2Q26 Beat & Bump Low End; Major Capex Announcement

Research evidence excerpt

2Q26 Beat & Bump Low End; Major Capex Announcement

Update

July 31, 2026 11:30 AM GMT

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLCMLinde PLC | North America Vincent Andrews

Equity Analyst

2Q26 Beat & Bump Low End; Vincent.Andrews@morganstanley.comSteven K Haynes, CFA +1 212 761-3293

Steven.Haynes@morganstanley.com

Major Capex Announcement

Linde PLC (LIN.O, LIN US)

Chemicals | United States of America

AlphaSignals Earnings Reaction

Stock Rating Overweight

Unchanged Modest upside Largely unchanged Industry View In-Line

Impact to our thesis Financial results versus consensus Direction of next 12-month Price target $530.00

consensus EPS Shr price, close (Jul 30, 2026) $508.64

Mkt cap, curr (mm) $236,447

Source: Company data, Morgan Stanley Research 52-Week Range $548.20-387.78

Key Takeaways

2Q EBIT beat led by EMEA/APAC/Engineering vs MSe & Cons; Americas EBIT

missed both, offsetting an otherwise broad segment beat

Americas miss tied to US homecare cost inflation; APAC beat diluted by sale-of-

equipment mix/helium dislocation cost

FY26 EPS raised at low end, brackets MSe but below Cons; Buy side was

expecting an overall raise

$1B semi plant capex announced (as anticipated). $800mm JV investment in

Taiwan as well. Capex raised ~10% to fund record $8.1B SOG backlog.

adj. ROC 23.5%, -160bps YoY on larger capital base.

We expect a positive reaction to the new CapEx project announcements, but a

mixed response to the lack of a raise to the high end of guidance. We believe the

buy side expected a raise - discussion here on this morning's call will likely

matter. Nonetheless, given the 20% move in the stock YTD - as well as new

comers to the story for the space thematic - we will not be surprised to see the

stock pare some of these gains today.

1) What drove the beat? 2Q26 adj.