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Linde (LIN) Gears Up to Post Q4 Earnings: What's in Store?

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Linde plc (LIN - Free Report) is set to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 10, before the opening bell.

In the last reported quarter, Linde’s earnings of $2.73 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.68 owing to increased demand from end markets and project start-ups that led to higher volumes and prices.

The leading global industrial gases and engineering company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in the prior four reported quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 6.3%, on average. This is depicted in the graph below:

Linde plc Price and EPS Surprise

Linde plc Price and EPS Surprise

Linde plc price-eps-surprise | Linde plc Quote

Let’s see how things have shaped up prior to this announcement.

Trend in Estimate Revision

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its fourth-quarter earnings per share of $2.68 has witnessed two downward revisions and no upward revision in the past 30 days. The estimated figure suggests an improvement of 16.5% from the prior-year reported number.

The consensus estimate for fourth-quarter revenues of $7.9 billion indicates an 8.2% improvement from the year-ago reported figure.

Factors to Consider

Industrial production in the United States increased drastically in the December quarter of 2021 compared to the year-ago quarter. The outperformance is owing to economic reopening, thanks to the rollout of coronavirus vaccines. Since Linde produces industrial gases used across numerous industries, the company is likely to have generated revenues from its Americas business unit. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its fourth-quarter 2021 sales from the Americas unit is pegged at $3,106 million, suggesting an increase from $2,724 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Linde this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Linde’s Earnings ESP is -0.50%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Linde currently carries a Zacks Rank #4.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few firms that you may want to consider as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the upcoming quarterly reports:

Alamos Gold Inc. (AGI - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.79% and is a Zacks #3 Ranked player. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Alamos Gold is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results on Feb 23. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AGI’s earnings is pegged at 9 cents per share, suggesting a decline of 40% from the prior-year reported figure.

The Chemours Company (CC - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +10.35% and a Zacks Rank of 3.

Chemours is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Feb 10. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Chemours’ earnings is pegged at 87 cents per unit, suggesting an improvement of 42.6% compared to the prior-year reported figure.

MP Materials Corp. (MP - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +31.25% and a Zacks Rank #2.

MP Materials is scheduled to release fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 24. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MP Materials’ earnings is pegged at 21 cents per share, suggesting a year-over-year improvement of 16.7%.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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