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Linde (LIN) Q2 Earnings & Revenues Beat on Prices & Volumes

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Linde plc (LIN - Free Report) announced second-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $2.70 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.56 and improving from the year-ago profit of $1.90.

Total revenues of $7,584 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7,392 million and improved from the year-ago quarter’s $6,377 million.

The strong results were driven by increased demand from end markets and project start-ups that led to higher volumes and prices.

Linde plc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Linde plc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Linde plc price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Linde plc Quote

Dividend & Stock Repurchases

Through the June quarter, the leading producer of industrial gases has returned to shareholders a capital of $1,748 million that comprises both dividends and stock repurchases.

Segment Highlights

Operating profit in the Americas segment was up 40% year over year to $871 million on higher pricing and volumes. The increase in prices and volumes was aided by strong demand from most of the project start-ups and end-markets.

Profit in the EMEA segment increased 61% year over year to $487 million, thanks to increased volumes and pricing across all end markets.

Profit in the APAC segment increased 32.3% year over year to $389 million. The upside can be attributed to higher demand from project start-ups and end markets that aided pricing and volumes.

Operating profit at the Engineering segment fell 21.7% year over year to $108 million.

Backlogs

At the end of the June quarter, the company’s total backlog was recorded at $7.5 billion. The company has a sale-of-gas backlog of $3.4 billion and sale-of-plant backlog of $4.1 billion.

Capital Investment & Balance Sheet

Linde reported capital expenditure for the June quarter at $744 million. The company ended the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of around $3.1 billion. Long-term debt was $9.9 billion, representing debt to capitalization of 22.4%.

Guidance

For the September quarter, the company projects adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations in the band of $2.6 to $2.7. For 2021, the firm is expecting adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations in the range of $10.1 to $10.3. This represents upward revisions from the prior projected 2021 adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $9.6 to $9.8.

For supporting maintenance and growth projects, the company has set a capital budget for this year of $3 billion to $3.4 billion. 

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other prospective players in the basic material space include AvientCorporation (AVNT - Free Report) , Dow Inc. (DOW - Free Report) and Cabot Corporation (CBT - Free Report) . While Avient carries a Zacks Rank #2, Dow and Cabot sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Avient has witnessed upward earnings estimate revisions for 2021 in the past 30 days.

Dow is expected to witness earnings growth of 403% in 2021.

Cabot is likely to see earnings growth of 137.5% in fiscal 2021.


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