LIN vs APD vs BCPC Stock Comparison

Linde, Air Products & Chemicals and Balchem Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LIN Linde Plc
$508.83 +8.3% 1M +13.1% 1Y
Market cap
$236.01B
P/E
32.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.45B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Gases Basic Materials
4 wins
BCPC Balchem Corp
$177.00 +5.2% 1M +12.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.43B
P/E
31.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.11B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Balchem leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Balchem 5, Linde 4, Air Products & Chemicals 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLINAPDBCPCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $236.01B $68.55B $5.43B LIN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.6x -1,449x 31.8x BCPC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 30.4x 21.9x 34.6x APD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.6% +4.5% +9.4% BCPC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.4% -0.4% 15.4% LIN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.8% 0.0% 12.1% BCPC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 17.4x 0.3x BCPC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.02% 0.00% APD
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +13.1% +20.5% +12.9% APD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.1%/yr +1.1%/yr +2.7%/yr LIN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 19.2% 26.3% 20.4% LIN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 38/100 66/100 BCPC

Percentile Scorecard

LINAPDBCPC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisLINAPDBCPC
Valuation 20 #75 of 94 18 #77 of 94 31 #65 of 94
Growth 66 #32 of 92 43 #53 of 92 86 #14 of 92
Profitability 94 #6 of 89 50 #45 of 89 85 #14 of 89
Financial Health 52 #47 of 97 20 #78 of 97 89 #12 of 97
Shareholder Returns 64 #26 of 70 59 #29 of 70 39 #43 of 70
Overall 59 38 66
  • LIN ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • APD ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • BCPC ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodLINAPDBCPCSPY
1 month +8.3%+6.9%+5.2% -1.0%
3 months -0.7%+3.0%+8.7% +2.9%
6 months -0.3%+1.8%+1.9% +6.4%
Year to date +19.3%+24.3%+15.4% +11.4%
1 year +13.1%+20.5%+12.9% +13.1%
3 years +38.5%+10.8%+45.5% +79.4%
3 years, per year +11.5%+3.5%+13.3% +21.5%
5 years +62.0%+5.4%+14.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year +10.1%+1.1%+2.7% +10.9%
10 years +324.4%+128.4%+133.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +15.6%+8.6%+8.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureLINAPDBCPCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 19.2%26.3%20.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.5%24.5%18.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.050.070.15 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.680.780.63 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -23.7%-33.8%-34.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.9%-2.3%-3.4% -2.5%
52-week high $546.64$314.19$183.26 $779.14
52-week low $389.38$230.76$147.36 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleLINAPDBCPC
P/E now vs peer median 32.5xmedian 21.5x -1,446xmedian 21.5x 32.8xmedian 21.5x
P/S now vs peer median 6.6xmedian 1.4x 5.4xmedian 1.4x 5.1xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.5xmedian 12.4x 89.3xmedian 12.4x 20.5xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 47.1xmedian 15.5x -226.9xmedian 15.5x 31.6xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 1.6x 4.1xmedian 1.6x 4.2xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 3.07median 1.70 54.70median 1.70 1.75median 1.70

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsLINAPDBCPC
Revenue $35.45B $12.60B $1.11B
Gross profit $17.14B $4.04B $404.38M
Operating income $9.38B -$593.10M $229.57M
Net income $7.26B -$19.70M $170.85M
Free cash flow $4.98B -$301.40M $178.00M
R&D $146.00M $90.80M $20.81M
EPS (diluted) $15.59 $-0.21 $5.33
Cash & equivalents $4.90B $980.50M $66.26M
Total debt $28.01B $17.48B $696.62M
Shares (diluted) 464.52M 222.80M 32.03M
Enterprise value $217.59B $63.73B $5.15B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricLINAPDBCPC
P/E 32.5x -1,446x 32.8x
P/FCF 47.1x -226.9x 31.6x
P/Operating cash flow 22.4x 15.0x 25.2x
P/S 6.6x 5.4x 5.1x
P/B 5.8x 4.1x 4.2x
P/Tangible book 8.1x 4.2x 4.7x
EV/EBITDA 19.5x 89.3x 20.5x
EV/EBIT 27.5x -143.1x 24.9x
EV/Revenue 7.3x 6.7x 5.2x
EV/FCF 51.8x -281.6x 32.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.6x 18.6x 25.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.07 54.70 1.75

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLINAPDBCPC
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.6% 4.5% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.3% -1.0% 6.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.4% 5.1% 11.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.4% 2.7% 11.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 5.4% -138.7% 12.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% -31.0% 14.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.1% -101.2% 14.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.2% -26.2% 18.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.0% -103.1% 16.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 10.6% -26.4% 18.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 5.8% 54.8% 11.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.1% 13.1% 12.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.9% 93.5% 10.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -2.7% 27.5% 14.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLINAPDBCPC
Gross margin 48.3% 32.1% 36.5%
EBITDA margin 37.2% 7.5% 25.1%
Operating margin 26.5% -4.7% 20.7%
Pretax margin 26.4% -0.7% 19.9%
Net margin 20.4% -0.4% 15.4%
FCF margin 14.0% -2.4% 16.1%
Operating cash flow margin 29.6% 36.3% 20.2%
Return on equity 18.3% 0.0% 13.0%
Return on assets 8.4% 0.0% 10.1%
Return on invested capital 10.8% 0.0% 12.1%
Return on capital employed 13.2% -1.6% 15.0%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.3x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x -232.0x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.4% 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLINAPDBCPC
Debt / assets 31.7% 43.2% 8.6%
Debt / equity 0.7x 1.1x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 17.4x 0.3x
Debt / FCF 5.6x -58.0x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 54.0% 59.0% 22.1%
Equity / assets 46.0% 41.0% 77.9%
Interest coverage 37.4x -2.7x –
Current ratio 0.9x 1.1x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.6x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.2x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 3.97 2.56 11.26

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLINAPDBCPC
Dividend yield 1.2% 2.4% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 1.7% – 2.0%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 2.4% 2.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 39.7% -8,114% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 57.8% -530.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 5.3% 1.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 6.1% 2.9% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusLINAPDBCPC
Forward P/E 30.4xFY2026 21.9xFY2026 34.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $16.76FY2026 $14.01FY2026 $5.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.9%FY2026 +16.5%FY2026 +7.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.1% +5.3% +7.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $38.84BFY2026 $12.02BFY2026 $1.07BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.3%FY2026 -0.2%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.2% +8.6% +9.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLINAPDBCPC
Held by institutions 85.2% 91.2% 90.5%
Institutions holding 2,321 1,772 417
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.2% +2.0% +1.5%
Institutions buying 1,213 745 193
Institutions selling 764 722 162
Buyers to sellers 1.59 1.03 1.19

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

LINAPDBCPC
LIN 1.00 0.52 0.25
APD 0.52 1.00 0.19
BCPC 0.25 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LIN, APD and BCPC?

Linde (LIN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Linde (LIN) $236.01B, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) $68.55B, Balchem (BCPC) $5.43B.

Which stock is cheaper, LIN, APD and BCPC?

Balchem (BCPC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Linde (LIN) 32.6x, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) -1,449x, Balchem (BCPC) 31.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) is cheapest (Linde (LIN) 30.4x, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 21.9x, Balchem (BCPC) 34.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Balchem (BCPC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Linde (LIN) +6.6%, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +4.5%, Balchem (BCPC) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Linde (LIN) has the highest net margin (Linde (LIN) 20.4%, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) -0.4%, Balchem (BCPC) 15.4%). On return on invested capital, Balchem (BCPC) leads (Linde (LIN) 10.8%, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 0.0%, Balchem (BCPC) 12.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Air Products & Chemicals (APD) returned the most: Linde (LIN) +13.1%, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +20.5%, Balchem (BCPC) +12.9%. Over five years, Linde (LIN) compounded fastest (Linde (LIN) +10.1%/yr, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +1.1%/yr, Balchem (BCPC) +2.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Air Products & Chemicals (APD) has the highest dividend yield: Linde (LIN) 0.01%, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 0.02%, Balchem (BCPC) 0.00%. Balchem (BCPC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Linde (LIN) has been the steadiest (Linde (LIN) 19.2%, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 26.3%, Balchem (BCPC) 20.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, LIN, APD and BCPC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Balchem (BCPC) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.