Keep pulling the thread on Clay Finck.
Linde PLC's industrial gas segment operates with 30% EBIT margins and the company achieves an overall return on invested capital of over 20% after excluding goodwill and intangibles.
The industrial gas market is dominated by three companies, Linde PLC, Air Liquide, and Air Products, which collectively hold over 70% of the market.
Linde PLC has a $10 billion project backlog, with approximately two-thirds of it supporting contracted clean energy projects related to hydrogen and carbon capture.
Linde PLC's management expects to grow earnings per share in the 10% to 12% range over the long term.
In its most recent earnings call, Linde PLC guided for 6% to 9% growth in earnings per share and 0% base volume growth.
From 1993 to year-end 2024, Linde PLC's stock has compounded at 12% per annum, outperforming the S&P 500's return of 8% over the same period.
Linde PLC is the world's largest industrial gas company, with $34 billion in revenue and a market capitalization of $220 billion.
Linde PLC merged with American industrial gases company Praxair in 2018.
In the 30 years leading up to 2024, Linde PLC's sales compounded at 9% annually and its earnings per share compounded at 12% annually.
Linde PLC's onsite distribution, which involves building plants adjacent to customer sites for direct supply via pipeline, accounts for approximately 25% of its business and utilizes 10 to 20-year contracts.
Merchant distribution, involving tanker truck deliveries to customer storage containers, accounts for about one-third of Linde PLC's business and typically involves 3 to 7-year contracts.
Packaged gas distribution, which supplies smaller volumes in metal containers, constitutes more than one-third of Linde PLC's overall business and uses 1 to 3-year supply contracts.