LINLinde plc
Is the business good?
A genuinely good business: earnings fully cash-backed (1.4×) and margins widening.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash.
Negative operating leverage, costs are rising faster than sales, squeezing margins as it grows.
Margin-driven, fat margins on slower asset turns. ROE 18% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is LIN?
Linde plc earns 12% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so the business is worth more the bigger it gets.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 2.9 points above what the capital costs: growth creates value
- Operating margin
- 26%
Operating margin · Specialty Chemicals median 7.4% · 12 months to Q2 2026
- Cash conversion
- 1.44×
Cash conversion · 1.46× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- −1.9%
Share count, year on year · bought back, each share owns more of the company
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 12% |
| FY2021 | 16% |
| FY2022 | 16% |
| FY2023 | 24% |
| FY2024 | 26% |
| FY2025 | 26% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 48%
- Operating margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 26%
- Net margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 20%
- Free cash flow margin
- 14%
- R&D as % of revenue
- 0.41%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $35.4B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $4.97B
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $7.24B
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 12%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Specialty Chemicals
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