Dow vs Linde
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The short version
- Dow is the larger business, with $40.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $34.0B for Linde.
- Linde grew revenue faster (3.0%, against −7.0%).
- Linde turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.0% FCF margin, against −3.6%).
- Linde earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.7%, against −4.1%).
| Latest fiscal year | DOW · FY25 | LIN · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $23.5B | $236.4B |
| Revenue | $40.0B | $34.0B |
| Free cash flow | −$1.4B | $5.1B |
| Net income | −$2.6B | $6.9B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −7.0% | 3.0% |
| 5-year growth | 0.7% | 4.5% |
| Share count change | 0.9% | −2.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 6.3% | — |
| Operating margin | — | 26.3% |
| Net margin | −6.6% | 20.3% |
| FCF margin | −3.6% | 15.0% |
| Return on capital | −4.1% | 11.7% |
| Return on equity | −15.7% | 18.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $14.3B | $22.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 12.0x | 1.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.5B | $7.4B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 32.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 3 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
DOW —
LIN $10.5B
FY17
DOW $43.7B
LIN $11.4B
FY18
DOW $49.6B
LIN $14.8B
FY19
DOW $43.0B
LIN $28.2B
FY20
DOW $38.5B
LIN $27.2B
FY21
DOW $55.0B
LIN $30.8B
FY22
DOW $56.9B
LIN $33.4B
FY23
DOW $44.6B
LIN $32.9B
FY24
DOW $43.0B
LIN $33.0B
FY25
DOW $40.0B
LIN $34.0B
DOW
LIN
Operating margin
FY16
DOW —
LIN 21.3%
FY17
DOW —
LIN 21.5%
FY18
DOW —
LIN 35.4%
FY19
DOW —
LIN 10.4%
FY20
DOW —
LIN 12.2%
FY21
DOW —
LIN 16.2%
FY22
DOW —
LIN 16.1%
FY23
DOW —
LIN 24.4%
FY24
DOW —
LIN 26.2%
FY25
DOW —
LIN 26.3%
DOW
LIN
Free cash flow
FY16
DOW —
LIN $1.3B
FY17
DOW −$7.7B
LIN $1.7B
FY18
DOW $2.2B
LIN $1.8B
FY19
DOW $4.0B
LIN $2.4B
FY20
DOW $5.0B
LIN $4.0B
FY21
DOW $5.5B
LIN $6.6B
FY22
DOW $5.7B
LIN $5.7B
FY23
DOW $2.8B
LIN $5.5B
FY24
DOW −$26.0M
LIN $4.9B
FY25
DOW −$1.4B
LIN $5.1B
DOW
LIN
Return on capital
FY16
DOW —
LIN —
FY17
DOW —
LIN —
FY18
DOW —
LIN 10.6%
FY19
DOW −0.6%
LIN 3.3%
FY20
DOW 6.6%
LIN 4.0%
FY21
DOW 24.6%
LIN 6.3%
FY22
DOW 15.9%
LIN 7.2%
FY23
DOW 4.3%
LIN 11.3%
FY24
DOW 5.7%
LIN 11.8%
FY25
DOW −4.1%
LIN 11.7%
DOW
LIN
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.