Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company worldwide. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene. The company also engages in designing and constructing of turnkey process plants for third-party customers, as well as for the gas businesses in …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Margins Consistently Above PeersGross margin at 48.8% (top 9%) and operating margin at 26.2% (top 0%) indicate strong pricing power.
Scale Supporting ProfitabilityProfitability at scale is strong (score 0.95), demonstrating competitive advantages.
Key risks
Liquidity ConcernsLiquidity is concerning (score 0.04), raising questions about short-term obligations.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Linde plc ranks #3 of 56
scored companies in Specialty Chemicals by moat score — the top 5%.
The widest moat in the group is WD-40 Company (WDFC)
at 81/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near LIN in Specialty Chemicals
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 87
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 93
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 77
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 58
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 94
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
Linde plc (LIN) scores 80 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #3 of 56 scored companies in Specialty Chemicals, the top 5%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 56 companies in Specialty Chemicals. Its strongest defense is Scale & Market Position (94/100) and its weakest is Resilience (58/100).
How does Linde plc compare with other Specialty Chemicals companies?
Linde plc ranks #3 of 56 scored companies in Specialty Chemicals by moat score. The widest moat in Specialty Chemicals is WD-40 Company (WDFC) at 81/100. The companies ranked closest are Balchem Corporation (BCPC) at 80 just above it and NewMarket Corp (NEU) at 80 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 56 companies in Specialty Chemicals. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Linde plc scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Linde plc?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and LIN scores: Pricing Power (75), Cost Advantage (87), Customer Stickiness (93), Capital Efficiency (77), Resilience (58), Scale & Market Position (94). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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