 billion, reflecting a 6% year-over-year growth that underscores the company's robust market performance.
- Improved Profitability: Operating profit stands at $2.0 billion, with adjusted operating profit at $2.6 billion, marking a 4% increase, while operating profit margin is 23% and adjusted margin is 29.5%, indicating successful cost control and efficiency improvements.
- Positive Future Outlook: The guidance for Q1 2026 adjusted EPS is set at $4.20 to $4.30, surpassing the consensus of $4.24, representing a projected growth of 6%-9%, showcasing the company's confidence in future performance.
- Solid Annual Projections: For the full year 2026, adjusted EPS guidance ranges from $17.40 to $17.90, exceeding the consensus of $17.83, with expected growth of 6%-9%, further solidifying Linde's leadership position in the industry.
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Analyst Views on LIN
Wall Street analysts forecast LIN stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for LIN is 499.07 USD with a low forecast of 455.00 USD and a high forecast of 540.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
17 Analyst Rating
15 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 463.570
Low
455.00
Averages
499.07
High
540.00
Current: 463.570
Low
455.00
Averages
499.07
High
540.00
About LIN
Linde plc is a United Kingdom-based industrial gases and engineering company. The Company serves a variety of end markets, such as chemicals and energy, food and beverage, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing, metals, and mining. The Company’s industrial gases and technologies are used in countless applications, including production of clean hydrogen and carbon capture systems critical to the energy transition, life-saving medical oxygen and high-purity and specialty gases for electronics. It also delivers gas processing solutions to support customer expansion, efficiency improvements and emissions reductions. Its primary products in its industrial gases business are atmospheric gases and process gases. The Company also designs and builds equipment that produces industrial gases and offers customers a range of gas production and processing services, such as olefin plants, natural gas plants, air separation plants, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants and other types of plants.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- Earnings Announcement: Linde is scheduled to release its Q4 earnings on February 5th before market open, with consensus EPS estimate at $4.18, reflecting a 5.3% year-over-year growth, indicating stable profitability.
- Revenue Expectations: The anticipated revenue for Q4 stands at $8.65 billion, representing a 4.2% year-over-year increase, which underscores the company's ongoing demand and business expansion capabilities in the market.
- Historical Performance: Over the past two years, Linde has beaten EPS estimates 100% of the time and revenue estimates 63% of the time, showcasing its strong performance stability and market confidence.
- Estimate Revisions: In the last three months, EPS estimates have seen one upward revision and 16 downward revisions, while revenue estimates experienced six upward and eight downward revisions, indicating mixed market sentiment regarding the company's future performance.
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- Earnings Highlights: Linde's Q4 non-GAAP EPS of $4.20 surpassed expectations by $0.02, indicating strong performance in the industrial gas sector and reinforcing its market leadership.
- Revenue Growth: The company reported Q4 revenue of $8.8 billion, exceeding market expectations by $150 million, which reflects robust performance amid global demand recovery and enhances investor confidence in future growth.
- Investment Dynamics: ClearBridge International Growth ADR Strategy exited Linde in Q4 2025, reallocating to Roche, which may affect Linde's market attention but also indicates rising investor interest in other biotech firms.
- Quant Rating: Seeking Alpha's quant rating on Linde highlights its competitiveness in the industry, suggesting that despite market fluctuations, Linde remains a quality long-term investment due to its stable financial performance and growth potential.
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- Strong Earnings Report: Linde's Q4 2025 non-GAAP EPS of $4.20 beats expectations by $0.02, with revenue reaching $8.8 billion, reflecting a 6% year-over-year growth that underscores the company's robust market performance.
- Improved Profitability: Operating profit stands at $2.0 billion, with adjusted operating profit at $2.6 billion, marking a 4% increase, while operating profit margin is 23% and adjusted margin is 29.5%, indicating successful cost control and efficiency improvements.
- Positive Future Outlook: The guidance for Q1 2026 adjusted EPS is set at $4.20 to $4.30, surpassing the consensus of $4.24, representing a projected growth of 6%-9%, showcasing the company's confidence in future performance.
- Solid Annual Projections: For the full year 2026, adjusted EPS guidance ranges from $17.40 to $17.90, exceeding the consensus of $17.83, with expected growth of 6%-9%, further solidifying Linde's leadership position in the industry.
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- Net Income and EPS: Linde reported a net income of $1.53 billion and diluted earnings per share of $3.26 for Q4 2025, reflecting declines of 11% and 9% respectively, indicating profitability pressures from acquisition accounting impacts and restructuring charges.
- Sales Growth and Profit: The company achieved sales of $8.764 billion in the fourth quarter, a 6% increase year-over-year, with adjusted operating profit at $2.585 billion, up 4% from the previous year, showcasing positive impacts from price increases and productivity initiatives.
- Cash Flow and Shareholder Returns: Linde generated operating cash flow of $3.03 billion in Q4, an 8% increase year-over-year, resulting in free cash flow of $1.572 billion after capital expenditures of $1.458 billion, demonstrating strong cash generation capabilities and commitment to shareholder returns.
- Future Outlook and Investment Plans: The company expects adjusted diluted earnings per share for 2026 to range between $17.40 and $17.90, with capital expenditures projected at $5.0 to $5.5 billion to support operational growth, indicating strong growth potential despite macroeconomic uncertainties.
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- Sales Growth: Linde achieved sales of $34 billion in 2025, reflecting a 3% year-over-year increase, with underlying sales up 2%, demonstrating the company's resilience and growth potential in a stable market.
- Profitability Improvement: The adjusted operating profit reached $10.1 billion, with an operating profit margin of 29.8%, which is a 30 basis point increase from 2024, indicating effective strategies in cost control and productivity enhancements.
- Cash Flow Performance: In 2025, operating cash flow amounted to $10.4 billion, up 10% year-over-year, providing robust support for future investments and shareholder returns, showcasing the company's healthy financial position.
- Shareholder Returns: The company returned $7.4 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases in 2025, reflecting Linde's ongoing commitment to creating shareholder value and enhancing investor confidence.
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