Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) stock fell 1.73% (As on February 6, 11:24:07 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company issued full-year 2026 guidance that fell short of analyst expectations, despite reporting fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded forecasts. Underlying sales increased 3%, driven by 2% price attainment and 1% higher volumes from project startups. Fourth-quarter operating cash flow grew 8% YoY to $3.0 billion. By segment, Americas sales rose 8% YoY to $3.9 billion, APAC (Asia Pacific) sales increased 3% to $1.7 billion, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) sales grew 6% to $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter. The project backlog stands at a record $10 billion, and this number does not include over half a billion dollars of investment for rocket propellants to contracted space launch customers. In fact, the company fully expects continued investment in the sector as the company expand the network to support this rapidly growing opportunity. Linde remains the anchor industrial gas supplier for some of the largest and most successful clean energy and advanced electronics fabs in the world. the company also continues to see a robust M&A pipeline for accretive tuck-in acquisitions that further enhance the supply density.

LIN in the fourth quarter of FY25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $4.20, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $4.17. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 6 percent to $8.8 billion in the fourth quarter of FY25, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $8.64 billion. Excluding FX, underlying sales increased 3%, from 2% pricing and 1% volumes. The 2% price increase aligned with globally weighted inflation after considering APAC challenges associated with helium and China deflationary conditions. Volume growth was driven by project startups in the Americas and APAC, as base volume growth in the Americas was more than offset by continued industrial softness in EMEA. Operating profit at $2.6 billion was up 4% from the prior year and resulted in a 29.5% margin

However, investors appeared concerned with Linde’s full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $17.40-$17.90, which at the midpoint ($17.65) falls below the analyst consensus of $17.83. The company’s first-quarter 2026 EPS guidance of $4.20-$4.30 was in line with analyst expectations of $4.24.

The company expects capital expenditures for 2026 to be in the range of $5.0 billion to $5.5 billion to support growth requirements, including its contractual sale of gas backlog, which currently stands at $10.0 billion.