Linde PLC (LIN) stock analysis
Linde PLC (LIN) clears 4 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 5 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 1 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $510.36 it trades 176.9% above this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of -176.9%). Its earnings quality rates Strong and it returns +3.1% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Linde do?
Linde makes and sells industrial gases (oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, argon) and related engineering services under long-term contracts to steel, chemicals, healthcare, food and electronics customers worldwide.
What stands out about Linde?
- The share price implies 34.7% yearly growth. At $510.36, LIN's free cash flow of $10.79 per share would have to grow 34.7% a year, fading to 2.5% by year 10, for this site's DCF (10% discount rate) to match the price. This site's baseline starts at 8%, so the price asks for more growth than the baseline. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 2 of the 8 value filters. It fails Trailing P/E < 25 (32.48) and PEG Ratio < 1.5 (3.54); the other 4 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- The margin of safety is falling. It went from -166% on Oct 7 to -177% on Oct 23 across 5 weekly readings. See the trend.
- Strongest against peers: net margin. At 20.4% (peer median 7.8%) it ranks 3rd of 16 among materials stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Insiders have been buying. 1 open-market purchase was reported in SEC Form 4 filings in the last 90 days, about $0.4 million in all. See the Insider Buying Tracker.
How has Linde's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Linde undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) -176.9%
- P/E vs. its own history 32.5x · near the cheap end Real range: 29.2x–47.3x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 3.79/5 33 analysts this month: 5 strong buy, 18 buy, 8 hold, 2 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Down from 3.81 last month.
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) 2.06 · Grey zone
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · all 5 checks clean Beneish M-score −2.61 · accruals −4.1% of assets · 148% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 0.5% of revenue · share count −2.1% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +3.1% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 1.2% + buybacks 2.0% − stock comp 0.1%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count rose 54%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) $5.40 per $1 of new profit · Capital-hungry · but only 13% return on capital Operating profit $3.3B → $8.5B, capital needed $36B → $64B, 2016–2025 (3-year averages); return on capital now 13% before tax. Buffett's See's Candies needed $0.42 per $1 of new profit, FlightSafety $3.20, a typical grower about $5. Cyclical: the answer depends on where in its cycle the window starts and ends. See Capital-Light Compounders.
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 3.54 · Well above fair P/E 32.5× ÷ 9.2% a year of growth behind it. 369th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 2 of 4 · misses capital-light, price Capital-light growth: not cleared (only 13% return on capital); Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): not cleared (PEG 3.54, over 1.5). See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Value trap check Clear
- Munger's Inversion Check 1 flag
- Standing vs. sector peers 3 of 7 measures above the median Compared with the 15 other materials stocks this site tracks: 1 in the top third, 1 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 0/6 · clean
How does Linde compare with its peers?
3 of 7 measures sit above the median of the 15 other materials stocks tracked here, 1 in the top third and 1 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 31.4× 32.5× –8th of 12
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 4.3% 2.1% ✕14th of 16
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 13% 19% –7th of 16
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 7.8% 20.4% ✓3rd of 16
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 6.2% 6.6% –8th of 16
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 0.54 0.72 –10th of 16
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 1.75% 1.22% –10th of 16
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and LIN doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: LIN is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, converts sales into profit at healthy margins, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, and earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry. Where it comes up short: LIN carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, is trading above what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth right now, and trades rich relative to owner earnings, the real cash the business could pay out.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✓
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✓
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✕
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✕
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2025
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and LIN falls short of his bar. In its favor: LIN is growing earnings at the steady 10-20% pace of a proper Stalwart. Where it comes up short: LIN fails his signature PEG test, he'd call this pricey for the growth on offer, carries more debt than he liked to see, even allowing for the extra room a large, stable business gets, is asking investors to pay a steep multiple for that growth, and isn't generating free cash flow to match the growth story.
- PEG < 1 ✕
- EPS growth 10%-20% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.6 ✕
- P/E < 27 ✕
- Price/FCF < 30 ✕
- Bonus: insiders buying (90d) 1 buy, ~$0.4M
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Linde pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $235.3B
- Trailing P/E < 25 32.48
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 3.54
- Price/Book < 8 6.02
- Price/Sales < 7 6.64
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +11.3%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Linde's margin of safety?
-166% on 2026-10-07 → -177% on 2026-10-23 (5 weekly readings).
Where is Linde in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Linde?
5,987,857 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Linde? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case -64%
- Short interest under 5% of float 1.3%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 4/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +31% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2016 1.81 → 0.59
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Linde shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from LIN's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Linde's 10-year financials show?
From LIN's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Linde
What kind of company is Linde?
Linde makes and sells industrial gases (oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, argon) and related engineering services under long-term contracts to steel, chemicals, healthcare, food and electronics customers worldwide. This site groups it with Chemicals stocks.
Is Linde trading above or below its DCF value?
At $510.36, LIN trades 176.9% above this site's neutral DCF value of $184.29 per share, a margin of safety of −176.9%. That DCF projects free cash flow for 10 years, with growth starting at 8% and fading to 2.5%, discounted at 10%; it is one set of assumptions, not a forecast. Test your own in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Linde pass?
LIN passes 4 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($235.3B), Price/Book < 8 (6.02), Price/Sales < 7 (6.64) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+11.3%). It misses Trailing P/E < 25 (32.48) and PEG Ratio < 1.5 (3.54). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
How risky is Linde's balance sheet?
LIN's Altman Z″-Score is 2.06, which falls in the grey zone. Altman's own thresholds are above 2.6 for the safe zone, 1.1 to 2.6 for the grey zone and below 1.1 for the distress zone; the score blends working capital, retained earnings, operating profit and equity against liabilities. Its debt-to-equity ratio is 0.72, against a sector median of 0.77. See the Altman Z″-Score list.
Are Linde's insiders buying its shares?
Yes: 1 open-market insider purchase of Linde shares, worth about $0.4 million in total, was reported in SEC Form 4 filings in the 90 days up to this page's last update. Only open-market purchases count here, not option exercises or stock awards. See the Insider Buying Tracker.
When does Linde report earnings next?
Linde's next earnings report is expected on October 29, 2026 before the market opens, with analysts expecting earnings of $4.56 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 1 time, by an average of −0.2%.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Linde's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Feb 25, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Linde PLC analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Linde PLC (LIN) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.