L'Air Liquide (AI ) Q3 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q3 revenue was €7.259bn, up 3.0% on a comparable basis and 4.3% excluding FX and energy; Electronics and Industrial Merchant led growth.

• Record investment decisions and a €6.2bn backlog supported profitable growth; 2026 and 2027 margin guidance was reaffirmed.

Financial highlights

• Published Q3 revenue rose 10.0%, including +4.2% energy, +1.5% currency and +1.3% significant scope impacts.

• Gas & Services revenue was €7.075bn, up 10.8% as published, 5.0% excluding FX and energy, and 3.6% comparable.

• Operating cash flow before working-capital changes reached €5.129bn through September, up 5.9% excluding currency; YTD efficiencies totaled €441m.

• Net debt was €13.532bn at September-end, down €389m quarter over quarter and up €5.116bn from year-end 2025.

Outlook and guidance

• 2026 outlook reaffirmed: +100 bps operating margin improvement excluding energy pass-through and DIG AIRGAS purchase price accounting impact; recurring net profit growth expected at constant exchange rates.

• Q4 comparable sales growth is expected to be similar to Q3; a further +100 bps margin improvement is targeted in 2027, bringing the 2022–2027 objective to +560 bps.

• BEYOND targets 2025–2030 recurring EPS CAGR of 10% ±2%, recurring ROCE above 11% by 2030, sales CAGR of 5% ±1%, and 400–600 bps margin improvement.

• BEYOND includes a 33% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions by 2035 versus 2020.