Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Releases Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

06 Feb 2026, 15:20 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN – Get Free Report) issued an update on its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 4.200-4.300 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 4.240. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Linde also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 17.400-17.900 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets set a $501.00 target price on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, CICC Research initiated coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.50.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Linde

Linde Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $451.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.82. Linde has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $486.38. The company has a market cap of $211.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $430.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $447.98.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Linde will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Linde

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus — adjusted EPS $4.20 vs. $4.18 estimate and revenue $8.76B (+6% y/y), with adjusted net income and segment profits up, supporting the company’s underlying operating strength. Linde Reports Full-Year and Fourth-Quarter 2025 Results
Positive Sentiment: Full-year operating profit of $8.9B highlights margin resilience across regions and product lines, supporting long-term cash generation. Linde reports full year operating profit of $8.9bn
Neutral Sentiment: Investor resources and analysis (earnings call transcript, Zacks coverage, Seeking Alpha pieces) largely confirm the beat but note limited near-term upside given guidance and recent valuation. Linde plc (LIN) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Negative Sentiment: Guidance disappointed marginally — FY2026 EPS guide $17.40–$17.90 versus consensus ~$17.83, and Q1 guide $4.20–$4.30 vs. ~4.24 — the small misses spurred a sell-off as investors re-price growth visibility. Linde shares fall over 2% as 2026 guidance disappoints despite earnings beat
Negative Sentiment: Analyst posture turned cautious — JPMorgan reaffirmed a “neutral” rating with a $455 price target (slightly below recent levels), which reinforces limited near-term upside in analyst models. Finviz
Negative Sentiment: Operational restructuring: Linde announced engineering job cuts while citing supply-chain pressures; that reduces near-term expense flexibility and adds execution risk despite management’s confidence. Linde cuts jobs in engineering but confident it can weather supply chain challenges
Negative Sentiment: Mainstream press (CNBC) highlighted the guidance-driven sell-off and maintained cautious stance, amplifying the negative market reaction. Shares of industrial gas giant sink on guidance — why we’re keeping our 1 rating

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,752,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 19.8% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $238,000. Finally, TRUE Private Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $303,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Linde

(Get Free Report)

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.