Linde plc LIN
Weak Materials sector · Linde — the largest industrial-gas supplier; long-term take-or-pay contracts and a clean-hydrogen option.
Linde plc (LIN) is an established Materials company, graded Weak on FrontierLab's evidence-based quality rubric (data as of 2026-10-05). Revenue grew 6.6% year-over-year at a 37.6% gross margin. Gross-profits-to-assets is 0.15; Rule of 40 is 33.7. Net share issuance -1.9% YoY (flat share count). No risk flags are currently noted. Analyst mix: 22 buy / 7 hold / 2 sell. 1 distinct insider cluster-buyer in the last 90 days. Track record: 35% of Weak-graded names beat the S&P over 63 sessions (95% CI 18–57%, N=20). Median excess vs the S&P was -13%.
These sentences are generated from the day's data by deterministic templates.
Key quality signals
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 6.6% |
|---|---|
| Gross margin | 37.6% |
| Gross profits / assets | 0.15 |
| Rule of 40 | 33.7 |
| Net margin | 27.1% |
| Cash runway (months) | — |
| PEG | 3.1 |
| Price / sales | 6.3 |
Quality checklist
Each line is one quality test behind the grade — ✓ passed · ~ borderline · ✗ failed. Hover a metric in the tables below for what it means.
- ✗ Revenue growth — 6.6% (pass ≥ 20%)
- ✗ Gross profits / assets — 0.15 (pass ≥ 0.33)
- · Rule of 40 — 33.7 (context — graded for software only)
- ✓ Gross margin — 37.6% (pass ≥ 25% · Materials)
- ✓ Cash generation
- ✓ Share dilution — -1.9%
- ✓ Competitive moat — Wide
- ✓ Market size (TAM) — Large
Grade history
Graded Weak since 2026-06-17 — no grade changes recorded yet.
How have Weak-graded names performed?
The forward returns of all Weak-graded names since each grade was recorded — the bucket this name currently sits in, not a forecast of this individual stock.
| Window | Forward record vs the S&P | Median |
|---|---|---|
| ~1 month | 32% of Weak-graded names beat the S&P over 21 sessions (95% CI 15–54%, N=19). | Median excess vs the S&P was -3%. |
| ~3 months | 35% of Weak-graded names beat the S&P over 63 sessions (95% CI 18–57%, N=20). | Median excess vs the S&P was -13%. |
| ~6 months | building — 46 more sessions needed | |
Scope: these are forward returns vs the S&P among names still covered at each horizon's end, within the curated universe — not a survivorship-clean whole-market backtest. Names later dropped from coverage are counted as attrition (not hidden), and single-session moves beyond ±300% are treated as split/data artifacts and excluded. How this is measured → · Full track record →
How it compares
Coarse same-sector, same-stage context — not a percentile or rank. GP/A is graded on its absolute level, not position.
Fundamentals
| Market cap | $221.81B |
|---|---|
| Stage | Established |
| Share issuance (YoY) | -1.9% · flat share count |
| Moat | Wide |
| TAM | LARGE |
| P/E (trailing) | 31 |
| EPS (trailing) | $15.48 |
| Burn multiple | — |
| Gross-margin trend (pts) | 0.4 |
| Cash / assets | 0.06 |
| Accruals (%) | -3.7% |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.7 |
| Statements as of | Q2 FY2026 · filed 2026-07-31 |
Momentum context — describes the past, not a signal
Low reached Dec 8, 2025 · high reached Jul 2, 2026 — by daily close.
| Price | $479.48 (as of 2026-10-02) |
|---|---|
| Last session move | — |
| % off 52-wk high | -12.5% |
| RSI (14) | 56 |
| Relative volume | 1.2× |
Insider activity (90 days)
| Cluster buyers | 1 |
|---|---|
| Sellers | 0 |
Insider selling is routine diversification, not a bearish signal.
Analyst mix
| Strong buy | 5 |
|---|---|
| Buy | 17 |
| Hold | 7 |
| Sell | 2 |
| Strong sell | 0 |
Ratings are context, not a price target. "Momentum" = how the mix changed over recent weeks, not a forecast.
From the headlines
- What is Linde’s (LIN) Economic Moat, and is it Widening or Narrowing?
- Here’s How Much You Would Have Made Owning Linde Stock In The Last 20 Years
AI take — daily, AI-generated
AI leans cautious
Linde shows modest 6.6% growth with a concerning 3.1 PEG ratio, suggesting the market is pricing in optimism that fundamentals don't yet support; weak margins and low asset productivity add to the caution.
Generated by an AI model from the day's news — an opinion for context only. Not financial advice, not a recommendation, and not a price target.
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Data as of 2026-10-05 08:19 (end-of-day). How grades are computed →