Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Issues Q2 2026 Earnings Guidance

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) updated its second quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of 4.400-4.500 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 4.450. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Linde also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 17.600-17.900 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Seaport Research Partners upped their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Linde from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $527.80.

Linde Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ LIN traded up $6.78 on Friday, hitting $507.92. 2,577,095 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,811,189. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $496.93 and a 200 day moving average of $456.09. Linde has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $521.28. The company has a market capitalization of $235.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.95 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Linde will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

More Linde News

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results topped expectations — adjusted EPS $4.33 vs. $4.27 consensus and revenue $8.78B (up ~8% YoY); management cited pricing and project start‑ups as growth drivers. Business Wire: Linde Reports First-Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised its dividend alongside the quarter, a shareholder‑friendly move that supports income and signals confidence in cash flow. Zacks: Linde Q1 Earnings Beat, Dividend Raised
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability remains strong — net margin (~20.3%) and ROE (~19.5%) indicate healthy cash conversion and operational leverage that support valuations. MarketBeat: Linde Q1 Summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 guidance given at $4.40–$4.50 is essentially in line with the Street (consensus ~4.45), so near‑term guidance doesn’t materially surprise investors either way. Seeking Alpha: Q1 Results Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Management hosted an earnings call and published the slide deck/transcript — useful for assessing segment dynamics (industrial gases, projects) but no new strategic shifts announced. Seeking Alpha: Q1 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: FY 2026 guidance set to $17.60–$17.90 has a midpoint slightly below the current consensus (~17.83), which could be viewed as a modest disappointment if investors expected an upward revision. Zacks: What Key Metrics Say

Institutional Trading of Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Linde by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in Linde by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,639,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Linde

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde’s business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.