Linde Reports Second-Quarter 2026 Results

Key Terms

eps financial

Earnings per share (EPS) measures how much profit a company makes for each outstanding share of its stock by dividing the company’s profit after expenses by the number of shares. It matters to investors because it shows how much of the company’s “pie” each share represents—higher EPS usually signals greater profitability per share, helps compare companies of different sizes, and influences stock valuations and investor decisions.

basis points financial

Basis points are a way to measure small changes in interest rates or percentages, where one basis point equals 0.01%. For example, if a loan's interest rate increases by 50 basis points, it's gone up by 0.50%. They help people understand tiny differences in rates that can add up over time, making financial comparisons clearer.

free cash flow financial

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capital expenditures financial

Capital expenditures are the money a company spends to buy or improve big assets like buildings, equipment, or machines that will last a long time. These investments matter because they help the company grow and operate more efficiently, similar to how upgrading a home’s appliances or adding a new room can make it better and more valuable.

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Second-Quarter Highlights

• Sales $9.3 billion, up 9% YoY, underlying sales up 4%
• Operating profit $2.6 billion, adjusted operating profit $2.7 billion, up 7%
• Operating profit margin 27.5%; adjusted operating profit margin 29.5%
• EPS $4.15, up 11%; adjusted EPS $4.50, up 10% YoY
• Second-quarter operating cash flow of $2.3 billion, up 3% YoY
• Full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $17.70 - $17.90 representing 8% to 9% growth
• Project backlog $11 billion

WOKING, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Linde plc (Nasdaq: LIN) today reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $1,928 million and diluted earnings per share of $4.15, up 9% and up 11%, respectively. Excluding Linde AG purchase accounting impacts, adjusted net income was $2,089 million, up 8% versus prior year. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $4.50, 10% above prior year.

Linde’s sales for the second quarter were $9,289 million, up 9% versus prior year including 2% favorable currency impact. Compared to prior year, underlying sales increased 4% from 2% price attainment and 2% volumes, primarily in the electronics, manufacturing and chemicals & energy end markets. Acquisitions increased sales by 1%.

Second-quarter operating profit was $2,554 million. Adjusted operating profit of $2,744 million was up 7% versus prior year resulting in an adjusted operating profit margin of 29.5%. Operating margin was 60 basis points lower than the previous year as higher price and productivity initiatives were offset by cost inflation.

Second-quarter operating cash flow of $2,271 million increased 3% versus prior year. After capital expenditures of $1,438 million, free cash flow was $833 million. During the quarter, the company returned $1,590 million to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases, net of issuances.

Commenting on the financial results and business outlook, Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Lamba said, “Linde employees delivered another solid quarter, generating record sales and EPS while maintaining industry-leading profitability with 29.5% operating margin and 23.5% return on capital. During the quarter, we also signed another long-term electronics supply contract in the U.S., increasing the sale of gas backlog to a record $8.1 billion.”

Lamba continued, “Customer proposal activity remains robust, primarily across the electronics end market, giving us confidence to further grow the backlog. Regardless of the economic climate, I’m confident the Linde team will continue to secure high-quality future growth projects while delivering long-term shareholder value.”

For the third quarter of 2026, Linde expects adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $4.45 to $4.55, up 6% to 8% versus prior-year quarter, with no expected impact from foreign currency translation.

For the full year 2026, the company expects adjusted diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $17.70 to $17.90, up 8% to 9% when assuming favorable currency of 1% versus prior year. Full-year capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $5.5 billion to $6.0 billion to support growth and maintenance requirements including the $8.1 billion contractual sale of gas project backlog.

Second-Quarter 2026 Results by Segment

Americas sales of $4,083 million were up 7% versus prior year. Compared with second quarter 2025, underlying sales increased 4%, driven by 2% higher pricing and 2% higher volumes, primarily in the electronics and manufacturing end markets. Operating profit of $1,272 million was 31.2% of sales, 50 basis points below prior year.

APAC (Asia Pacific) sales of $1,870 million were up 13% versus prior year. Compared with second quarter 2025, underlying sales increased 8%, driven by 6% volumes primarily in the electronics and chemicals & energy end markets and project start-ups and 2% higher pricing. Operating profit of $531 million was 28.4% of sales, 120 basis points below prior year or 70 basis points when excluding the effects of cost pass-through.

EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) sales of $2,303 million were up 7% versus prior year. Compared with second quarter 2025, underlying sales increased 1%, driven by 2% higher pricing and lower volumes, primarily in the manufacturing end market. Operating profit of $823 million was 35.7% of sales, 40 basis points below prior year or 10 basis points higher when excluding the effects of cost pass-through.

Linde Engineering sales were $625 million, up 13% versus prior year, and operating profit was $100 million or 16.0% of sales. Order intake for the quarter was $871 million and third-party sale of equipment backlog was $3.0 billion.

Earnings Call

A teleconference on Linde’s second-quarter 2026 results is being held today at 9:00 am EDT.

Live conference call	US Toll-Free Dial-In Number: 1 888 770 7292 UK Toll-Free Dial-In Number: 0800 358 0970 Access code: 6877110
Live webcast (listen-only)	https://www.linde.com/investors/financial-reports

Materials to be used in the teleconference are also available on the website.

About Linde

Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2025 sales of $34 billion. We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain, decarbonize and protect our planet. Linde serves a variety of end markets such as chemicals & energy, food & beverage, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and mining. Linde’s industrial gases and technologies are used in countless applications, enabling space exploration and launch technologies, delivering ultra-high-purity and specialty gases for semiconductor manufacturing, providing life-saving medical oxygen and enabling clean hydrogen production and carbon capture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Linde also delivers state-of-the-art gas processing solutions to support customer growth, efficiency improvements and emissions reductions.

For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.linde.com

Adjusted amounts, free cash flow and return on capital are non-GAAP measures. See the attachments for a summary of non-GAAP reconciliations and calculations for adjusted amounts.

Attachments: Summary Non-GAAP Reconciliations, Statements of Income, Balance Sheets, Statements of Cash Flows, Segment Information and Appendix: Non-GAAP Measures and Reconciliations.

*Note: We are providing adjusted earnings per share (“EPS”) guidance for 2026. This is a non-GAAP financial measure that represents diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (a GAAP measure) but excludes the impact of certain items that we believe are not representative of our underlying business performance, such as cost reduction and other charges, and the impact of other potentially significant items. Given the uncertainty of timing and magnitude of such items, we cannot provide a reconciliation of the differences between the non-GAAP adjusted EPS guidance and the corresponding GAAP EPS measure without unreasonable effort.

Forward-looking Statements

This document contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as: anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, expect, continue, should, could, may, plan, project, predict, will, potential, forecast, and similar expressions. They are based on management’s reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date the statements are made but involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: the performance of stock markets generally; developments in worldwide and national economies and other international events and circumstances, including trade conflicts and tariffs; changes in foreign currencies and in interest rates; the cost and availability of electric power, natural gas and other raw materials; the ability to achieve price increases to offset cost increases; catastrophic events including natural disasters, epidemics, and acts of war and terrorism; the ability to attract, hire, and retain qualified personnel; the impact of changes in financial accounting standards; the impact of changes in pension plan liabilities; the impact of tax, environmental, healthcare and other legislation and government regulation in jurisdictions in which the company operates; the cost and outcomes of investigations, litigation and regulatory proceedings; the impact of potential unusual or non-recurring items; continued timely development and market acceptance of new products and applications; the impact of competitive products and pricing; future financial and operating performance of major customers and industries served; the impact of information technology system failures, network disruptions and cybersecurity breaches; and the effectiveness and speed of integrating new acquisitions into the business. These risks and uncertainties may cause future results or circumstances to differ materially from adjusted projections, estimates or other forward-looking statements.

Linde plc assumes no obligation to update or provide revisions to any forward-looking statement in response to changing circumstances. The above listed risks and uncertainties are further described in Item 1A. Risk Factors in Linde plc’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 filed with the SEC on February 25, 2026 which should be reviewed carefully. Please consider Linde plc’s forward-looking statements in light of those risks.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260731229906/en/

Anna Davies
Director
External Communications
Linde plc
Forge, 43 Church Street West, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6HT, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1483 244705, Mobile: +44 7789637174
Anna.Davies@linde.com
www.linde.com

Source: Linde plc