Linde vs Nucor
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The short version
- Linde is the larger business, with $34.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $32.5B for Nucor.
- Nucor grew revenue faster (5.7%, against 3.0%).
- Linde turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.0% FCF margin, against −0.6%).
- Linde earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.7%, against 8.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Linde’s earnings: a P/E of 32.8x against 20.6x for Nucor.
| Latest fiscal year | LIN · FY25 | NUE · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $236.4B | $59.0B |
| Revenue | $34.0B | $32.5B |
| Free cash flow | $5.1B | −$188M |
| Net income | $6.9B | $1.7B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.0% | 5.7% |
| 5-year growth | 4.5% | 10.0% |
| Share count change | −2.1% | −3.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 11.9% |
| Operating margin | 26.3% | — |
| Net margin | 20.3% | 5.4% |
| FCF margin | 15.0% | −0.6% |
| Return on capital | 11.7% | 8.6% |
| Return on equity | 18.1% | 8.5% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $22.1B | $4.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.8x | 1.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $7.4B | $1.2B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 32.8x | 20.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
LIN $10.5B
NUE $16.2B
FY17
LIN $11.4B
NUE $20.3B
FY18
LIN $14.8B
NUE $25.1B
FY19
LIN $28.2B
NUE $22.6B
FY20
LIN $27.2B
NUE $20.1B
FY21
LIN $30.8B
NUE $36.5B
FY22
LIN $33.4B
NUE $41.5B
FY23
LIN $32.9B
NUE $34.7B
FY24
LIN $33.0B
NUE $30.7B
FY25
LIN $34.0B
NUE $32.5B
LIN
NUE
Operating margin
FY16
LIN 21.3%
NUE —
FY17
LIN 21.5%
NUE —
FY18
LIN 35.4%
NUE —
FY19
LIN 10.4%
NUE —
FY20
LIN 12.2%
NUE —
FY21
LIN 16.2%
NUE —
FY22
LIN 16.1%
NUE —
FY23
LIN 24.4%
NUE —
FY24
LIN 26.2%
NUE —
FY25
LIN 26.3%
NUE —
LIN
NUE
Free cash flow
FY16
LIN $1.3B
NUE $1.1B
FY17
LIN $1.7B
NUE $607M
FY18
LIN $1.8B
NUE $1.4B
FY19
LIN $2.4B
NUE $1.3B
FY20
LIN $4.0B
NUE $1.2B
FY21
LIN $6.6B
NUE $4.6B
FY22
LIN $5.7B
NUE $8.1B
FY23
LIN $5.5B
NUE $4.9B
FY24
LIN $4.9B
NUE $806M
FY25
LIN $5.1B
NUE −$188M
LIN
NUE
Return on capital
FY16
LIN —
NUE 9.9%
FY17
LIN —
NUE 13.7%
FY18
LIN 10.6%
NUE —
FY19
LIN 3.3%
NUE —
FY20
LIN 4.0%
NUE 7.5%
FY21
LIN 6.3%
NUE 46.5%
FY22
LIN 7.2%
NUE 42.3%
FY23
LIN 11.3%
NUE 23.6%
FY24
LIN 11.8%
NUE 10.9%
FY25
LIN 11.7%
NUE 8.6%
LIN
NUE
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.