Linde (LIN) Tops Q2 Earnings Estimates

Company Performance - Linde reported quarterly earnings of $3.85 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.79 per share, and up from $3.57 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of 1.58% [1] - The company posted revenues of $8.27 billion for the quarter ended June 2024, which was a 0.80% miss compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, and slightly up from $8.2 billion year-over-year [2] - Over the last four quarters, Linde has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times but has only topped consensus revenue estimates once [2] Stock Outlook - Linde shares have increased approximately 10.4% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P 500 has gained 14.2% [3] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $3.95 on revenues of $8.52 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $15.49 on revenues of $33.73 billion [7] - The estimate revisions trend for Linde is currently unfavorable, resulting in a Zacks Rank 4 (Sell), indicating expected underperformance in the near future [6] Industry Context - The Chemical - Specialty industry, to which Linde belongs, is currently in the top 33% of over 250 Zacks industries, suggesting a favorable outlook compared to the bottom 50% [8] - Empirical research indicates a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, which can be tracked by investors [5]