Linde Reports First-Quarter 2026 Results

First-Quarter Highlights

• Sales $8.8 billion, up 8% YoY, underlying sales up 3%
• Operating profit $2.4 billion, adjusted operating profit $2.6 billion, up 8%
• Operating profit margin 27.8%; adjusted operating profit margin 30.0%, down 10 basis points YoY
• EPS $3.98, up 13%; adjusted EPS $4.33, up 10% YoY
• First-quarter operating cash flow of $2.2 billion, up 4% YoY
• Full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $17.60 - $17.90 representing 7% to 9% growth 

Woking, UK, May 1, 2026 – Linde plc (Nasdaq: LIN) today reported first-quarter 2026 net income of $1,857 million and diluted earnings per share of $3.98, up 11% and up 13%, respectively. Excluding Linde AG purchase accounting impacts and cost reduction program and other charges, adjusted net income was $2,019 million, up 7% versus prior year. Adjusted earnings per share was $4.33, 10% above prior year.

Linde’s sales for the first quarter were $8,781 million, up 8% versus prior year including 5% favorable currency impact. Compared to prior year, underlying sales increased 3% from 2% price attainment and 1% volumes, primarily from project start-ups. Acquisitions increased sales by 1%.

First-quarter operating profit was $2,439 million. Adjusted operating profit of $2,630 million was up 8% versus prior year led by higher price and continued productivity initiatives across all segments. Adjusted operating profit margin was 30.0%.

First-quarter operating cash flow of $2,240 million increased 4% versus prior year. After capital expenditures of $1,342 million, free cash flow was $898 million. During the quarter, the company returned $1,545 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 with 10% EPS growth, 30% operating margin and 24% return on capital under increasingly challenging global conditions. These results underscore the resiliency of our operating model, discipline of capital allocation and perseverance of management actions.” 

Lamba continued, “Looking ahead, I’m confident the Linde team will continue to create shareholder value in any environment.” 

For the second quarter of 2026, Linde expects adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $4.40 to $4.50, up 8% to 10% versus prior-year quarter or 7% to 9% when excluding estimated favorable currency of 1%.

For the full year 2026, the company expects adjusted diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $17.60 to $17.90, up 7% to 9%, assuming favorable currency of 1%. Full-year capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $5.0 billion to $5.5 billion to support growth and maintenance requirements including the $7.1 billion contractual sale of gas project backlog.

First-Quarter 2026 Results by Segment

Americas sales of $4,025 million were up 10% versus prior year. Compared with first quarter 2025, underlying sales increased 6%, driven by 4% higher pricing and 2% higher volumes, primarily in the electronics, manufacturing and metals and mining end markets. Operating profit of $1,272 million was 31.6% of sales, 60 basis points above prior year.

APAC (Asia Pacific) sales of $1,701 million were up 11% versus prior year. Compared with first quarter 2025, underlying sales increased 6%, driven by 6% volumes primarily in the electronics, and chemicals and energy end markets and project startups. Operating profit of $477 million was 28.0% of sales, 130 basis points below prior year. 

EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) sales of $2,171 million were up 7% versus prior year. Compared with first quarter 2025, underlying sales decreased 2%, driven by 1% higher pricing and 3% lower volumes, primarily in the chemicals and energy and manufacturing end markets. Operating profit of $784 million was 36.1% of sales, 60 basis points above prior year.

Linde Engineering sales were $517 million, down 8% versus prior year, and operating profit was $101 million or 19.5% of sales. Order intake for the quarter was $640 million and third-party sale of equipment backlog was $2.8 billion.

Earnings Call

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

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.