Industrial giant Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)’s shares are up by 4.30% over the past year and by 14% year-to-date. The stock closed 5.9% lower on July 31st, the day that it reported its second-quarter earnings. During the quarter, Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) posted $9.29 billion in revenue and $4.50 in adjusted earnings per share to beat analyst estimates of $4.48. Additionally, the firm also hiked its full-year guidance to $17.70 to $17.90 per share from the earlier $17.60 to $17.90 per share. Yet, as the shares tumbled, in a tweet, Cramer called the move unwise and mentioned a contract from Taiwan’s TSMC:
“The selling in Linde is beyond stupid. They just got the biggest, best contract from Taiwan Semi in Arizona. It will be down for a couple of days and then come back… Investing Club holding”
While Cramer was unhappy about the movement in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)’s shares following the earnings, the debate surrounding the firm covers more than its semiconductor manufacturing customers. Primarily, it is focused on cost control, margins and profitability. While the bulls point towards sales and earnings growth in the second quarter, the bears outline that Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)’s operating margin dropped to 29.5% from 31.0%. Additionally, the firm’s EBITDA margin of 38.45% missed analyst estimates.
Since Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a sizable company, some of its businesses often cloud the sentiment for the broader firm. While Cramer praised its semiconductor arm, the bears are worried about the firm’s home healthcare business, Lincare. However, the bulls, like Cramer, point towards the semiconductor business. They outlined that Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) has a backlog of $11.1 billion, with the Arizona contract being worth $1 billion. However, while the bulls are optimistic about the tailwinds from the data center buildout, the bears are concerned about whether Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)’s long-term compounded annual growth rate of 8% to 12% for its earnings can be met without tailwinds from the broader global industrial gas market.
Looking at the hedge funds, 89 out of the 1,041 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s Q4 2025 database had held a stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN). This figure jumped to 104 out of 1,022 funds in Q1 2026. While Impax Asset Management held the largest stake, which was worth $848 million, Renaissance Technologies bumped its stake by 395% to $312 million. 1.42% of the float was sold short as of mid July.
While Insider Monkey acknowledges the risk and potential of LIN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LIN that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None.
