Linde plc
Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company worldwide. The company offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene. It also engages in the design and construction of turnkey process plants for third-party customers, as well as for its gas businesses, including air separation, hydrogen, synthesis, olefin, and natural gas plants. The company serves the healthcare, chemicals and energy, manufacturing, metals and mining, food and beverage, and electronics industries. It operates in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, China, Australia, South Korea, and India. Linde plc was founded in 1879 and is based in Woking, the United Kingdom.
What does it do?
Linde is the world's largest industrial gas company — it makes and delivers gases like oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and helium that factories, hospitals, and tech companies need to operate. Think of it as the invisible infrastructure behind modern industry: a steel mill needs oxygen to smelt metal, a hospital needs medical-grade oxygen for patients, and a semiconductor fab needs ultra-pure gases to etch microchips. Linde also builds the giant plants that produce these gases, then locks customers into long-term supply contracts. You probably never think about Linde, but the products you use every day were almost certainly made with their gases.
Industrial gases are a surprisingly defensive business — customers literally cannot stop the production line to find a cheaper supplier, which gives Linde enormous pricing power and sticky, recurring revenue. Right now, two massive tailwinds are converging: the global buildout of clean hydrogen as an energy source, and the semiconductor boom driven by AI, both of which are huge consumers of Linde's specialty gases. With a $237 billion market cap, Linde is one of the largest companies in the Basic Materials sector and is increasingly seen as a backdoor play on the energy transition and AI infrastructure.
How does it make money?
Linde makes money in two main ways. The first and biggest is selling gases — either piping them directly into a customer's factory through on-site plants (called on-site supply), or delivering them in bulk liquid form by tanker truck, or selling smaller cylinder quantities to businesses. The second is its engineering division, where it designs and builds gas production plants for third-party customers worldwide. In its latest fiscal year, Linde generated $34.0 billion in revenue, up from $33.0 billion the prior year, and turned $6.9 billion of that into net profit — a net margin of roughly 20%, which is exceptionally high for an industrial company.
Why do investors care?
The core investment case is simple: Linde sells something everyone needs, under long-term contracts, with built-in price escalators that protect against inflation. Growth investors are excited about clean hydrogen — Linde is already the world's largest hydrogen producer and is positioning itself to supply the green hydrogen economy as governments pour billions into decarbonization. The semiconductor cycle is another driver, as chipmakers like TSMC and Intel need enormous volumes of ultra-pure gases for every new fab they build. For the thesis to work, hydrogen demand needs to scale commercially and Linde needs to keep winning large, long-duration supply contracts in high-growth end markets.
Deep Dive
MemberA full investor briefing on Linde plc — history, leadership, risks, and outlook.